Design firm Houndstooth House grows small startup to 10,000 square-foot showroom

Denise Cotter and Michelle Marino of Houndstooth House went from up-and-coming designers in Sioux Falls to owning a thriving small business

For Denise Cotter and Michelle Marino, destiny brought them together hundreds of miles from their hometowns to start Houndstooth House, their growing interior design and retail store in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. 

While Cotter and Marino grew up just 90 minutes from each other in Kansas, they didn’t meet until they were working at a mall in Sioux Falls. 

“We then had three kids each and, when we were ready to go back to work after having them, we decided to start a business that would be flexible enough that we could continue to put our families first,” Marino said. 

Marino and Cotter have grown Houndstooth House in the last 20 years from an independent interior design firm to having a 10,000-square-foot building with retail space and eight employees. 

“Really, the changes happened fast these last five years when we were selected as the preferred designers for a four-story, multi-use development downtown,” said Cotter, who added that both Houndstooth House and her family have business and personal banking accounts with U.S. Bank.

“We built out 17 $1-million condos on top of keeping our day-to-day business going with other clients.” 

Within the last six months, they opened their new retail space. As they look toward the future of their business, they are focused on growing that arm of their business and hiring top talent to support their thriving business. 

“A couple of years ago, we told people we were the up-and-coming interior designers in Sioux Falls,” Cotter said. “I feel like we put it out into the universe and now look at where we are today.”

Check out the video below to learn more about Houndstooth House's story.