2024 in Review: How We Navigated the Landscape, Emerged Stronger, and What’s Next
Letter to Our Followers, Friends, and Family
As 2024 comes to a close, we are filled with gratitude and reflection. At the beginning of this year, we set out with a single focus: our people—our team, clients, trade partners, and community. Without the combination of creativity, collaboration, and dedication from this group of individuals, achieving our mission of creating beautiful, sustainable homes would not be possible. Watching the fruit of this calling unfold throughout 2024 has been nothing short of humbling.
Our Team: The Heart of Younger Homes
The core of any great business is its team. Seeing the way The Lord has brought together each person—with their individual talents, their love for each other, their dedication to excellence in everything they do, and their willingness to learn, grow, and build each other up—is what keeps us going each day. Our success is a reflection of the people on our team—whether we’re on the hilltop celebrating victories or in the trenches facing challenges together—these individuals are always ready to exceed expectations on every front!
We kicked off 2024 with a bit of a rocky start, with Jesse breaking his shoulder and also filling in gaps on the construction team—but our village, ready to jump in at any moment, stepped up and not only held it together but turned a difficult moment into an opportunity for growth, leaving us stronger than ever.
Because our team stretches from Texas to Delaware, we have to be intentional with the time we get to all be together. In February, we gathered in Austin, Texas, for a week to collaborate and refine our Sales, Construction, and Warranty processes. While this might sound dull to some, it was music to our ears! These sessions, filled with brainstorming around butcher paper in our office (AKA our dining room), allowed us to slow down, focus, and fine-tune every interaction our team has with clients and trade partners. Like steering a large ship, meaningful change in construction takes time, but the results of these efforts are evident in the smooth operations we’ve seen throughout the year.
Our team building this year would not be complete without the Third Annual North Shore Hope Center Big Event! The Younger Homes team gathered for the third year in a row to use our time, talents, and treasures to serve those in need in our backyard. This year, it was extra special because we were able to go back and serve at James’ home, creating a safe and clean environment for his family to play and make memories in his yard!
We also had an educational-filled time attending Housing 2.0, led by Sam Rashkin, a luminary in the building industry and the former Chief Architect at the Department of Energy. This pioneering program gave us tools to address challenges like labor and material shortages while achieving significant cost savings and delivering superior homes for our clients. Speaking of our clients…
Our Clients: Partners in Building Dreams
With ten homes under construction this year, serving our clients well was a top priority. From full custom homes like the TX Hill Country Haven, a breathtaking multigenerational Steiner Ranch estate that achieved a negative 30 HERS rating, to the Château du Lac, a French-inspired walkout basement overlooking Lake Travis, each full custom home was a testament to problem-solving and creative solutions, all aimed at achieving the best possible result for our clients. Some of our favorite 'figure it out' moments included individual details like a hidden outlet in a backsplash, finding resourceful alternatives to full-surround copper gutters to save clients’ resources, and collaborating closely with our architect on his personal family home, on all the metallurgy details to create functional yet beautiful steel structural supports for his family's three-story home—a true architectural marvel in a Lake Travis floodplain.
Our semi-custom clients are where our company value of efficiency really shines! Efficiency in design, decision-making, budgets, and energy—this year, we honed in on creating the most value for our clients by building beautiful, personalized, semi-custom homes. Our semi-custom honestly get the best of the best from our team in quality and efficiency, and we’re so happy to continue to offer this process and product to our clients.
Our clients have loved when our creativity shines brightest! Like when designers provide general inspiration and leave it to us to complete and implement the design. For example, we brought together multiple trades to design and install a nine-light custom fixture in the entryway of the TX Hill Country Haven home. We are also grateful for our clients who choose to build in the City of Austin and their willingness and patience as we navigated the permitting and building process in Austin, Texas and the Wildland-Urban Interface (a code implemented in 2020 to help protect buildings and businesses from wildfires).
Not only do our clients get to enjoy these beautiful homes every day, but several of these homes were also recognized by the Greater Austin Home Builder Association (HBA) as Best in Class, from Energy Efficiency to interior and exterior design. The Younger Homes team brought home six HBA MAX awards. Additionally, our client feedback—truly what means the most to us—is showcased in our 5-star reviews on all platforms, including Google and Houzz.
We can’t thank our clients enough for trusting us and our Trade Partners with such a large investment in their family’s lives. From Spicewood to Steiner Ranch, to Central Austin, and out to the North Shore of Lake Travis, we are honored to serve our clients by building their forever homes in the Greater Austin area. Speaking of our Trade Partners…
Our Trade Partners: The Backbone of Our Success
Next, our trade partners—the boots on the ground, day in and day out—serve our clients and our team so well. To us, the word "partner" carries a heavy significance. It speaks of teamwork, trust, and a shared commitment to excellence. Our best trade partners are not just reliable; they are always willing to go above and beyond to work as a team. They put in extra effort and take pride in what we get to build together.
We know our trade partners might not always see the fruit of their labor, but their work is the foundation of our clients' joy, security, and memories within the four walls of their Younger Home. As we look back on many years of partnership with our architect, engineer, and designers, excavator, tree-clearing crew, septic installer, lumber supplier, propane supplier, foundation and framing crew, roofer, insulation crew, stone mason, drywall crew, shower pan installer, HVAC supplier and installer, plumbing supplier, countertop supplier, fireplace supplier, low-voltage contractor, trim supplier and installer, rain harvest gutters and system, we recognize that each of these line items on our clients building specification sheet represents a small business—made up of people just like our team at Younger Homes—who share our core values.
Whether our trade partners have been with us from the beginning or are just forming relationships with us now, any achievements by Younger Homes are a reflection of their commitment to the construction industry. This is an industry that would not be viable without the handcrafted, handmade products produced by each individual on our team and contribute to the larger impact of shaping communities and building a better world through their work. Speaking of our community…
Our Community: A Network of Inspiration
Last, but certainly not least, our community. Our neighbors who make up the neighborhoods we get to build in like The Hollows on Lake Travis and the village of industry professionals we are surrounded by—from our mentors and friends to our family with deep technical expertise in this business. From the outside looking in, I’m not sure how anyone would know just how vast and wide the reach of small construction businesses truly is, but our sphere of influence—and those who influence us—stretches far and wide, and we are honored to be a small part of this community!
Our involvement with the EEBA Builder Benchmark Group has also been transformative, offering opportunities to learn from and collaborate with high-performance builders across North America. This year, Danielle co-authored the Green Builder Media ESG for Building Defining Principles, a framework for integrating Environmental, Social, and Governance strategies into the building industry. These initiatives, alongside events like the Build Show Conference, enrich our craft and remind us of the importance of intentional, sustainable work.
Our company values of putting God and family first, staying humble, being efficient, creative, and set apart are only possible because of these people. No AI, no assembly lines—just made in the USA, the last true handmade product in the world. Many can build a house, but surrounding ourselves with those who appreciate and value the process, the people, and a sustainable, beautiful product is what truly sets us apart and allows us to build homes.
Looking Ahead to 2025
As we move into 2025, we are excited to roll out consulting services to share the Younger Homes difference with others across the United States. This new chapter allows us to help others experience the intentionality and innovation that define our approach to homebuilding.
We are also deeply honored by the national recognition we received this year, including being featured on the Bloomberg Network's World’s Greatest! Have a look at what we shared on national television! It’s now available here to stream (episode 380).
As we exit 2024 and move into the new year, we are delighted by the fact that The Lord has allowed us the space to intentionally form and shape our people, processes, and products into something we are proud to share with the world. In this industry, we have had to constantly remind ourselves not to conform to the patterns of this world but to be transformed every day by the renewing of our minds.
Thank you for joining us on this journey. We are grateful for your support, trust, and partnership as we continue building homes—and a community—that we are proud to share with the world. 2025… we see you, LET’S GO!
With gratitude,
The Younger Homes Team
