Republished with permission from the June 2007 Home Seeker Prime magazine.

‘Building from the dream up’

by Susan L. Neer

Thirty years ago, Great Falls custom builder Wayne Foley made the decision to “go it alone” in the homebuilding business, and leave behind the security of a regular paycheck and the 9-to-5 workday associated with the “big builders.” And several hundred home owners are glad he did.

Wayne Foley fell in love with the construction business while working his way through Penn State University. “Even though I graduated in pre-med,” he said, “I just knew this is what I wanted to do. I just loved the whole process.”

After graduation and a stint in the military, Foley returned to civilian life and with his wife Lyn, started the family-owned business that is today Wayne M. Foley Homes.

During the early years, the small company concentrated on doing production work, much like the big builders. But all along, something kept tugging on Foley's heart strings–his love of design. “I grew up designing and building things with my dad,” said Foley. “It just kept drawing me back, so Lyn and I decided to direct our business toward high-end remodeling and building custom homes.”

Why custom building? Foley said the decision to direct the business toward custom projects was simple: “I'm only 5'7”, and I don't play basketball because I'm no good at it... But I am pretty good at home building.” So, in the late ‘80s, the Foleys turned their attention to custom home building, from the “dream up.”

For more than 30 years now, the husband and wife team, along with their oldest son Shawn, have been working together eight hours a day, every day, breathing life into clients’dreams. Younger son Kyle originally worked in the family business, but recently opted to join “the competition,” Foley jokes.

Wayne does the design side of the business while Lyn helps clients with their custom selections and ordering and handles overall customer service. Shawn oversees the field operations, and long- time friend and company partner Terri Sutton sees to the administrative side of Wayne M. Foley Homes.

Foley says the bottom line for him is quality, both in the homes he designs and builds and in the relationships he forges with clients, colleagues, employees and subcontractors. In fact, he said one of the major secrets of his success is his subcontractors. “Without them, we'd be nothing.” In particular, Foley mentioned TVM Electric and Target Masonry, both of which have been working with Foley Homes for at least two decades. “You create a devotion in the trades, and they in turn, devote themselves to doing a quality job for you and the client.”

Another secret of the success of Wayne M. Foley Homes is accessibility. “Along time ago, I asked a man I think of as my mentor, Irving Adler of Columbia Builders, how he got to be so successful.” Foley said Adler looked at him, grabbed a phone book off the desk and tossed it into his lap. “Look up Irving Adler in there,” he told Foley. “I did, and right there it was, ‘Adler, Irving' with his home address and phone number.” He says Adler then told him that, “‘If, after 30 years in business, you can still leave your home address and phone number right there for everyone to see, then you know you're doing something right.'” Foley is listed in the phone book, and his business card lists his personal cell phone as well.

Obviously Wayne and Lyn are doing something right. Nearly 400 high-end remodels and custom homes later, the couple still live in Great Falls among their friends and clients. Foley says the company rarely advertises because of just that ... friends and past clients are always recommending Wayne M. Foley Homes to someone, and “it's hard to keep up with the phone calls.”

Like many others in the building industry, Foley is turning his attention to green building, starting right in his own backyard. The firm is in final negotiations to purchase property adjacent to its office building in Great Falls. An old farmhouse, nearly a century old, stands on the property currently, and Foley has plans to totally de- construct the house, recycling nearly 80 percent of its contents, thereby not filling up the landfill with debris. The project is on the boards for early fall.

Wayne M. Foley Homes has won numerous accolades through the years, including multiple Finest for Family Living Awards, Builders Spotlight Award awarded by Builder Magazinenaming Wayne and Lyn as one of the top three custom builders in the U. S., life director for National Association of Home Builders, directorship for Northern Virginia Building Industry Association and founding member of the NVBIACustom Builders Council.

Wayne M. Foley Homes can be reached for custom building or remodeling consultations at 703-759-6880, or online at www.foleyhomes.com.

– Susan L. Neer

Read these articles at the Home SeekerPrime.com website:
Click this to read “Fabulous Foleys”
Click here to read “Building from the Dream Up”

Republished with permission from the June 2007 Home Seeker Prime magazine. Written by Susan L. Neer and published by Home Seeker Prime.
© 2007 FoleyHomes.com & Home Seeker Prime. All rights reserved.
http://www.homeseekerprime.com/