Phoenix Home & Garden Magazine is celebrating 30years in business by hosting the Arizona Style Showplace February 12^th, 13^th, & 14^th at the new Scottsdale Quarter.  When they approached us to be involved we jumped at the opportunity because we too are celebrating out 30^th year.  The Showplace features vignettes by the best & brightest in design & construction highlighting Arizona style.  Casas del Oso’s Barry Smith, a Master of the Southwest will be speaking on Creating Your Romantic Home.

Please join us and experience the best of Arizona residential design & construction.  To learn more or purchase tickets go to www.phgmag.com/arizonastyle/index.htm.

In the morning hours of Labor Day weekend we watched our only son, a US Marine board a bus to Edwards Air Force Base, final destination Afghanistan.  As we waited while they loaded their gear we were surrounded by families sending them off.  Some of these young men will become fathers for the first time while they are deployed.  The crowd is quiet but there are no tears, they will come later after the buses leave.   These young men & women are focused and confident.  They have trained well and they know it.  The mission is understood, the objectives are understood and they are 100% committed. 

What does all this have to do with custom home designing & building?  In the days we spent together before his departure I was reminded of the Marine Corps. Leadership & Core Values some of which we have borrowed for our company:  Semper Fidelis- Always Faithful, Adapt, Improvise & Overcome.  We are faithful to the architectural style of our projects, to our clients and to our trade partners.  Every project has challenges that require us to adapt, improvise and overcome.  When these are done well everyone flourishes; when they ignored or done poorly everyone suffers.  It is our commitment to our company and our clients to do them well.

Everyone at Camp Pendleton on this September morning is focused seven months into the future when they will return.  That will be a different crowd; excited, jubilant, tearful, grateful & rowdy.  For now we are just committed; all of us 100%.

As I look at the today’s construction market both commercial & residential it looks a lot like the market in the late 1980’s when we were going though the Savings and Loan Crisis.  It happened for a variety of reasons; one of them being the federal government relaxed the rules around Savings & Loan …..  sound familiar?  Property values declined, money dried up and there were foreclosures on every street in every neighborhood.  Companies had to take drastic measures to survive and they did.  Just like today there was opportunity everywhere.  Marginal companies were eliminated, land was cheap, wages became competitive, material prices declined, subcontractors & venders were willing to negotiate, and scheduling was suddenly easy…..just like today.   Sales have risen every month for the last three months.   Last month (June) home prices rose in Maricopa County for the first time in several years.  Today is the opportunity of a lifetime

Welcome to the latest version of our website.  We are excited about the opportunity to communicate for the first time directly.  We are looking forward to the conversation and your comments.  Let us know what you think.