Don and Meredith Kruml have spent the last 15 years enjoying the expansive views of the Lewis & Clark Lake their Calumet Drive home offers.

“We have a view of the lake from every room in the house except for one,” Don said.

When the Krumls were originally looking to purchase a lot in the country to build a home, but their realtor asked them to take a look at this home.

“It was the view that clinched the deal,” Don said. “We just fell in love with the beautiful view of the lake and saw the potential for some great landscaping outside. The view is really what it’s all about.”

Don, former owner of Gurney’s Seed & Nursery, has worked relentlessly on perfecting his outdoor landscape while Meredith has meticulously decorated the interior of the home.

“Meredith takes the lead in the house and I take the lead outside, but we work together and ask for each other’s opinions,” Don said.

It is evident the couple has taken time and care to make their home an inviting and cozy place for them to share.

The interior decorating reflects their interest in history, Indian art and the outdoors. Several beautiful pieces of Indian art adorn their home, each with a unique flair.

“We really love Northern Plains Indian art,” Don said. “Our favorite piece is a sculpture called Fancy Dancer, by Janice Albro.”

Other notable pieces are a huge painting in their living room that features a deer skin and buffalo hide matte, a piece featuring ducks that is made completely out of caribou fur that is trimmed with tiny scissors to create the shapes, several sculptures and a very interesting piece of ledger art by Terrance Guardipee who has work in 24 museums, including the Smithsonian.

They also have family mementos spread throughout their home. A series of sunrise photographs Meredith snapped hang on the wall near the den, a walleye Meredith caught is perched on the wall in the living room, while a proud angler white bass Don caught is featured in the family room, moose antlers from a moose Don’s dad shot in 1937 are also on display and a prehistoric buffalo skull Don found on the river is featured.

“I used to live down by Larson’s Landing and one year I found over 50 fossilized buffalo skulls,” Don said. “I donated some to the historic society and I kept one. Back then it was OK, you can’t keep them if you find them nowadays.”

The outside of their home is an extension of their cozy home with several patio areas and landscaped features.

“It is a work in progress,” Don said of his many flower beds. “I am constantly changing things trying to find what works best.”

For instance, Don said he started out with more than 125 varieties of roses, but has whittled his selection down to 6-7 varieties that are perfectly hardy for this area.

In addition to the many flowers, shrubs, trees and plants he grows a small garden.

“We started by doing a little bit of this and that but recently we’ve only planted Celebrity tomatoes, radishes, green onions and Meredith has a small herb garden for fresh herbs,” he said. “Our tomato plants are still producing and we’ve harvested over 700 tomatoes so far this year.”

Because the Krumls enjoy their outdoor areas, Meredith said they have added several outdoor seating areas to their property.

“We have five patios,” she said. “Anytime we get bored we build another patio.”

To protect their plants, the Krumls invested in a tall fence that encircles their property.

“The deer ate everything,” Don said. “We tried every deer repellant known to man and most of them worked for about two to three weeks.

We finally decided we had to put up a fence to keep them out.”

Originally the fence just went around the back and the area from their driveway to their unattached and attached garages was open but Don said the deer got smart and figured out to just walk up the driveway.

“We had to put in a gate across our driveway,” he said. “It works like a garage door with an opener so we can get in and out.”

While most planting guides will suggest the Yankton area is in Zone 4 or Zone 5 for hardiness, Kruml said he has found Zone 3 plants really thrive better here.

“If you are using winter protection on your plants Zone 4 or 5 will probably work, but I just have too much to cover in the winter so I’ve found Zone 3 plants are just hardy enough to make it through the winter,” he said.

 

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