Kris Krohn, a celebrated business coach, best-selling author, speaker and breakthrough mentor based in Utah, has recently found home within Summit Creek’s residential mountain community. The Krohn family’s dream Wasatch home—a contemporary country estate built by Split Rock Fine Homes and showcased in 2018’s Utah Valley Parade of Homes—was truly a ‘love-at-first-sight’ story for the whole family. We sat down with Kris to learn more about what makes Summit Creek such a special place.
How did you first learn about Summit Creek? What was your first impression?
In July of 2018, we were considering relocating our family into a different home. We occasionally would look on the MLS at properties over several months, but nothing had caught our eye—we were looking for something special that would capture our hearts. One day, I was browsing on the MLS and came across our Summit Creek property. I told my wife that we absolutely had to go check it out, which we did within a few days.
Our first impression of Summit Creek was that the location of this development was stunning, seemingly tucked up in the mountains yet close enough to the valley to easily get around. The mountains reminded me of the Alps in Germany, which feels like home to me, as I am half German, speak German and lived in Germany for two years. I also grew up in Seattle, Washington, which is covered in trees, and have always been looking for a place in Utah that reminded me of home. We had never really been to Woodland Hills and were blown away.
You recently purchased our award-winning contemporary country estate. What was your ‘aha moment’ when touring the property? When did you know you wanted to buy it?
When we came to tour the property, we were astounded by the expansive windows and the amount of light that came into the house—it feels as if you are entirely surrounded by nature at every moment. My wife and I walked around the home wide-eyed and astounded. I was already saying, “Oh my gosh, this is it! This is what we are looking for!” My wife was cautiously optimistic, but wanted to think through all the details that come with moving a big family. Only a few days later, we both knew in our hearts that this property was the one.
We understand you purchased the furniture with the home. What did you love about it?
Yes we did! Our home in Orem was a traditional European home and none of our furniture there would have worked in this bright and airy home. We were delighted to negotiate the furniture, which is stunningly beautiful. Neither my wife or I fancy ourselves as interior designers, and we were very happy that a professional had already done the job for us (and quite brilliantly).
Which room is your favorite and why?
That’s a hard one, because every room is amazing. My favorite is probably the master suite. We love being able to lie in bed and see the beautiful view of the valley at night. We also love the great room, the master bathroom and the deck.
Where do your kids spend most of their time in the house?
They love their own bedrooms and spend a lot of time there. Over the summer, we finished the remainder of our basement and created a large movie room and we love to spend time there as a family.
Many of our residents were initially drawn to Summit Creek’s setting high above the inversion where nature is seemingly boundless. What’s your family’s favorite part about living here?
We love being surrounded by nature! The air is clear, the stars are brighter, we see wildlife every day, there is no traffic noise and we have privacy for our family. Our oldest daughter comments that she often sees deer napping just outside her window as well as turkeys walking by. The neighbors we do have are wonderful, welcoming and friendly. When we lived down in the valley, we always seemed to be crazy busy. Living up here on the mountain has created a desire for us to be at home more, enjoying a more peaceful life with our family. Now, we look for reasons to stay home.
What are some of your family’s favorite outdoor experiences at Summit Creek?
We just experienced the most majestic autumn. The fall colors were astonishing. We love going for walks and bike rides here. The kids’ favorite part is the neighborhood pool. Almost every day of this past summer, the Krohn kids were in the pool!
You are a business coach, best-selling author, speaker and breakthrough mentor—can you tell us a bit about your journey in real estate investment?
As a kid I wanted to be a doctor and by the time I got to BYU I jumped right into my pre-med classes. Frankly, I really struggled with chemistry and after taking organic chemistry a second time and getting a worse grade, I decided to listen to my advisers and give up.
I’m really grateful I found some real estate investment mentors while I was in college. I caught the bug and loved the idea of acquiring homes that could produce a residual income and ultimately eliminate the need for a job. I kind of went crazy with it and ended up buying a couple dozen homes before I graduated that led me to quit my college day job.
After that I went on a crusade to help as many people as possible access real estate as an alternative investment. Now over a decade later I’ve been able to help thousands of people get in the game and it’s been a blast.
How do you empower others to achieve that same success?
I think I really found my niche when I started putting on live events. I fell in love with the art of providing an eye-opening and even transformative experience. As humans, we easily get in our own way but we don’t even know it. Putting on events designed to get us outside of our comfort zone, overcome our limits and grow has become a real passion of mine.
I opened up my own event center in Provo this year where I host my own four-day event each quarter. These fully immersive experiences are not only fun and entertaining but life-changing. It’s always a challenge to figure out how to help each person in the audience have a powerful experience and it pushes me to be my best.
As an expert in real estate, why was Summit Creek an easy choice for you?
Summit Creek feels like a retreat. We almost built a cabin in Sundance but in the end we felt far more drawn to this beautiful area. It feels nurturing and healing from all of the busy hustle and bustle down in the valley. I feel like it’s a tremendous blessing to be in this very spot we now call home. Besides, the people here are extraordinary—they are approachable, down to earth and sincerely caring about each other. I certainly have never found anything else like this.
If you were recommending Summit Creek to someone, what would you tell them about it?
We recommend Summit Creek to everyone we care about. We are selfish, we like the idea of sharing this special place with those that we really care about. The blend of nature, privacy, wonderful people and a really great swimming pool does it all for our little family. We are so thankful to Summit Creek for creating such a beautiful development.
