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Chudnow and Mitchell Inducted Into Hall of Fame
In ceremonies during the NAHB Board of Directors meeting in Washington, D.C. on May 6, Wisconsin home builder Joseph Chudnow and 2000 NAHB President Bob Mitchell were inducted into the National Housing Hall of Fame, joining more than 200 individuals who have been recognized for their indelible contributions to the industry.
“Being named to the National Housing Hall of Fame is an honor unparalleled in the housing industry,” said Don Martin, chairman of the National Housing Center Board of Governors and a former president of NAHB.
“Only the people who are the most innovative and involved are chosen to be members,” he said at the 30th Annual Induction Ceremonies, “and each has devoted a significant portion of their life to making a lasting contribution to the industry at the local, state and national levels.”
Joseph Chudnow started in the industry by helping out in his family’s construction business following service with distinction during World War II. His company, Chudnow Construction Corp., expanded to 15 cities across Wisconsin, as well as to other states, including Minnesota and Florida. Along the way, the single-family, multifamily and commercial builder developed one of Milwaukee’s first award-winning inner-city renewal projects, The Parkview.
Chudnow’s interest in providing better tools for builders and the best assurances of quality workmanship to home owners led him to help create the Home Owners Warranty (HOW) program, which enabled builders across the country to protect their buyers from major structural defects.
Known to many as the “father of building codes,” Chudnow was tapped by four successive governors to serve on the Wisconsin Dwelling Code Council. He worked tirelessly to ensure that fair building codes were adopted across the country; he was chairman of the NAHB Construction Codes and Standards Committee; and he was instrumental in creating what is now the International Building Code. He was also on the National Institute of Building Sciences' Executive Committee.
Chudnow served on the NAHB Board of Directors for three decades, and he became a senior life director in 1999. He passed away in 2002.
Bob Mitchell, a home builder and developer based in Rockville, Md., started the Home Builders Care program during his tenure as an NAHB Senior Officer from 1997 to 2001 to showcase the wide range of community outreach activities performed by home builders across the country.
Mitchell has been continuously involved in the home building industry since 1964. In 1975, he, along with partner Lou Best, founded Mitchell & Best. His company has developed more than 4,000 homes in Maryland, Virginia and the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area for move-up and empty-nester buyers, and it has also built 300 moderately priced dwelling units under an inclusive zoning ordinance and developed a large-scale Life Care Retirement Community.
Mitchell & Best has been recognized for excellence in design, construction and environmental/energy concerns with more than 30 First Place awards in the annual Maryland-Virginia Finest for Family Living competition. Mitchell’s company has been voted as “Builder of the Year’ for 13 of the past 15 years by the associates, subcontractors and suppliers of the Maryland National Capital Building Industry Association.
Photos by Herman Farrer
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