We had a great time talking with charismatic building duo, Brian Hutzler & Brian Monroe of PebbleDash Builders last week. Hands down, their work in neighborhoods such as The Cliffs at Walnut Cove and The Ramble Biltmore Forest represent some of the best examples of high-end craftsmanship in the Asheville, NC area. During our chat, they gave us the scoop on the past, present, and future of the Pebble Dash brand. Check out more of their work at PebbleDashBuilders Q: What interested you in getting started in building? A: Brian H: I started out my career in sales and marketing. We did a lot of work for traditional big businesses. In 2002, we saw the expansion of residential development in this area and decided to get involved. From there, we got the opportunity to work on the marketing and branding of the Biltmore Lake community. After that, I began working with other well known communities such as South Cliff and The Ramable. Then, Brian (Monroe) and I got into the speculative home building market. After the market took a turn we really started doing more custom homes and working on building that part of the business up. As we went on with the custom home building we realized we needed both of our skill sets. We have really created a model where I am involved in all of the design meetings; and, Brian (Monroe) manages the jobsite. What we’ve created is a turn key service where our clients don’t have to deal with the stress and challenges of building a home. It’s all handled in house. Recently, we have also expanded our business from primarily custom home building to include midrange ($300k-$500k) home. That side of our business is handled through the Water Leaf brand. Brian M: I was always building things. In the eighth grade I build half pipes and skateboard ramps. I was always interested in building models. As I got older, I more-or-less followed in my older brother footsteps. He is in big commercial building; but, I thought I might want to work in residential. So, I took a job as a carpenter after school on a really big house in Santa Barbara (my home town) and really enjoyed it. On that jobsite, I really began to learn about homebuilding from the ground up. Q: What do like about residental do you like more than commercial building? A: Brian M: I like the creativity that’s involved in residential building. Q: What is it like collaborating with clients on their homes? A: Brain H: We have created a great model where the client can be involved if they want to; but, most of the time I bring in consultants on lighting, for example; and, give them suggestions on who to work with. Again, our clients really like that because it’s hassle free for them. We also work with interior designers from time-to-time to help with the process. Q: Has technology impacted your business? A: Brian H: Technology is key. We set-up a website for each homeowner where we post weekly photos of the progress of their home. This is so important for our out-of-town clients, especially. Another thing -- websites such as Houzz where we work with clients to draw inspiration from. Q: What does the future hold for PebbleDash? A: Brian H: We are going to continue with our custom home Design Build model. At the same time, we will remain fluid in responding to what the market dictate; but, so far we have been successful with our current custom home model. Meanwhile, we will continue to build out the Water Leaf brand to address the needs of that market segment.
Posted on: Fri, 21 Jun 2013 18:43:21 +0000
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