Tuesday, February 28, 2012

"The Oregon Dream" House #3 - Progress Photos

Here are some recent development photos:

In the works...

Don't try this at home kids!

The team hard at work.

Kelly Ritz on-site!

Monday, February 20, 2012

Kelly Ritz of Stone Bridge Homes Participates in 2012 Street of Dreams

Kelly Ritz, President
Some dreams do come true.  When Kelly Ritz was a kid, she said, "I wanted to have my own business, so I could be in charge."  It didn't happen overnight, but in 2006, Kelly founded Stone Bridge Homes NW, an Oregon home building company, where she's president. This year Stone Bridge Homes NW will, for the first time, participate in the NW Natural "Street of Dreams" home show with its house named "The Oregon Dream."

Kelly enjoys the hard work that's turned her childhood desire into reality.  She started out on a solid entrepreneurial foundation, running her own cheesecake/catering company while attending law school. She took her first career job at a Portland downtown law firm and specialized in real estate law than The Home Builders Association as a real estate attorney and lobbyist. She framed out her early career at Venture Properties, a land-acquisition company where she worked her way up to president and later a vice-president at Don Morissette Homes. Kelly has built a reputation as one of the most knowledgeable people in the industry regarding land acquisition.

Since the 1970’s, The Homebuilders Association of Metropolitan Portland has hosted the Street of Dreams home show to showcase luxury homes that display cutting edge home building and design trends.  For this year’s 2012 Street of Dreams, Northwest builders are putting up eight custom homes at picture-esque Teresa's Vineyard located in West Linn, OR.  The event will begin the last week of July and the homes will open to the public for a viewing through the 4th week in August (a nice way to spend a weekend afternoon, by the way).

Stone Bridge Homes has adopted solar and sustainable building practices as one of it signatures.  In 2010, its construction team received Sustainable Homes Professional certification from the Earth Advantage Institute. This six-month program helps participants develop the technical skills and knowledge required to design and build high-performance structures.  All of Stone Bridge Homes’ are built to Earth Advantage silver standard or higher.  This means the homes are built for more efficient energy usage, increased insulation, window efficiency, air ventilation system, ductwork design & seal and include many other sustainable features. The company specializes in building semi-custom homes, giving buyers a wide choice of floor plans including individual buyer identified modifications and upgrades. Stone Bridge Homes NW has communities located in Forest Grove, Lake Oswego, Tigard, and Wilsonville in the greater Portland area, as well as in Bend and Eugene.  Above all, Stone Bridge Homes NW is a local Oregon builder dedicated to customer service, including close communication with sales representatives from the first meeting and during the entire building process.

If you're thinking of building a home, remember the principal Kelly Ritz uses for big decisions:  "Be smart and keep the ultimate goal in mind."

Thursday, February 16, 2012

The Beginning of the Dream...

Here she is! Not much of a looker right now but rest assured this will be a beautiful home! Stay tuned and follow up via e-mail or RSS to the right!