Wheatley Associates. Remodeled bathroom in a Roland Park home.
Shelter is one of our most basic needs, but home is much more than just a shelter. A home is a financial and emotional investment, the place where we will gather for birthdays and everydays, where we will welcome family and friends. Home is where we will tuck in our children for a good night’s sleep and then tuck ourselves away from the world. While many builders and remodelers can competently construct shelters, the companies showcased in the following pages understand what it means to reach beyond the structure and craft a home.
Wheatley Associates
“Remodeling a home is like tailoring a suit while someone is wearing it,” says Kathy Wheatley, CEO of Wheatley Associates. As a female-owned remodeling company, Wheatley Associates is able to serve its clients in a unique way—“We do things that a male manager probably wouldn’t think to do,” says Kathy, like sending a cleaning service to tidy the house when a project is complete or supplying clients whose kitchens are being remodeled with makeshift mini-kitchens while the project is under way. “Our core values are family and team spirit, respect, customer satisfaction, and profitability, which all lend themselves to a pleasant and secure environment for our clients.”
Wheatley Associates' farmhouse renovation received awards from the Landmark Preservation Council and the Home Builders Association of Maryland.
Established in 1980 by Kathy’s husband, Gary, a skilled carpenter since high school and now Vice President of the company, Wheatley Associates boasts a 25-year history of seamless additions and successful remodels, most in the traditional style. The firm serves clients from Roland Park up to the Pennsylvania line, with most projects concentrated along the Interstate-83 corridor. According to the Wheatleys, 97% of their work is gained from repeat clients and referrals, a fact that speaks to their talent and experience and supports a solid reputation.
From minor bathroom renovations to master suite creations to exterior facelifts, Wheatley Associates takes on a mix of large and small remodeling projects. The process begins with an initial meeting to gather information from the client on the project and timeframe; a second meeting held at the client’s house allows the company to get a feel for the home and form a project vision. From there, the design team crafts a couple of design concepts from which the client may choose. Construction can take anywhere from two to three months depending upon the size and complexity of the project.
Perhaps the company’s most notable project has been the restoration of the Price-Akehurst House in Monkton, Maryland—the building now serves as Wheatley Associates’ offices and provides potential clients with a tangible testament to the company’s skill. After purchasing the dilapidated property in 2002, the team went to work repairing the integral losses in design and material that the structure had suffered since its construction in 1876. To the Wheatleys’ surprise and delight, underneath the hundred-plus years of wear existed a charming log cabin structure that they were able to clean and preserve. “I love working with older homes,” says Gary, and visitors are encouraged to stop by the transformed historic house to experience first-hand the Wheatleys’ abilities.
Within these beautiful offices, clients will also find a useful array of services—the Wheatley Associates team includes a licensed architect; a certified interior designer; a certified kitchen and bath planner; a certified cabinet space planner; and a registered landscape architect. Not only does the company offer design and remodeling, it also encompasses a plumbing division, Wheatley/Kearns Plumbing & Heating, LLC, and an insurance restoration division, Wheatley/Stroup Insurance Restorations, LLC. Interconnecting these three trades creates a diversified menu of offerings and a stronger business model. “We’re a one-stop-shop,” says Kathy, “giving clients a total package.”
Wheatley Associates: wheatleyassociates.com or 410-329-2500
Post & Beam Design Build
When long-time friends Scott Schubert and Bill Fannin decided to funnel their construction, carpentry, and management backgrounds into a construction firm in 1989, the result was a full-service design build company with a comfortable approach to additions, renovations, and custom homes. The co-workers of Post & Beam are passionate about their work. “I love the challenge of building things, and it’s not just homes. My work involves developing systems, techniques, and teams, too,” says Schubert, who notes that remodeling work can be even more difficult than building a new home. “When pieces need to be added to an existing structure, you can spend a quarter of your day just figuring out how to make them fit.” Over the past 16 years, the team at Post & Beam has become quite adept at figuring circles into squares, so to speak.
This spacious kitchen, dining area, and family room features angular walls, a vaulted tongue-in-grove pine ceiling, oak flooring, and a two-level custom island that mimics the ceiling.
The majority of the company’s work takes place on single-family homes in the Baltimore metro area, with many projects revolving around kitchens and baths. Having teamed up with a wide range of architectural talents during its time, Post & Beam is able to offer clients unlimited style options including contemporary, classic, Victorian, and colonial looks. During an initial meeting with the client, the team gages whether an outside architect should be introduced to the project and, if so, brings in the architect whose work is most compatible with the client’s taste. Then a concept, design with hand-drawn sketches, and budget are developed. “The preliminary design usually doesn’t fit within the client’s price expectations,” says Schubert, “so we work together on both the design and the budget until the two overlap.”
Post & Beam Design Build prides itself on a vast knowledge base of different construction styles and techniques, relying on its subcontractors for specialties like HVAC, electrical, and plumbing work. While subcontractors aren’t needed on all projects, the company has positive, long-time relationships with each of the subcontractors it does use; in addition, a Post & Beam project manager and a lead carpenter always oversee each job. The company’s teams are made up of multi-talented tradesmen who are not only detail-oriented and able to think on their feet but also have a passion for working with their hands. These crews understand Fannin and Schubert’s “perfectionist” approach to construction and appreciate the value of the work they are performing. “That meansdoing it right,” Schubert says, from framing to proportions to aesthetics.
One of the most important things, Schubert notes, is for the client to feel completely comfortable with the details before it’s time to dig. Post & Beam takes care to constantly communicate with homeowners, providing realistic expectations for the project on the timeframe, budget, and construction process. Schubert often jokes to his clients that he “is going to be at their home more than they will during the project–I’ll see their dog more than they do.”
DiZebba & Sons, Inc.
Geaton DiZebba, Jr., was born to build. Literally. A third generation President of DiZebba & Sons, Inc., DiZebba started on the path to designing and building custom homes as a young boy, forming a true understanding of craftsmanship, discipline, and hard work on his father’s job sites. “My dad is a good man, a strict, hard-working man, who showed my brother and I the correct way to do things,” says DiZebba, noting that Geaton, Sr., also learned the trade from his own father, Fioravante DiZebba. After coming to America from Italy, where he worked as a skilled masonry contractor, Fioravante started the company in the mid-1930s along with his sons, offering construction services to the DC, suburban Maryland, and Annapolis markets.
Limestone vessel sinks and honed granite countertops give this custom vanity a natural finish. the master bathroom also features heated flooring made of imported limestone.
“My dad is the company’s secret weapon—he taught me the skills that have been part of our family for generations.” Geaton DiZebba, Jr.’s long, hard apprenticeship with his father has paid off, providing him with the skills and the ability to do top-notch custom home construction on his own. “We do about 45-50% of the work on a project ourselves, hiring sub-contractors only for major trades such as plumbing and electricity,” he says. DiZebba & Sons completes masonry, foundation, trim, framing, and other carpentry tasks. It isn’t even rare to find the company president out on a job site, tool belt slung around his waist, hard at work on a house. “I find working with stone and brick therapeutic.” Still relying on the masonry and construction talents that have been handed down from father to son through three generations, DiZebba combines old-world craftsmanship with state-of-the-art technologies and premium materials.
DiZebba & Sons has developed a strong portfolio of projects including remodeling work at the Watergate Hotel, a 10,000-square-foot custom home on Whitehall Creek, and many other waterfront properties in Annapolis. “We have the ability to work with architects’ plans and the wherewithal to adapt, modify, and massage them throughout the project to accommodate whatever scenarios arise,” says DiZebba. “We are in constant close contact with the homeowner and the team, giving them our attention, respect, and advice.” In fact, DiZebba admits that his favorite part of the job is the interaction with clients, watching them get excited about the project. “I encourage our customers to visit the job site daily.” After all, being on-site, knowing what is happening with every detail of the project, that’s what DiZebba & Sons is all about. Perhaps that’s why Geaton, Sr., who recently retired after over 70 years in the industry, can still be found dropping in on projects, “just to see.”
DiZebba & Sons, Inc.: dizebba.com or 410-349-4612
Lauren Brooks is the assistant editor at ChesapeakeHome.
