Homebuilder Mike and interior designer Jodi claim Tampa, Florida as their home base. They wanted to find a vacation home in Western North Carolina, because “It’s beautiful, especially in the fall,” said Jodi. Plus, “We can drive from our house in Florida in about 8 hours (and) It’s an hour from the Asheville Airport to pick up family and friends.”

While searching for suitable lots, they found Sundog Realty agent Mark Brooks’ land listing, and that’s how they discovered Cullowhee and Sundrops on Caney Fork. Sundog Homes was the logical choice for a builder; in addition to building every house in the neighborhood, Sundog Homes also designed, planned, and developed the entire community, including roads, infrastructure, a community water system, and the luxury pool and clubhouse.

“As a builder, I’ve always built my own homes… [and] it was impossible to find an existing home [in Western North Carolina] that we could feel good about. We really wanted a home that we designed,” according to Mike. The Chadwells said they didn’t really have many challenges while their home was being built, but they did know there was a potential for what Mike referred to as “cost escalations”. “Pricing was higher than we initially budgeted,” he said, but the (Buildertrend app) “financial reporting made it clear that the costs were correct and reasonable.”

Working with Sundog Homes allowed the Chadwells to build exactly the house they wanted. “We were very grateful that we were able to create our own house plan. It was very important to us,” they said.

Constant communication between the Chadwells and their project manager, Brent Raynor, was also valuable. In fact, they cited that communication as one of their best moments of the home-building process, along with picking out interior details with our Design Coordinator Brannon Honeycutt, hammering out the contract with our company President David Earley, and working with company Vice President Philip Gamble on their custom design.

Now that they’ve settled into their vacation home, they say they “feel very relaxed in it,” and would recommend Sundog Homes to friends or family members who are in the market for a custom home. “[Sundog has] Good communication, skilled subcontractors… quality homes, and great integrity”.