Building a Home with Intention: Quiet and Purpose at Mysa Hus

Mysa Hus, translating to cozy house, is a Scandinavian-style build that defies the typical stereotype of a spec home. This Minnesota project is rooted in a singular idea: a home should actively support wellness through intentional design choices and not just focus on aesthetics. 

It’s part of a growing trend across the home building industry. Builders and homeowners are moving away from generic homes built for the masses and towards homes that feel lived in and purposeful. We sat down with Mark Williams, of Mark D. Williams Custom Homes and Curious Builder, to understand how intentional design, through the lens of wellness, drove the build process. He explains the importance of product and material selection to the overall vision.

Unlike a traditional spec home, Mysa Hus was designed without a specific buyer in mind. “I needed a philosophy that would dictate decision making in the absence of a client. That’s where wellness came in. Wellness, to me, is slowing down. It’s quiet. It’s fewer distractions. It’s being more present,” Williams said. If a product, material or feature didn’t contribute to physical, mental or emotional wellbeing, it simply didn’t make the cut.

This approach appears everywhere in the home—in the details you can see and those you can’t. Triple-pane Pella® Reserve™ windows, equipped with the Pella Steady Set™ interior installation system, help block exterior noise. Additionally, wool insulation throughout walls and floors delivers exceptional sound absorption and rubber membranes beneath the wood flooring reduce impact noise between levels. This emphasis on sound, rather than just thermal performance, reframes triple-pane windows and other products as a wellness feature rather than a specification upgrade. Williams explains, “Most people won’t know why it feels different—they just know they feel calmer, more content, more at ease.”

Williams wanted the home to feel like a cabin in the woods—quiet and serene—even though it is in an urban environment. This made the selection of materials used in the building envelope especially important. To achieve a quiet environment, triple-pane windows are used in the home’s sound control strategy to reduce outside noise. The additional pane of glazing and insulating gas added to the design disrupt sound waves as they travel across the window, improving the overall STC rating. 

“Most people still don’t do triple pane because they’re expensive and heavy, but once I connected it to sound and wellness, it just made sense,” said Williams. In addition to the noise-reducing benefits of a triple-pane window, it also provides exceptional energy efficiency. Their design helps prevent drafts and heat transfer to keep homes more comfortable year-round and helps lower energy dependency and utility bills for homeowners.

Most homeowners will never know or understand every technical detail that goes into a home built like this, but that’s part of the point. Mysa Hus is designed to integrate wellness into the entire home so that everyday sounds don’t intrude, allowing its future homeowners to focus and connect. Williams explains, “There’s airborne sound and there’s impact sound. We addressed all of it intentionally. When you walk into Mysa Hus, it’s like being underwater. That’s what it feels like—everything just goes quiet.” 

Williams and his team aren’t just focused on better building. They’re pioneering the redefinition of home by creating a cozy refuge that supports how people want to live.