Colorful blooms are flourishing on the grounds of the house that President Barry ’75/M.S. ’77/Ph. D. ’00 and Jane ’77 Dunn call home during their tenure at South Dakota State University.
The couple has added a variety of personal touches at the President’s Home since moving in as its first occupants in July 2017. From placing family photos throughout its private spaces to selecting artwork to hang on the walls, the first couple to live there has made the house a home. But none of the additions are more visible than the flowers outside, which are a special project for Jane Dunn each year.
Jane said a certain amount of landscaping was in the plans for the house before Barry Dunn became president, but they added more variety over their stay.
The President’s Home, built in 2017 as part of the Alumni Green project, was funded with donations and replaced Woodbine Cottage as the official private residence of the university president. Its location, with views of the Campanile, the SDSU Foundation and Alumni Association, and most of the west side of campus, is a good barometer of what’s happening at SDSU.
“We have this prime access with thousands of people driving by every day, so we felt our responsibility was to have this look nice and be good caretakers of what was provided to us,” Jane said. “We feel very blessed to live here and feel like it’s part of our stewardship, part of our core values of excellence and integrity, to keep this place up and nice. It’s our thank you to the donors to keep this house in really pristine order.”
Jane said she’s always been interested in gardening, something that was passed onto her by her mother, who loved flowers. So it was natural that would be reflected at the couple’s home on campus.
“I talked to different people and got some ideas, took some pictures of things I liked when visiting other towns and cities, and worked with Grounds Services, and they’ve been just really incredible. I am so appreciate of Ryan Hoffman and all our Grounds personnel who keep campus clean, safe and beautiful,” she said. “I’m happy to feature all of them, but there are two young women who are outstanding: Courtney Birkholtz ’16 and Jensine Prohaska ’15. There isn’t anything they can’t do, and they have so much enthusiasm.”
Horticulturist Tanner Aiken ’11 helped the couple select trees best suited for the property, and Michael Stein is also part of the team that help beautify the home’s grounds.
University Events Coordinator Jamison Lamp ’12 accompanies Jane every year to pick out flowers from area greenhouses, and he serves as her sounding board when she wants to try new things. Many of the flowers also come from SDSU greenhouses.
Jane has a hand in selecting everything that goes in the ground each spring. The plants have a variety of heights, with items that bloom at different times so there’s something to see from spring through fall. The gardeners make accommodations for areas of sun and shade and look for less fragile and more heat-tolerant plants with lots of color, especially in front. By the end of the growing season, many plants are dug up and repurposed in other areas. Some even contribute to research on campus, as they’re dissected in plant labs.
Then as it starts to freeze, pumpkins and fall décor are added to keep things looking festive, and greenery brightens spaces in the winter months.
“I really feel like it’s a group effort,” Jane said. “We work together and talk about different pros and cons. We found some things that work really well that we like, and those we keep, and some of the others, we find they didn’t go as well. You’ll find Jamison and myself out there planting, but we rely heavily on Grounds, and they have been amazing.”
Jane said there are rules to follow when they want to make changes at the home, both inside and out. That’s because the couple knows the home is not theirs alone. They want the space to remain well cared for, for future presidents and their families, too. “If we want to hang a picture, we call Facilities and Services. … We choose and we direct things, but we don’t take it over or decide on our own.”
Along with private spaces to relax and unwind, the house has plenty of room to entertain in fully accessible and ADA compliant spaces and ample parking. The couple does so often, with Barry Dunn in his role as president and Jane as an unofficial ambassador for SDSU. The President’s Home and Woster Celebration Hall next door have helped keep more events on campus.
The home has hosted a variety of guests, including Jackrabbits fans on game days, lawmakers, donors, alumni, dean candidates, spouses, other dignitaries, the President’s Council and leadership team, the Foundation’s Board of Governors and Council of Trustees, student-athletes, Admissions Ambassadors, the Students’ Association, the Hobo Day Committee, the Madrigal Singers, legislative pages, other students and more.
“So I feel like we’ve used it for a variety of reasons, and I like that. … The house has its own Outlook calendar,” she added, laughing.
“There was an intense curiosity about the home when it was first built, and I think some of that has worn off, and people have enjoyed being invited here and coming here. I think we had 3,500 people through the first year.”
The more time the Dunns have at the President’s Home, the more it feels like home. “I think entertaining and using the house has kind of made it more comfortable. I’ll admit it was a really big change from our personal home, and at times we had a hard time finding each other. It’s a lot of space, but I’ve really grown to love it and find it useful,” Jane said.
“I’ve gotten to meet so many people that I wouldn’t have met otherwise in my life, and I feel really blessed to be able to know the people I have met here.”
Jill Fier
