Farewell to Shells

For those of you that follow our main blog from time to time, you may notice that I typically only post to this blog for signficant events that affect us from a company perspective, or at times also personally.

This is one of those occasions.

Shelly Mayo has been an integral part of Whitney Blair Custom Homes for the past 7 years, but frankly it seems she's been with us for as long as the company has been in existence. We've never quite had an employee like 'Shells', our term of endearment for her, as Shelly gives her all to our company 24/7....working many late nights, coming in on weekends, all at her discretion...certainly not required by us. She did this because Shelly gives 200% to everything she does and will do whatever is necessary to support Whitney Blair, both from a professional and personal perspective. I can't count the times Shelly has helped us out personally, whether helping us transport the dogs as needed, being a friend and confidant to our daughters, and just basically being there for us and the company however is needed.

But again, that's just Shelly, who has a truly sincere heart for helping others. I've learned a lot from Shelly over the past 7 years, and will work hard to remember her kindness & to pass that on to others.

Transitions are never easy...particularly when an employee becomes a true friend and family member. So for those of you that may not know, Shelly will be moving on to new life adventures outside of Whitney Blair. We wish her much happiness, while she takes time to travel & be with her family, and basically just to enjoy life to the fullest...wherever that make take her.

We'll miss you Shells.

Whitney Blair at the 2011 Southern Living Custom Builder Program Conference

Another great year at the Southern Living Custom Builder Conference, this year held at The Wild Dunes Resort at Isle of Palms, SC. A nice break to be able to drive to the conference instead of flying the friendly skies!

Jeff supported the registration efforts this year by assisting the SLCBP staff in registering building members, and meeting with builders individually to better assess and address their local concerns. He continues in his 3rd year as a member of the SLCBP Board of Directors, and has been asked to serve as a consultant to the SLCBP.

For the first time, our office manager Shelly Mayo and Construction Manager, Dino Viscosi, attended the conference to see first hand the great relationships Whitney Blair has established with builder members of the Southern Living Custom Builder Program, program vendors & suppliers, as well as the Southern Living staff. A special shout out to Ed and Kim Sadler, and Todd and Kelly Wilson - miss you guys, and hope to see you at the next Board Meeting!

Conference speakers and attendees

Friday evening Trade Show

Oyster Roast!

Tailgating at its finest!!

Belgard, a 2011 preferred sponsor

Rob Crosby and his Nashville cohorts rock on!

An amazing and humbling 2010 at Whitney Blair

As we wind down 2010 and look forward to 2011, I can't help but look back at this past year and be profoundly grateful for our many good blessings, both personally and professionally. From a business perspective, the company continues to draw amazing clients that put their faith and trust in us to design and build their homes....this is only possible due to our ridiculously dedicated and talented staff who work tireless hours under a particular taskmaster, yes, I am talking about my husband, Jeff - the founder and owner of Whitney Blair since our beginnings in Chapel Hill some 25 years ago. Jeff's continued persistence for excellence in himself and Whitney Blair keeps us all on the right path - well, at least we try.

From a personal perspective it's been a tough year for me with the unexpected loss of my mother. My mother was Whitney Blair's biggest fan, clipping out newspaper articles on the company, talking to her neighbors in SeaTrail about Jeff and the company...well, really it comes down that my mother was Jeff's biggest fan, and Whitney Blair was (and is) just an extension of him. My mother's passing has helped us to remain grounded on what's really important in life: your family, your health, and your faith to see you through those tough times...how you treat others...selflessness opposed to selfishness.

And that's really all that is important when all is said and done.

We welcome 2011 with a renewed outlook and outreach to our Whitney Blair family of staff, homeowners, and current clients.

Whitney Blair Custom Homes Update May 2010

Earlier this spring we were asked to sit down with Builder Architect Magazine and share our building philosophies with the publisher, Trey Trembley. We took the opportunity to share our building process with Trey and help him appreciate what we think helps differentiate us from other local builders. To this point, we had very kind comments relayed from a few of our homeowners, Scott and Kathy Mathews (Devaun Park), Dick and Judy Calgaro (Ocean Ridge), Tom and Alicia Williamson (Parkside at Mayfaire) and Gary and Sue Landon (Sea Trail). Check out the link below from the April 2010 edition of Builder Architect Magazine for more info and to read the article online...

http://scguc.builderarchitect.com/

Whitney Blair Custom Homes Update August 5, 2010

Our latest custom home was just completed in June for our clients Dan and Sue Winfield in River Run Plantation, overlooking the Lockwood Folly River. This home is an Allison Ramsey low country design, Energy Star certified, complete with enclosed ground level, front and rear wrap around porches, metal roof, elevator and many custom interior features as noted in the selected photos. To view more photos and an overview of the entire construction process at their home, check out the Winfield blog at http://www.whitneyblairwinfieldriverrun.blogspot.com/

Our newest homeowners, Dan and Sue Winfield

Main Hall

Kitchen

Final walkthru of home in progress

Lisa reviewing the Whitney Blair homeowner manual with Sue

Family room with wrap around porch looking over river

First floor master looking into sunroom over river

2nd floor storage disguised as built-in bookcase

Final exterior walkthru in progress: landscaping inspection

View from rear yard overlooking river

Dino Viscosi, Construction Manager, handing over keys to Sue and Dan

Whitney Blair Custom Homes, an afternoon of thanks: March 5, 2010

We are so fortunate to have some great clients working with us in various stages of the home building process, ranging from interviewing us as their potential builder, to clients that are under contract and in the midst of the selections process. To our current and prospective clients, we want to say a huge THANK YOU for either selecting or considering Whitney Blair Custom Homes as your builder. We value each and every one of you and would not be the company we are without you, and your faith and trust in us.

We've been very fortunate to work with a long time friend of ours who just happens to be a home designer in Raleigh, which has resulted in the early stages of a great long term project for clients of ours in Landfall, located in Wilmington, NC. There's a major project underway in Southport for a developer friend (dare we say speculative building?!) and several custom projects underway in the southern end of Brunswick County and are grateful for each of our clients in River Run, Ocean Ridge, and our own community of CapeSide.

An afternoon for recognizing our friends, clients, business associates...many thanks to you all.

Whitney Blair Custom Homes Update March 1, 2010

It's been a whirlwind the last few weeks...but all good activity, which is encouraging for us and the economy! We've just returned from the 2010 Southern Living Custom Builder Program annual conference, held this year in Point Clear, AL. It was a great conference with informative speakers, with our very own Jeff Sanderson in the spotlight as part of the Board of Directors Q&A Panel, taking questions from the general audience on a variety of topics ranging from building technicalities to construction forecasts for various areas of the US. Jeff also co-hosted a breakout session on Builder/Developer Opportunities...a session devoted to out of the box thinking for builders as well as developers looking for new ways to partner together and continue to survive these challenging economic times. Our very own Vicky Serany of Southern Studio spoke on the 2nd day to a packed room eager to hear her thoughts on 2010 interior design themes and managing selections in line with budgets, followed by an equally well-attended breakout session.

It wasn't all work...we were able to spend some time with a few of our favorite builder colleagues, a special shout out to Todd and Kelly Wilson of Wilson Design and Construction in Valdosta, GA and Ed and Kim Sadler of Sadler Construction in VA Beach, VA - can't wait for the upcoming road trip! Eric Sasser of the Newport News/Portsmouth, VA area was named the 2010 Southern Living Builder of the Year...well deserved, Eric! The highlight every year is hearing a few hit tunes from our Nashville songwriter buddies Rob Crosby, James Dean Hicks and Bobby Montana...we've included a few photos of conference highlights, can't wait til next year's meeting!


Brent Warren, Manager Southern Living Builder Program and the Nashville Songwriters in action

Tired but happy conference participants!

Kristen Payne, Director Southern Living Homes Group, Jeff Sanderson, Brent Warren

Vicky Serany of Southern Studio and Jeff Sanderson, Whitney Blair Custom Homes

Jeff Sanderson, Whitney Blair Custom Homes with Eric and Shirley Sasser of Sasser Construction

Our buddies, Todd and Kelly Wilson of Wilson Design and Construction

Our buddies Vicky Serany of Southern Studio with her husband and IT supporter, Dan

Our buddies, Ed and Kim Sadler of Sadler Construction