Our Story

Silent Rivers has always been a collaborative venture, built among and alongside numerous friends, mentors, and cohorts. We have thrived because we are differentiated by the quality of our craftsmanship, the integrity of our artistic pursuit, and the efficiency of our collaboration and design+build process.

Original Silent Rivers brochure from when company was founded in 1993

An original Silent Rivers brochure reveals our founding interest in customizing projects for clients.

While we have witnessed the housing and construction industries take something of a roller-coaster ride over the past 30 years as economic markets have fallen and risen, we at Silent Rivers have continued to remain true to ourselves. We continue to honor our roots as artists, sculptors and builders of exceptional spaces, working closely with our clients to develop homes they treasure.

The company’s founder, Chaden Halfhill, studied as an artist and sculptor. With a nationally recognized portfolio and a passion for a future in art and design, he was excited to find like-minded artisans with whom he could work on a variety of art and building projects. This informal crew found itself getting busier and busier – remodeling and construction by day, art by night.  Soon, the group came to something of a fork in the road. To the left was making sculpture, to the right, building structures. With an alternative path in mind, the team plowed straight ahead, and in the process, found a calling.

In constructing high-quality decks and outdoor spaces, the team sought to build powerful connections between a home’s interior and its outside environment. This core purpose of connecting interior and exterior spaces aesthetically prompted the young Silent Rivers to create some elaborate and unconventional outdoor projects that were showcased in many publications, including Better Homes and Gardens. The artist-builders expanded their concepts to approach all projects holistically, with the health and value of the entire process in consideration.

We came to a point where we wanted to show people our capacity beyond decks and outdoor structures,” says Halfhill. “I moved into a small 1917 bungalow in East Des Moines and as a team we remodeled that house at night while finishing other projects during the day. We did a complete creative overhaul, remodeling the entire house room by room. It took us quite a while, but ultimately, that house and our hard work culminated in the first full-home remodel featured under the Silent Rivers Design+Build name.”

With the addition of the fine cabinetry wood shop, the streamlining of our design+build process and the partnership among our skilled artisans, Silent Rivers has grown into a national-award-winning company that continues to pursue inspiring projects that endure. We are also promoters of long-term sustainability, and we are experienced in both historical restoration and emerging building technologies. As a single-source for design, construction and remodeling, Silent Rivers has built on its founding principles to provide incomparable quality, value, and artistry to homeowners.

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