Welcome to Authentic Custom Homes - "ACH"
Greetings!
Authentic Custom Homes is pleased to be featured in the July/August 2008 edition of Country Lifestyle Magazine! For "The Right Translation" be sure to read on. We hope you find our perspective and our newsletter features valuable, don't miss our special features on the right!
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The Right Translation
Authentic Custom Homes creates winning designs and relationships in the Hill Country
Country Lifestyle Magazine
By Emily Glisson / Photos by Jon King Keisling
July/August 2008
A custom home begins with a simple idea. From there, it evolves into a dream home. After months of labor and close collaboration with a thoughtful builder, the idea once imagined now sits on a couple acres in the Hill Country.
Authentic Custom Homes president, Israel Pena has turned concept after concept into realities just by listening to his clients and translating their ideas into Hill Country havens. Pena acknowledges the custom homebuilding process as an emotional journey for his customers. His thoughtful perspective on homebuilding allows him to wear more than just a hard hat during the process. Pena goes above and beyond the call of duty to understand and meet client needs, and his commitment to building dream homes addresses the many aspects involved with clear communication.
"We gather all the information over several interviews and site-visits in the beginning," Pena says. "This is all part of the communication process that helps crystallize in our minds the design that our clients are really looking for."
Designing It, Building It
Those months of interviews are the very thing that separates Authentic Custom Homes from most other homebuilders. Pena calls it the "design-build process," a process that includes all of the steps in custom homebuilding. From pen to paper, to lumber and stone, all the way down to the finishing touches of the construction phase, Pena is there from start to finish.
"It's very unique for the principal of the company to do the actual design and the build." Pena says. "I meet with the client, do the initial interview, do the preliminary design and I follow it through to the end until we present the construction proposal and beyond."
This method has allowed Pena to build a rapport with all of his clients, which in turn has produced trust and excellent referrals for Authentic Custom Homes over the years. Today, he builds throughout Kendall County, particularly in Cordillera Ranch. What's more, his homes do not reflect one synonymous design - but rather the variety of tastes and flavors his clients have asked for over the years.
Reading Between the Lines
Jim Terrain has been a design specialist with Pena for nearly 25 years. Terrain's passion for designing dream homes is second-nature, thanks to being Pena's apprentice early on.
"I started with Israel back in the early 80's and he has always been a person that can relate to you and bring out your inner artist," Terrain says. "Even with our clients, he's able to understand what it is they want through the way he does his questioning and the way he shows them the different details. That's what he did with me. He taught me throughout the years by giving me good examples and helping me discover my own artistic abilities."
Terrain along with Pena, understands the clients wants and needs, even if it means reading between the lines. In fact, the design-build process sometimes requires a bit of psychology in order to get from A to Z. Investigating their clients' likes and dislikes is crucial to the big picture.
"Communication is the single most important ingredient to the whole process," Pena says. "The better we understand the client and the better they understand us, the better we're going to be able to satisfy them."
Adrianne Pena, director of operations, concurs with her father. "That's absolutely the advantage of designing a home for three or four months. Both the client and Israel will understand each other's style and communication," she says.
Building It Green
One aspect of home building that has grabbed Pena's attention is ever-so-popular green building. Most homebuilders have included this technique in their construction for the sake of being kinder to the environment. Pena believes in this technique wholeheartedly - not just for the sake of constructing an environmentally-friendly home, but also to help homeowners save money. In fact, Pena has been known to reduce the cost of energy by nearly 60% thanks to his dedication to green building.
"My approach to green building is that it needs to be pragmatic, affordable and to make sense from a pay-back standpoint," Pena says. "You can go back to the very first consideration of green building which is the design. The way the house is oriented, the way the glass areas are protected from the sun - those are the most basic elements that should be considered. But green building can be as basic as the type of insulation in the wall, because that's one if its major components. What I look for is to put together the ultimate combination of components that can be paid for in energy savings within a five to six year period, rather than a 30 or 40 year period."
Reaching Their Goals
The goals for Authentic Custom Homes are neither far-fetched nor unrealistic. Pena, in all his tenacity, continues to reach above and beyond the call of duty - all the more reason clients have raved about their experiences with him and his team of dedicated professionals. Realtors often recommend Pena as the homebuilder of choice in the Hill Country.
"One of our goals is that we want to identify niches in the market that are underserved and we have done that over the years," Pena says. "We were the first ones to build garden homes {in the Hill Country} and we recently introduced a gated town home community in Boerne that's unlike any other."
Another goal involves the future. "To grow the business at a reasonable level that is manageable, that is," Pena says. "Sometimes in this business you have the opportunity to double overnight, but we don't want to do that because it's hard to manage. By the same token, focusing on what we can do and what we do well, we'll avoid the big pitfalls when the market turns down. That's very critical to a well established business focused on the clients."
Authentic Custom Homes currently averages around 12 custom homes per year, a number that allows Pena to give 100% of his attention to each of his clients. With the assistance of his daughter, Adrianne, who helps to manage the communication between her father and his clients, and Terrain who understands the philosophy of Authentic Custom Homes and executes it well, Pena is not just building homes, he's building solid relationships. For your own copy of Country Lifestyle visit www.countrylifestyle.net |
Warm Regards,
Israel Peña
Israel Pena
908 South Main Street
Boerne, TX 78006
#830-816-7100
www.achomes.com
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Please join us for an evening of Garden Talk!
August 14, 2008
4:00PM - 6:00PM
At The Town Homes of Village Park
We invite you to view a
"Container Gardening" demonstration
by Tom Harris.
We would love to help you get familiar with gardening on our porches and decks
and then join us for a cool summer snack and beverage.
Authentic Custom Homes, Inc. will be featuring our completed Town Home Model, furnished by Melissa Haberstroh & the Burlap Horse.
To join us for the demonstration, please call
Michelle Doucette at (830) 816-7100 by August 6, 2008
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Village Park
Now Open!
Mercedes for a Weekend Winner
compliments of Boerne Mercedes
Want a second home?
Visit The Town Homes of Village Park....
Imagine the perfect balance of community and tranquility.
A home of quality and distinction that is virtually maintenance free.
Visit our Model at
115 Village Park Drive beautifully furnished by the Burlap Horse!
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Featured Custom Detail
from Authentic's Shop
Custom Crafted Door
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