My Response to the Milwaukee Magazine Article
By Tom Hignite

I have just received and had a chance to read the Milwaukee Magazine article and have corrections, which fall into two basic categories: small errors and large errors. I am in somewhat of a tough position since I do not want to appear to disrespect the reporter, Daniel Libit personally, but I do need to correct some of his professional observations and inaccuracies, which Daniel presents as facts.

Daniel opens his article in the first paragraphs talking about my personal residence. Insinuates we purposely placed a gravel path over wetlands without permits, during the construction of our residence/office in Richfield. The fact is that the path was improved after we were in the home for about two years. This path was already existing when we bought the property and we did discuss “improving” the existing path with the Richfield building inspector prior to topping the path with gravel and adding night lighting, foot bridge, and the like. When a neighbor called me to inquire whether we had permits from the DNR, I immediately called the DNR to invite them to inspect the path. Even though it was “existing” and was topped-off with natural materials (as was directed previously by the building inspector), this path should never have existed to begin with. Upon our very first meeting with the DNR representative, I immediately offered to do whatever was needed to make things right. The other fact, which Daniel misstated, was that we were fined $125,000. This is simply not true. In fact, we were never fined and we proceeded to work with the DNR to correct any deficiencies.

In this same paragraph Daniel talks about our backyard pond, which is themed to the name “Angel Pond”. While we do have various angel themed items around the pond, we have not gone quite to the extent that Daniel suggests. He suggests that we have names for objects around the pond such as Angel Gazebo, Angel Sauna, Angel Jacuzzi, and Angel Bath House. The fact is that none of these items have names and until this article, I have never heard them referred to as Angel anything. We do have a bath tent with two signs designating men/women. They do have swimsuits with halos over them as a nonsense novelty.

Daniels description of our most elaborate model home, The Grand Bay, is mostly accurate. If you wish to see this masterpiece, it is open (for the holiday) on Sundays from 1 to 3pm. A very minor correction to Daniel’s facts is that the domed ceiling is only 20 feet tall (not 30’) and is covered with textile fibers and mock rhinestones costing about $15,000 (not $30,000) but the artesian who did this project did it for a fraction of that cost in return for public exposure. The home theatre does have a snack bar but does not have a soda fountain.

The next paragraphs where Daniel mentions the new Cabelas (a mausoleum of stuffed animals for Gore-Tex lovers within a 300 mile radius) seems disconnected, as does his reference to the homes we have built in Richfield. He says of these Richfield residents “many called upon him to build their dream homes with white siding and red brick, with french doors leading to the den, and ceramic tile walls in the master shower.” I cannot remember ever building a home in Richfield (or anywhere else for that matter) that meets this description.

About midway through the first page, Daniel describes me as a born-again evangelical. Later he insinuates that after the death of my one-year-older brother Don (1976), I became “born-again”. Without looking up the dictionary description of Evangelical, I have never considered myself to be evangelical in any formal sense, and cannot remember anyone ever having called me this. Not that I would not want to be one, my personal stance on my Christianity is not to knock on doors evangelizing my beliefs. I never personally have felt comfortable preaching outwardly to others about what they “should” believe or not.

I grew up in a conservative Lutheran church from about third grade on up. Before that, my family was not attending church on a regular basis. I vaguely recall praying sometimes to God at home in first and second grade. I didn’t know the difference at that time, between God and Jesus and I was too timid to ask. I prayed to both but never told anyone. I am not comfortable with the 1980’s term “Born-Again” but I did accept Christ into my life just several months prior to Don’s unexpected death.

Daniel points out only one past client in the entire six-page article. This client, along with a handful of others had a negative experience with us. Fact is, Daniel does not explain that when this situation was taken through arbitration and mediation, Miracle was largely vindicated. Even though we now have built nearly 1,100 homes and provided Daniel with numerous contacts for recent clients and client surveys, not one of these clients were mentioned in this article. We currently enjoy the highest client satisfaction we have ever had with many satisfied repeat-building clients.

Daniel’s first mention of our upcoming Miracle Village project, he calls “outlandish”, and states the location as being “…a few miles away from his Richfield manor in the neighboring Village of Holy Hill.” The project he refers to is actually located in Germantown and, to my current knowledge; there is no Village of Holy Hill in Washington County. There is however a Catholic shrine called Holy Hill some seven miles away.