Cottage Homes Covers All The Bases to Deliver… The Right Product, in the Right Market, at the Right Time
Cottage Homes Covers All The Bases to Deliver… The Right Product, in the Right Market, at the Right Time
SAVVY BUILDER—COTTAGE HOMES By Beverly Smirnis
Clay Flory & Richard Berry
In the Greater Fort Worth Builders Association's Spring Tour of New Homes™, Cottage Homes earned First Place in its price category and was Runner-Up for the Grand Award (for highest score overall among all categories).
Few could say that 2010 kept them busy at just the right pace to meet their business goals, but Richard Berry's business is the exception. It has been on a roll over the past year and is continuing to build speed in 2011.
With nine houses under various stages of construction, Berry's Hood County-based businesses, RDS Homes and Cottage Homes, have become the talk of the town.
Having all the bases covered is one certain factor making the difference for Berry. Diversity is the
luxury home builders. RDS just completed an 18,000 square foot home in Granbury, which Berry designed, constructed and completed right down to the interior design and furnishings. Simultaneously, he spent last year working on another project of equal magnitude in Oklahoma, custom designing the home and also consulting throughout its construction. Homes ranging from 3,000 to 8,000 square feet rounded out the majority of last year's design/build activity for RDS Homes.
reoccurring theme behind most of the builder survival stories you read from across the country, and Berry provides a perfect illustration. His first few build jobs were on par in price and size to those he designed in his previous career for one of West Fort Worth's premier design/build
quickly settled in, his wife establishing a successful cake shop/bakery in town and the kids busy and happy in the Granbury ISD. Flory soon became intrigued with Berry's success, and after talking to many satisfied RDS Homes customers, he approached Berry with an idea to start a new company to build what he saw as something missing in the marketplace. The vision for Cottage Homes is to offer smaller homes, nicely finished and sporting the latest in energy efficiency but affordably priced. Primary demographic targets are young families drawn to the area for its way of life and great schools, and those who just don't want the overhead of a large home; the latter group includes retirees on fixed incomes and empty-nesters—many of whom also own a second home in the city or elsewhere.
Negotiations with his Granbury neighbor Clay Flory would open the door for even more diversity in Berry's building activity and solidify its business operations. Flory grew up in Granbury and kept a family vacation home there while living in Salt Lake City where he owned an IT company. Upon selling the business in 2008, the family unanimously elected to call their favorite vacation destination “home.” They
18 GREATER DFW METROPLEX BUILDING SAVVY MAGAZINE Vol 3 2011
“After a time of recession, you could say the slate has been wiped clean in real estate and it's a good time to get in,” said Flory. “My background in business, marketing and finance combined with Richard's proven talent in design and construction, are a perfect complement to each other, and we think we've hit upon a product that is well suited for this market at this time.”
Inside and out, details set Cottage Homes apart.
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