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Magleby Named NAHB Custom Home Builder of the Year
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Paul Magleby, Magleby Companies | Paul Magleby, the custom builder for billionaires in the Utah Valley, was named the first NAHB Custom Home Builder of the Year during ceremonies at the NAHB Custom Builder Symposium in Las Vegas last week. The award recognizes Magleby for his active leadership and involvement in the industry and his community.
"It is truly an honor to be recognized by all of you," Magleby said when presented with the award. "I am so grateful to this profession. It is truly my passion."
Magleby, the founder and president of Magleby Companies, Inc., has been in the construction business for 30 years. A graduate of Brigham Young University's construction management program, he has been a member of the Utah Valley Home Builders Association since 1978 and currently serves on the NAHB board of directors.
"I am proud to be associated with NAHB for so long, and going to meetings and bringing back a little each time, " Magleby noted. "I know my staff always dreaded me coming back from the symposium because there would be a whole list of new things for them to do."
Magleby counts among his clients the creators of WordPerfect as well as other prominent — and discerning — customers. Among the multimillion dollar projects his company has orchestrated during the past three decades is a hillside retreat at Sundance, Utah that required a helicopter to lift part of the home in place.
Yet even in the face of these lofty challenges, Magleby’s feet are planted firmly in fine home building.
“Paul is a guy who builds houses for billionaires, but he never forgets the guys who get it done,” said Al Trellis, the first chairman of the Custom Home Builders Committee. “He treats the guy who drives the truck with the same respect.”
“I think the business is just a big extended family in his mind,” said Magleby’s son, Chad, a sentiment echoed by Todd Christensen, the vice president of production who has been with the company almost from the beginning.
“He cares about his employees and their families,” Christensen said.
“Paul epitomizes the word ‘mentor’,” added Brad Simon, of Cottage Homes in Draper, Utah. “It was Paul who approached me as a new member of the HBA, asked my opinions and then, unobtrusively, trained and encouraged me to be a better builder, to care more for my employees and to build a better product for my customers.”
“He is the kind of building professional that others in the industry look up to,” said Deann Huish, executive vice president of the Utah Valley Home Builders Association. “His name and company lend themselves to quality, professionalism, honesty and integrity. These virtues cannot be purchased, but must be earned over decades.”
Magleby supports the construction management programs at Brigham Young University and Utah Valley State College, is a board member of the Utah Valley HBA Foundation and serves on the regional council of the Division of Work Force Services. He also supports Boy Scouts of America and encourages and backs staff involvement in Habitat for Humanity projects. He also is a Gold Key contributor to Build-PAC.
“Paul is one of the last true custom builders who still does a lot of the work himself or has people in his company to do it,” Trellis said. “He builds a lot of very large houses — more than 20,000 square feet,” while adding that the size of each home, or it’s “wow” factor, are not necessarily what Magleby is most proud of. “When he takes you to see these houses, he wants to show you every wire and pipe in the place. That’s his loyalty to the craft of custom home building.”
“He’s a very good businessman and Paul would have been successful in any business, but he’s also a good builder,” Christensen says.
“High quality work” and “a very professional approach to building” are what sold Ron Mika, a private equity fund manager. “He takes a very organized and businesslike approach to communication and hits the schedule completely,” Mika said. Magleby Companies built a vacation home, guest house, garage and barn for the fund manager.
Magleby has also built an award-winning home for his cousin, Daril Magleby. The home earned the People’s Choice Award for Best Overall Home in the 2006 Parade of Homes for his HBA.
“I was incredibly impressed with him and with his company. We worked together for a year and I had a very positive experience,” Daril said.
“I’m very critical,” the cousin continued. “All of the Maglebys have an opinion and we are probably hardheaded. I expected a lot from my cousin. If he had a fault at all, it would probably be that he is too committed to his business.”
Magleby and his wife Cathy have four children and five grandchildren.
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2006 Parade of Homes winner. Photo by Michaelene O’Keefe Photography. |
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Great room in 2006 Parade of Homes winner. Photo by Michaelene O’Keefe Photography. |
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