S U M A D E S I G N & C O N S T R U C T I O N
Story by Ann Butenas / Sponsored Content
Built With Integrity
Modern home craftsmanship, it’s a personal standard.
When judges from outside the Kansas City metro walked through the Alameda III, a contemporary home design built by Suma Design & Construction, at The Palisades neighborhood in Riverside. Missouri, this spring, they brought no bias, no local loyalties, and no industry allegiances. What they brought were scorecards, dozens of criteria, and fresh eyes.
What they found earned Mark Sumada, owner of Suma Design & Construction, both the Pick of the Parade and the Distinctive Design Award at the Spring 2026 Kansas City Parade of Homes.
The judges’ comments told the story room by room. The covered deck with its outdoor fireplace drew the word “stunning.” The kitchen earned “showstopper.” The primary bath prompted “shower dreams.” One judge called the entry “beautiful” and noted the double doors and flooring in the same breath. Another wrote simply of the back patio: “Amazing.”
The overall scores reflected what the words could not fully capture. Across three independent judges, the home averaged a 94 percent score on the Distinctive Design assessment and 88.5 percent on the Pick of the Parade evaluation, with individual scores climbing as high as 97 percent. Categories ranging from curb appeal and kitchen efficiency to bathroom design and interior flow drew ratings of “Exceptional” and “Award Winning” throughout.
For Sumada, the accolades validated something he has believed for decades.
“I build houses like I’m building them for myself,” he said. “I’m not out there mass-producing houses to make money. We take great pride in what we do.”
That philosophy shows up in the product, but it also shows up well after the keys are handed over. Sumada recalled a recent visit to a client whose $2 million home had ongoing pool issues. The client told him he wished the pool company had the same integrity as Suma Design. Another homeowner called him out to look at a sagging rafter in a home he had built nearly 20 years earlier. Without hesitation, Sumada sent a crew out with two-by-sixes, pushed the roofline back into place and braced it properly. Plus, he didn’t even charge them for his services. That’s just the kind of professional he is.
That kind of relationship defines Suma Design as much as any award. The company is not a volume builder turning out hundreds of units per year. It is a focused operation that takes on projects where the scale of investment, typically in the millions of dollars, demands a builder who treats every detail as consequential.
The Alameda III exemplifies that approach. The home’s open flow from interior living spaces to the outdoor deck drew praise from judges for its seamless transition. The kitchen’s ceiling-height storage and distinctive island were called a showstopper, while the primary bathroom’s walk-through shower drew repeated attention across multiple judge evaluations. Even the entry, with its clean architectural transition from exterior to interior, was noted as inviting and appropriately scaled.
The judges who evaluated the home were brought in specifically because they have no stake in the local market. Their assessments carry the credibility that comes only from impartiality, and their consensus on the Alameda III was clear.
Sumada said he was genuinely impressed when he reviewed the scoring sheets for the first time.
“I didn’t know the house was that good,” he modestly reflected. “When you go through all of those categories and see the scores, you go, wow, I succeeded.”
For Kansas City homebuyers considering a custom build, that kind of self-assessment from a builder might be the most reassuring credential of all.
