Schell Brothers wins seven national awards for excellence
Schell Brothers locked up seven national awards during the National Association of Homebuilders’ 29th annual awards presentation in mid-January. The awards were presented during A Night of Recognition, an event to honor the best homebuilders from throughout the nation.
Some of the design and marketing specialists who attended hailed from places like New York, California and Ontario. Professionals from the marketing and architectural industries represented homebuilding industry leaders for whom they had created house plans, brochures, websites and model merchandising.
“This night is bigger than life; it’s like the Academy Awards for homebuilders,” said Christina Wagamon. As the night went on, Schell Brothers emerged as the underdog that everyone in the room began to cheer for, with the emcee playing victory music as the Schell Brothers representatives were called to the stage to accept their first award.
|
Seven national awards
|
|
The seven awards Schell Brothers won include five nationals - two gold and three silver - and two Best in American Living Awards, representing the pinnacle of achievement in residential design.
Awards are as follows: • National Gold Award for best on-the-boards, single-family, detached home for The Milton model by Schell Brothers at Heritage Creek, designed by Rebecca Fluharty • National Gold Award for best interior merchandising for a model priced under $500,000 - Schell Brothers/Echelon Interiors for The Mariner model at the Retreat at Love Creek, merchandised by Joni Hitchens • National Silver Award for best product design for a custom home - Robinson residence by Echelon Custom Homes, designed by David W. Dutton of GMB Architects & Engineers • National Silver Award for best website for a builder - Echelon Custom Homes, developed by Ivana Biela, Jeremy Bell and Mike Brown • National Silver Award for best clubhouse - Independence Hall by Schell Brothers at Independence, Pat Mulligan, project manager • Best in American Living Gold Award for best single-family detached home 1,801 to 2,400 square feet, for the Madison model by Schell Brothers at Heritage Creek • Best in American Living Silver Award for interior design in best community facility 151 units and over, merchandised by Beth Remington |
Schell Brothers won two National Gold Awards: best on-the-boards, single-family, detached home for The Milton model at Heritage Creek in Milton, and best interior merchandising for The Mariner model at The Retreat at Love Creek in Lewes. In addition to the two coveted gold awards, Schell Brothers walked away with three National Silver Awards for best custom home and two Best in American Living Awards.
Wagamon said it’s extremely rare for any builder from Delaware to win a single national award, so for one small Delaware company to win seven in one year is a classic Cinderella story.
“We were so excited to be accepting two gold awards that we were dancing on the stage, and the crowd was encouraging us,” said Joni Hitchens, the Schell employee who merchandised one of the winning models. Schell Brothers designs homes, merchandises models and creates marketing marvels in house by its multitalented team.
“At Schell Brothers, if we want a brochure or advertisement, we make it. When we need a new house plan, we design it. Nothing goes outside, and we’re proud of that fact,” said Wagamon.
Chris Schell left a lucrative career on Wall Street to start Schell Brothers. “Sometime in my sophomore year in college I realized that many people sacrifice happiness in an effort to achieve monetary wealth,” he said. “I promised myself I would never do that. I realized one night that I was doing exactly what I promised myself I wouldn’t. The next morning I made a clean break and decided to pursue a life of and decided to pursue a life of happiness doing what I love: building homes.”
As a result, Schell Brothers was born. Schell said he believes his company remained profitable during the economic downturn by not focusing on profit but by focusing on customer happiness. “While every other builder was reducing the quality and appearance of their homes to cut costs, we stayed focused on maximizing customer happiness,” said Schell. “Everything else just sort of fell into place.”
Ivana Biela was among the Schell employees who attended the event. “Happiness at Schell Brothers is more than a state of mind; it’s how we do business,” said Biela. She explained that company employees are held accountable for creating memorable experiences uniquely catered to each buyer, known as happy stories.
“I am not surprised that the Milton plan won a national award,” said Schell. “Rebecca Fluharty is a master of design, and we are fortunate to have someone with her talent on our team. And Joni’s merchandising magic is unmatched. The whole team is so deserving of these awards.
“This is the best job there is. We provide people with the most important purchase of their life: their home. It’s a very emotional process for the buyer, and if we do our job right, we can channel this emotion and provide the buyer with an immense amount of happiness in the process. Making others happy is still the best way I know to bring happiness to yourself.”
Company proprietors twin brothers Chris and Preston Schell believe in home-building excellence, creative merchandising, community design and responsible land use in coastal Delaware.
For information, go to schellbrothers.com or call 302-226-1994.
