30 Years of "Big Ideas"
David Sonka
I have been working on custom landscape projects since the summer of 1993. (30+ years.) I started as "the grunt” on a great landscape crew working with an excellent foreman and designers from Iowa State University. We built stone walls and patios all over Central Iowa, which always included huge shrub and perennial installations that we often had to improvise on site. Almost 15 years later, I was a the designer and project manager on an episode of a show for HGTV, while helping a client complete a landscape design and installation at one of the best oceanfront properties on Oahu sourcing coastal plants from the local nurseries, and hardscape materails from all over the world. Almost 20 years later, I designed and helped build a nice project on Lake of the Woods, getting products through Canadian Customs and on a barge to a remote island. 25 years later, a design for a family estate in Northern Minnesota. Many unique opportunites. It has been a journey with a lot of hard work and some hard knocks, but I am proud of the variety of projects and have enjoyed meeting and working with great people who I admire to this day.
I enjoy meeting new people and their families and friends, hearing about their unique situations and their “big ideas”. I like helping great clients imagine the possibilities of their “big idea” and enjoy collaborating with them. I am conscientious of their budget and help to advise them in decisions that maximize the reach of their investment while working with expert crews.
I have a passion for design and love working with clients through the creative process, illustrating designs into tailor-made landscape plans and graphics. The landscape will become an important extension of the home as it builds a floor plan to connect the home with the outdoors. The outdoor living space often becomes a primary venue for spending time with family and friends.
I love working with great clients and expert crews ensuring that the landscape will make them proud to live in their homes – whether it is a swimming pool, a backyard fireside lounge, a cooking and dining area, or a front entrance to welcome friends and neighbors. This design process and helping clients is what still energizes me every day after 30 years.
"This design process and helping clients is what still energizes me every day after 30 years."
I grew up in northwest Iowa on the edge of corn and soybean fields and the Little Sioux River valley. I am a great-grandson of Czech immigrant farmers and firefighters who settled near Cedar Rapids, IA, and Little Falls, MN. Also, as one Grandpa claimed, I am a great-grandson of a Founding Father, an author of the Treaty of Paris, the first Chief Justice under President George Washington, the second Governor of New York, and a slavery abolitionist, John Jay. With today’s genealogy tracking, Grandpa’s claim appears to be confirmed.
My father is a large animal veterinarian and baseball coach. So much of my childhood was spent outside around farm buildings, fields, feedlots, and the wooded ravines near my house. Or, was spent with a ball glove on my hand, or shooting hoops, or riding my bike everywhere — it was always time spent outside. But I also invested much time at school and in the evenings drawing on a sketch pad doing caricatures, landscapes, cars, shoes, Michael Jordan, Cindy Crawford, and some of the Sports Illustrated models. I took painting classes and industrial drafting in high school along with earth science classes and had inspiring math, music, English, and Spanish teachers.
This all led to studying Landscape Architecture and outdoor construction. I received a degree in Landscape Architecture from Iowa State University in 1996 (while being "the grunt” on that landscape crew). For the past 25 years, I have been working on custom landscape designs, mostly backyard renovations that might include a swimming pool or a lounge area with a fire. I have been building 3D models and doing photo illustrations for 20 years, continuing to self-learn programs that help illustrate the “big idea” while also using the hand-drawing skills I have had since childhood to further communicate through the design and construction process.
I would love an opportunity to work with you.
"I love being creative."
I am married to a 30-year veteran high school art teacher and we have two kids at the U of M. At this stage of life, I try to drop everything and spend time with them when they are available, as I also hope to do the same for my aging parents down in Iowa. Work/life balance is important in this day and age.
I sometimes play catcher on a 50+ wood bat baseball team that recently won the 2024 State Championship out of 35 teams in our league. Other hobbies include watching/listening to the Minnesota Twins, Timberwolves, Vikings, Iowa State Cyclones, seeing live music, and playing the drums. I also try to learn things on my son’s guitar while he is away at college. I love being creative. But, mostly, I enjoy working with great clients and helping to make their “big ideas” a reality. I hope to improve their quality of life and make them happy!
Sincerely,
Dave
CONTACT INFORMATION
Phone: 651-239-6460
Address: 2482 Mayfair Ave, White Bear Lake, MN 55110
Business Hours: By Appointment Only, Call to Schedule