I’ve always loved wood and nerding out with carpentry. I moved to the island in 1998 hoping to be doing historic restoration work and before long I had built a couple of houses. When I was considering starting this business I called my very first boss back in Boston. He gave me the best advice: “Always surround yourself with the smartest people you can find." And, "The difference between being a carpenter and being a contractor is team building." I took his advice to heart. It’s why I feel so good about the team we’ve built over the years. We’re a whole team of people who love wood and nerding out over what it takes to make a truly fine home.

Before he learned carpentry Andy was a cook at a fishing camp in Alaska. He tells the story that it was in that isolated and off-the-grid environment that he fully understood energy flows for the first time. He had to pump water from a river. He had to boil the water to make it drinkable. He had to run a generator for power. The whole camp could be seen through the lens of energy in and out. He says that it’s an understanding that has inspired him his whole life. Andy fits well on this team because he’s always asking a simple question: “How can we make this better?”

I met Chuck on a job site in the fall of 1998. He had followed a girlfriend out here straight out of high school. Chuck has been here ever since and for most of those years he’s been doing all of my painting work. He and I share the same eye for quality and the same insistence on attention to detail. For more than three years I tried to get him to be a project manager for us and he finally accepted my offer. He knows how to pay attention to what needs doing because he’s a busy guy. He’s got two teenage boys at home, and he helps run a family-owned farm in Virginia where they raise 40 heads of grass-fed beef cattle.

For more than five years Andrea was working at a local lumber yard. I’ve always liked her “get it done” attitude. Born and raised on Nantucket, she knows her way around the office and job sites alike. I notice that everybody considers her their assistant. She helps with estimating and is a natural when it comes to caretaking. She understands that building is a service profession, and seems most fulfilled when helping others to deliver exemplary customer service. She’s happily married to her high-school sweetheart and is the proud mom of two young children.

Ana was born in Brazil, and lived in Canada, France and England before studying business administration and hospitality in Switzerland. When asked why she didn’t stay in the hospitality business she says “I did. Custom building is the ultimate hospitality business.” Her title is Office Manager. She is the one person on the team who knows what every other person is doing and if that is what they should be doing. Ana will not quit until the job is done, but when she is not working, she and her family love to eat great food or get outdoors.

When John and I met we hit it off immediately. We share the same drive and passion for thinking big and doing it right. His background is in architecture, but he’s worked in all phases of design and building. He’s built a baseball stadium, a hockey arena, a high school and a high-rise casino. He even rebuilt Walter Reed Hospital. He’s served as designer, builder and owner’s rep for projects of all sizes and scales. All of this experience makes him a great project manager for us. He’s devoted to his three tween and teen kids and relishes the fact that he gets to work at home a lot.

Biz is a true energy geek. She's built on her Masters in Environmental Management degree with direct experience in insulation, air & duct sealing, energy efficient upgrades, home energy audits, and code compliance testing in her home town of Birmingham, Al. She's worked in architectural offices and for a commercial real estate developer in NYC. She's helped builders understand tax incentives, specifications analyses, and certification via Energy Star for New Homes. Today when she and her husband aren't upgrading their 1925 Alabama home she is an expert HERS rater for us.