TIERRA VERDE, Fla. — A Tierra Verde couple is putting the finishing touches on their dream home.

Sylvia and Andre Lusink have spent the last three years building their house in the southern part of Pinellas County using a somewhat unique building material.

What You Need To Know

  • A Tierra Verde couple is close to completing their dream home that they built using a unique building material

  • That material is insulated concrete forms, or ICF, which is polystyrene foam surrounding poured concrete

  • Sylvia and Andre Lusink say the material helps with insulation and with durability for things like hurricanes and tornadoes

From its lighting to its wireless charging bed side tables and automatic lid-lifting toilets, the Lusink's home seems to have it all.

Granted, they’ve only been able to live in it for a little over a month.

“Now you see, it’s becoming a house, your home again, which is a big change from a construction site,” Andre said.

That construction site is where Spectrum News last spoke with the Lusinks back in the fall of 2023.

They were still putting the pieces of their house together using insulated concrete forms, or ICF, which is basically polystyrene foam that surrounds poured concrete.

“We saw this, and we were like, this is the way to go,” Sylvia said at the time.

ICF not only provides a home more insulation — which helps keep the heat out during the summers and the cold out during the few days in winter — but also provides more durability during major hurricanes.

“Basically, I can say, unless we have a bigger than (a Category 5), it’s hurricane proof, it’s tornado proof, it is earthquake proof and, to a certain point, even explosion proof," Andre said. "To a certain point.”

And they got their first test this past fall with Hurricane Helene, which brought more than 6 feet of storm surge to places like St. Pete.

While the streets of Tierra Verde were like a river last fall, the Lusink’s ICF home was fine.

“We had no water in nothing,” Sylvia said. “It came up on the driveway, but we had no water in the garage. Nothing. Not a drop. And (Hurricane) Milton did nothing.”

With any construction project, there can be delays and it certainly took longer than originally anticipated for this build, but Andre and Sylvia said they are in love with what they’ve created, and are grateful to have used this material to make their place safe, no matter what happens.

“Every time I walk in, I’m like, 'Did we really do this together?'" Sylvia said. "I’m just, every time, still in awe."