A New Build with Soul: The Scout House by Scout & Nimble

Product: Storehouse – Drum
Project: Jesse Bodine, Scout and Nimble
Photography: Annabeez Photography and Matthew Anderson Photography
Location: Columbia, Missouri
Room: Living Room, Dining Room, Kitchen

October 14, 2026 | All Projects, Collection, Dining Room, Kitchen, Living Room, Room, Storehouse Plank

For Jesse Bodine, owner and principal designer of Scout & Nimble, the vision behind the Scout House was deeply personal. Inspired by her childhood spent around her grandmother’s quarter horse farm, Jesse wanted to recreate the relaxed, collected feeling of the homes she grew up in.

“What I wanted was a classic, timeless home built for modern living, a house people could walk into and not know when it was built… I built the Scout House to prove a spec home could have a soul,” Bodine explains on Scout & Nimble’s featured story about the Scout House.

By creating a mix of old and new with natural materials and thoughtful architectural details, Bodine gave this newly built home a sense of history and lived-in feel.

Materials That Get Better With Age

When explaining the design vision, Bodine’s emphasis was on liveable spaces with selections that may not be “trendy”, but are beautiful and timeless.

“I see so much of the opposite going up right now, builders playing into the trends, skimping on the materials that actually matter,” she recalls.

“I wanted to push back against that, with materials that get better with age, not worse: natural stone formed in the earth, brass that develops its own patina, reclaimed wood that has a story in it before we install it.”

The living room gives a great example of this vision put into practice. Tongue-and-groove walls, layered millwork, and traditional display niches recall the craftsmanship of older homes. Rich textures and comfortable furnishings make the space feel collected rather than carefully staged. Underfoot, Storehouse Drum solid hardwood flooring introduces the warmth and variation of reclaimed wood, grounding the room in natural character.

3 Zones, 1 Functional Kitchen

Moving into the kitchen, this space was designed to function as a three-in-one. Zone one: the cooking and prep zone. Zone two: the side kitchen for prepping meals. Zone three: the scullery, with all of the essentials including a Costco door straight to the garage.

The kitchen brings Bodine’s philosophy of beautiful, practical living to life. An eleven-foot Taj Mahal quartzite island anchors the main gathering space, while the second zones keep everyday activity moving. Storehouse Drum’s rustic wood character complements the natural stone, warm brass, and reclaimed ceiling beams, bringing another layer of age and authenticity to the design.

“When everyone naturally drifts into the kitchen the way they always do, nobody’s bumping into the cook, nobody’s getting in the way.

People can actually gather and hang out in the heart of the home, which is what a kitchen is supposed to be for in the first place.“

Everyday Elegance

Rather than reserving a separate room for formal occasions, Bodine incorporated dining directly into the kitchen. Her goal was to make a beautiful space that people would use every day, rather than the “special occasion”, separate dining rooms in a lot of homes. “I designed this house for a family that’s actually going to live in it. So this room had to do both jobs. Casual enough for a Tuesday breakfast. Polished enough for a real dinner party,” she explains. A nine-foot table, mixed seating, and a statement chandelier create a space equally suited to casual breakfasts and dinner parties. Continuous hardwood flooring connects the two areas, reinforcing the easy flow of the home. Throughout the Scout House, every material contributes to Bodine’s vision of a home that feels as though it has evolved over generations. With its reclaimed look, rich grain, and natural variation, Storehouse Drum helps establish that lived-in foundation from the very beginning.

Storehouse - Drum; Project: Jesse Bodine, Scout & Nimble; Photography: AnnaBeez Photography and Matthew Anderson Photography

Storehouse - Drum; Project: Jesse Bodine, Scout & Nimble; Photography: AnnaBeez Photography and Matthew Anderson Photography (Storehouse - Drum; Project: Jesse Bodine, Scout & Nimble; Photography: AnnaBeez Photography and Matthew Anderson Photography...