Home Feature: Designed for Living
Photography by Harris Visual Media
Story by Emily Robertson
When the owners of Rushing Builders set out to build a deluxe spec home in Bennington Place neighborhood in the heart of Franklin, Kentucky, they knew they wanted to do more than build a sell a home; they wanted to find great neighbors.
“We went into this project with the idea of building a beautiful home in this neighborhood that would be a spec home, but that would be up to the quality to be showcased in the Parade of Homes,” Rushing Builders Co-Owner Therese Rushing says. “We live in Bennington Place ourselves and our family lives in this neighborhood, so we knew we wanted this home to be special and to add to how great the neighborhood is already.”
Rushing Builders began work on the three-bedroom, three-bathroom, 3,222 square foot home in February 2024, with the September deadline in mind to be ready for The Builders Association of South-Central Kentucky Parade of Homes. Rushing says that this is a typical timeline for their company, but they knew they wanted to include several upgrades that would make the home standout far above a builder-grade home.
“We really made an extra effort, which is the mission when we build any home,” Rushing says. “We want to build homes that we would live in. We went with brand new colors of quartz to match the color schemes of the home, and we really included special touches throughout the house to make it an elevated living space.”
Rushing says some of her favorite areas of the home are the scullery and utility room. The scullery, or “dirty kitchen” is off the main kitchen where owners can do prep work, keep kitchen appliances or have space for projects, without cluttering the main kitchen area. The utility room is right off the primary closet and allows for easy access to the laundry area.
“This house feels like a house you can live your life in,” Rushing says. “Our daughter, Madi Phillips, did a lot of the furnishings for this home and her target homeowner was really anyone. She thought about how it could work for someone whose kids are grown and who have grandchildren who come to visit, but it would also work for a young family that loves to entertain and host.”
Rushing says they would classify the home as southern traditional with an eclectic twist. They worked hard to make the home feel like it was not just staged but filled with things that felt curated and collected over time, like a lived-in home. Special touches in the details such as tile, also help the home to stand out.
“We wanted to make selections that are beautiful and set our installers up for success. When we picked the plaid tile in the bonus bathroom, we knew it would be a unique touch.”
This is only the second home in Franklin to be featured in the Parade of Homes, and Rushing knew they wanted to showcase one of their homes to draw people from other communities to show that it was worth a trip to Franklin to see what the town is about. The community is an area where people are leaving bigger cities and looking for a small-town feel, and so Rushing wants to make sure that all kinds of homes are available to those looking in Franklin.
“The Franklin market is growing,” Rushing says. “We want to meet a need that hasn’t been there before. We get lots of Nashville transplants and we want to share Franklin, but we aren’t willing to give it away. We want to keep Franklin’s core values as a town, but if a town doesn’t grow, it dies. So, it is all about figuring out a nice balance going forward and finding great people that will add to our community.”
This home has been a labor of love for not only Brent and Therese Rushing, but the entire Rushing Builder’s team. The Rushings say that the subcontractors and team members are critical to their success, because to everyone, it is more than just building a house.
“It truly feels great to create someone’s home,” Rushing says. “We help make an investment in someone’s future. And we have a family here in the company that helps get everything done, from planning and building to final touches on homes. We are people who love what they do and are incredibly happy to serve the local community in Franklin and Bowling Green.”
