TESTIMONIALS
March 20, 2006
Reohr Custom Homes
66 Genesee Street
Auburn, NY 13021
Dear Bob,
As you know (since you sold us our Barden Home), we’ve been in our new home for
about three months now and, to say the least, we are not only extremely pleased,
but also amazed at what a wonderful structure we have.
As you well know from the many months you worked with us during 2005, we took
one of your Barden samples and reworked it about a dozen times in as many ways
as we could to come up with just what we thought we wanted. We were happy then
and are even happier now with the final result. We are especially appreciative
of your patience, skill and tactful help along the way. Since we chose to be
our own General Contractor, your “nursing” of our various efforts along the way
was extremely encouraging. Thank you VERY much.
As for the “product” you sold us, I can only say that with a very few minor
glitches (which were promptly and generously rectified), Barden supplied us with
a real “winner”. The quality of the wood, especially the door and window trim,
has been noted by a number of subcontractors and friends both during the actual
construction and since. We handled a lot of the materials ourselves and
appreciated the overall quality.
One last note: your recommendations of subcontractors were super. With the
one exception (you know who), our schedule flowed well and the quality of labor
pleases us to this day..
I look forward to recommending you and your Barden supplier to friends and
others looking for good service and a good product.
Sincerely and gratefully,
Jim Hughes
Dear Mr. Kleinschmidt:
We have been in our new home just a few months now and wanted to take a minute
to say that the experience of building a new home with Masterpiece Builders
featuring Barden homes was an enjoyable one. Our previous home was also a Barden
built house. Seeing and experiencing the quality of that house and materials
used was a large part of why we selected to build a new Barden home.
From the beginning Wes and Will worked with us on finding a lot, developing a
budget, selecting a floor plan and making any modifications early in the
process. Our Sales guru, Gaye Mayo and our Project Manager, John Wisniewski,
kept us on track. Kristen Schmidt helped us to design a beautiful kitchen. Peter
Hammer's email updates were extremely helpful in keeping us informed of what was
happening and what was scheduled for the following week. Lisa Derrick helped us
to make sure everyone was paid on time and provided copies of all checks and
invoices to us. All the members of the Masterpiece Staff were professional,
courteous and kept our wants in mind at all times.
We were not able to do much of the work and the contractors that Masterpiece
Builders featuring Barden Homes hired to build our home were great! We were able
to be on site everyday and able to meet most of the talented craftsmen who built
our home. They were also very professional and they were kind to answer any
questions we had. They worked quickly and cleanly.
The suppliers Masterpiece Builders featuring Barden Homes recommended were
extremely helpful in working with us to select everything from plumbing
fixtures, lighting, flooring, countertops, kitchen cabinets, garage doors,
exterior and interior doors, etc. We prefer to work with local vendors and
contractors whenever possible and were able to do that with our house.
The Barden drivers were on time with deliveries and very helpful too!
In the end, the house was done by the expected completion date and on budget
too.
Thank you Wes and Kristen, Will, Gaye and John, Peter and Lisa and everyone at
Barden Homes! Great job!
Lavern, Kathleen, Sean and Ryan Dietz
Robert and Carrie Martin
“Barden Homes brings the world of true custom homes into an affordable price
range. Thier unique architectiral design resulted in total satisfaction with the
entire home-buying process from concept to completion. Barden’s design team and
sales support did whatever it took to ensure our satisfaction by going “above
and beyond” to make our “dream” home come true.”
Tom and Maureen Szpara
“The thing that impressed us the most about Barden Homes was that we were able
to act as our own general contractor and call the shots. We got far more for our
money than others were able to offer.”
Lawrence Claus
“As I near the end of the first year in my Barden home, I wanted to send a
note of appreciation for the efforts of your fine company and my dealer.… The
quality of the material and workmanship was simply excellent.… And, most
importantly, the cost-savings from utilizing Barden’s panelized construction
were truly significant over the bids that I received from builders offering more
conventional on-site contruction! I greatly appreciated the way my dealer
supervised the entire construction process, from excavation to trim.… I want to
thank everyone a Barden Homes and McLachlan Builders whose efforts have resulted
in the completion of my “dream home.” I can strongly recommend that any person
contemplating a new home should consider Barden Homes, particularly one built by
McLachlan Builders.”
Tom and Regina Armond
“We purchased a Barden Home for several reasons — a large choice of home
styles and an almost unlimited selection of materials from siding to roofing.
Also we were impressed with the quality of materials used in the construction —
which ultimately provided a sound house. The savings realized by being my own
contractor gave us the ability to maintain costs within our budget. With the
experienced staff available, my wife was able to incorporate her ideas into the
design. After the construction was completed, our daughter and her husband fell
in love with our new Barden Home and decided to buy their own “Barden Dream
Home.” We are truly satisfied with our new homes and sure you will fall in love
with yours also.”
Dear Mr. Barden,
Having a child with disabilities has been a challenge for my husband and I.
Along our journey we have had many obstacles to hurdle, some easier than others.
When it came to the hurdle of choosing a wheelchair accessible home for our son
David we began our journey very apprehensively. We had heard so many horror
stories from many different people. Trying to keep open minds we began our
journey. We began going to open houses, home shows, and looking in the
newspaper. After leaving and looking at different homes we found no builder that
was familiar with creating a wheelchair accessible home for our son David that
we were comfortable with.
On the last day of the Clarence home show we walked into the Barden House and
were greeted by Jeff Heideman. We spent a lot of time talking with Jeff that
day. He was very honest with us and said that he had never designed a wheelchair
accessible home but would be very excited to help us. We were also excited about
the fact that he had a background in physical therapy.
After many meetings with Randy, Pat, Joe and Jeff at your Lockport office we
finally composed a house plan that would meet our son's needs. The last night
that we met with everyone at the Lockport office I had decided that I wanted to
switch David's room to across the house. The drawings were completed and Randy
sat back down with Pat, Joe, and Jeff and redid the floor plan without any
hesitations. At that point we knew that we selected the right company.
Throughout the process we were treated with the utmost professionalism and
consideration. We feel everyone at Barden goes above and beyond to satisfy the
customer. Often people are quick to complain but we felt that we needed to let
you know what a wonderful staff that you have working out of the Lockport office
for you.
Someone asked us if we would do it all again and we replied without hesitation
"only if Barden Homes was the designer". We were so pleased with the outcome of
our home we have spoken to Jeff about having other families with children who
are handicapped view our home.
Thank you for designing such a beautiful home my family, that we will enjoy for
many years to come. If we have any needs in the future we would not hesitate to
call on Barden Homes again.
Sincerely,
Amy L. D'Angelis
Ms. Christine Fire,
It is almost 1 year to the day since we started our discussions with Bruce
Stevens at New Era Development. I still can remember his call while I was in Las
Vegas on a business trip and he told me we could buy the custom designed home
based on the plans we had supplied. After many months of searching, we had just
about given up on our “dream” since all other quotations were well over budget.
(these included stick built, modular and even other panel construction
companies). He revived our dream based on a realistic budget and assured me even
after my disbelief and questioning that it could be done. Because of the unique
concept offered by Barden, where I was able to act as the General Contractor;
today we are now enjoying every minute in our beautiful new home!
I could go on and on about all the things that went right and bore you to death
but suffice it to say that the home we now have moved into is so much more than
we could have ever imagined. We lived with the custom plans, discussed them with
so many before Barden! I knew every detail and how it would look. Today when Ann
and I walk through the doors, we still can’t believe we did it. Certainly it
would have not been so without New Era Development and the Barden team. I even
had discussed the same set of plans with another Barden representative and again
our hopes were dashed. Then Bruce called made things right. He may even recall
my disbelief and continued questioning as to “How can New Era do it when the
others were way over our budget”? In my opinion it has all to do with Lou
Olson’s integrity and his long-term goal of asking a fair price for designing a
great quality product. I found his approach to be unique compared to the other
contractors going for “what the market will bare”. It speaks to why he is
building when others are not!
We have had more compliments on this house and it’s uniqueness than I can speak
of and we always comment about the success we had. The past cold winter, the
lack of heat, no water and delays that were upsetting and unforeseen were all
overcome and after them all, we now look back at them as minor and
insignificant. This was my first experience building a home, and because of New
Era I learned a great deal and I enjoyed the process too!
Ann and I will not forget all they did, the friendly manner in which business
was conducted and we hope long after this house has been well lived in that we
will remain in touch! I know doing what your company does is not easy and comes
with years of experience and much patience. It shows and we are glad we didn’t
give up on our “Dream”. Thanks to Barden and New Era for making it happen!
Sincerely,
Peter and Ann Tomasino
Dear Mr. Gelder,
We would like to take this opportunity to let you know what a great experience
we had designing our home with Joe McCombes. From the moment we met Joe we felt
very confident that he would be able to be sensitive to our needs and at the
same time achieve our desired results. We were apprehensive about building a new
home; however, Joe calmed our fears by explaining everything and answering our
many questions. One of the things that attracted us to work with Barden was the
idea that we could do some of the job ourselves (which we did) and save money;
therefore, enabling us to buy more of a house. Joe helped to make this a very
enjoyable experience for us. The coordinated timing of each phase and Joe’s
consistent efforts paid off. Our house was finished at a surprisingly quick
pace, and we are now living in our beautiful home (we closed just before
Christmas), and loving every inch of it. We cannot say enough about Joe McCombes.
He made our dream become reality. He is also very knowledgeable, helpful,
friendly, and a pleasure to work with. We feel lucky to have met and worked with
Joe; and we will definitely recommend him (and Barden Homes) whenever the
occasion arises.
Sincerely,
Beth and John DeLellis
Joe McCombes,
As the Code Enforcement Officer of the Town of Pendleton, I had the opportunity
of working with Joe McCombes and Barden Homes for several years. When my wife
and I decided to design our retirement home, I felt confident giving our plans
to Joe; who is an honest, caring and highly professional man. Our home was up
and enclosed in a couple of weeks. John Dickinson did a great job coordinating
our co-op program with Barden. We were able to save several thousand dollars by
installing the insulation, hardwood floors, interior painting and design and
complete the landscaping. I also designed and installed all of the trim,
vanities, counter tops, bookcases, porch, deck, and tool shed. We found complete
satisfaction with Joe, his staff, and Barden Homes. I personally would recommend
them to anyone considering buying a new home.
Yours truly,
Eileen Belling
Dear Mr. Gelder,
We are writing this letter to express our appreciation and gratitude to Joe
McCombes of Barden Homes for helping us designing our first home. After years of
renting and saving what we could, we began what we thought would be a long and
difficult search for our own house. In our search we came across Joe’s model
home in Pendleton. Even though people traffic was heavy, Joe took the time to
tell us about Barden in detail. We were thrilled at all the house Joe could give
us for the money! Soon after we chose Joe and Barden as our designer, Joe took
us through every step of the process from finding a lot to choosing counter
tops. He helped us design a floor plan for our expanded “Wellington” that met
our needs and desires perfectly. His vision and experience were invaluable as we
faced many decisions along the way. In October we moved into our new home and we
would not be there without Joe. He was our middleman to the contractors as well
as our 24-hour answer person. Joe was a tremendous help. We are both very happy
to say that we’re overjoyed with our new Barden home. We would e happy to
recommend Joe McCombes and Barden to our friends. We also would like to thank
the people at Barden for designing a quality home and to Joe for making the home
of our dreams a reality.
Sincerely,
Sharon and Richard Anderson
Dear Mr. Gelder,
We would like to take this opportunity to express our deep appreciation and
gratitude that we have for Joe McCombes and his staff. Construction on our
Barden Home was completed at the end of January 2000. We are enjoying our new
home, and the continued support we receive from Mr. McCombes. He truly is an
asset to your organization. Throughout the process, Joe McCombes made himself
available to our needs and questions. We could not be happier with his continued
patience and diligent professionalism. We felt complete confidence in him at all
times. He truly is an asset to your company.
Sincerely,
Charlie and Amy Foster
Dear Mr. Gelder,
It has been about fourteen months since I took occupancy on my new Barden house,
which is a modified Ethan Allen II. I can certainly speak well of the materials
and design of the Barden package. The quality of workmanship is quite good, as
well. What I am writing to relate to you, however, is the outstanding attention
and service I have received from my dealer, Joe McCombes. Joe’s attention to
detail began with the project’s inception and continued through moving day. He
has continued to be of service to me as any needed adjustments or concerns have
arisen. I told Joe when we first began to work together that my measure of a
dealer was not whether problems developed, as they will on a project of this
magnitude, but the dealer’s diligence and dedication to solving those problems
to the customer’s satisfaction. Joe has not once disappointed me in this regard.
From minor adjustments on materials, to drywall repairs, to a protracted problem
with the landscaper/grader, he has been a tireless problem-solver and advocate.
Joe fulfills his promises. During the planning and construction phases Joe kept
me fully informed. His attention to detail made keeping track of payments to
subcontractors and reviewing their work relatively painless. Joe’s choice of
subcontractors was excellent. He has built a solid team who understand Joe’s
expectations and work together as a team reducing the overall construction time
and re-work. Joe will prosper in this business, as his name and integrity become
known. Should I buy again in this area, Joe would most likely be my first and
sole source.
Cordially,
Larry C. Johnson
Dear Paul,
Bill and I would like to thank you for the beautiful home you designed for us.
We are especially thankful for the extra effort you made to get us into the home
in “record time” especially for a custom home company. The Barden product itself
is noteworthy however; the subcontractors you chose were like extra “icing on
the cake”. They took special care to insure that no detail was left undone or
handled in an unprofessional manner. We applauded them as well. If ever any
future customer were interested in a Barden Home with you as the general
contractor, our experience would say,”Paul Game is the best”. Thank you again
for your efforts, we can’t thank you enough.
Very truly yours,
Esther Gulyas
Dear Mr. Maunz,
We are writing to express our sincere appreciation of the outstanding work done
by Mr. Joseph McCombes, Landmaster Corporation. On Saturday, August 23, 1997 we
moved into our new Barden home. Already we are very happy with the spaciousness
and quality workmanship of the house. This is a dream come true for us and we
couldn’t have done it without Joe’s involvement. Briefly, Joe played a role of
more than just a dealer. He moved us into the model home program and as a result
we were able to have several extra amenities built in. He is a great person to
work with and we can’t say enough about his conscientious, sincere, and
hardworking ethic. Joe is certainly a person one can trust to get things done.
Strangely enough, after having our previous home up for sale for nearly nine
months and after two real estate firms failed, Joe was the one who sold our
home. He advised another family he knew of our house, the location, and the
availability of an assumable mortgage. They would never have come to us if it
weren’t for Joe and we would still be dreaming of the day we might be able to
get into the new house. We just felt compelled to let someone in the Barden
organization know how good a job Joe is doing. You should be proud to have him
representing your company. Please make sure Joe gets the recognition he deserves
for all of his efforts, thank you very much.
Sincerely,
Dan, Dana, and Sarah Green
Dear Barden & Robeson Corp.
I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank you and the Crestline Window Co.
for standing behind the window warranty. I would also like you to know what a
pleasure it has been dealing with your company, Tom Pollack and David Balanda.
Everyone involved has been very helpful from the very start of planning the
house to following through on the replacement of the defective windows. We are
very proud to be the owners of a quality home by by Barden and Mr. Balanda. We
cannot say enough about the superior quality of all the materials that went into
our home and we show it off every chance we get. Mr. Pollack is an excellent
representative for your company. He was very helpful through the planning and
designing of our home. Whenever something needed to be done, Tom was always
there to be sure that it was done in a timely manner. Thank you again for our
beautiful Barden & Robeson home.
Sincerely,
Joan Duff
Now that our house is complete and we have been in it for 9 months, we would
like to share our experience working with you and Barden Homes. Our decision to
use Barden Homes, rather than an independent home builder, was based on the
following factors:
We believed that Barden’s material costs would be lower because of their
purchasing power; volume discounts they receive from manufacturers. We used the
same products in our Barden Home that we would have used with an independent
builder, including Marvin Integrity windows, Hardy cement fiber siding, Corian
countertops, HomeCrest cabinets, oak flooring, stairs, and railings, and Georgia
Pacific engineered wood floor joists and LVL beams, and found the pricing from
Barden to be better than from any of the independent contractors we me with. We
liked having a large reputable company standing behind our home. Barden’s office
staff in Cortland was professional and responsive, and always there to answer
the phone when we called with a question- not out on a jobsite. Any problems we
have had to date have been addressed by Barden promptly and without question,
and we like knowing that Barden will be there should questions or problems arise
in the future. We believed that the construction of framed wall assemblies in an
indoor, well equipped workshop in Barden’s Cortland plant, for delivery and
erection on the jobsite, would offer quality advantages over constructing these
same assemblies on the jobsite. The timing of our project resulted in framing
beginning in January. Because the wall assemblies, roof trusses, and other shell
components were delivered to the jobsite ready for erection, our house was
framed and enclosed within a few weeks after construction began. We trusted Bob
Reohr. Bob worked with us throughout the process, and acted as our
representative working with Barden and with the independent subcontractors on
the project. Bob followed the construction process closely, and was onsite
frequently if not daily to ensure that materials had arrived, subcontractors
were working, and the work in general was proceeding as planned. Bob seemed
genuinely concerned with us being totally satisfied with our home buying
experience. We are very happy with our new house, and would recommend Barden
Homes, represented by Reohr Custom Homes, to any family looking to build.
Very Truly Yours,
David L. Elwyn P.E.
Susan Elwyn
Barden, I would like to take this opportunity to let you know what a great
experience we had designing our home. We are very confident that you would be
able to be sensitive to our needs and at the same time achieve our desired
results. We cannot say enough about Barden Homes our dream became reality.
Sincerely
Beth & John DeLillis
Dear Barden,
I would like to thank you for the beautiful home you designed for us. We are
especially thankful for the extra effort you made to get us into the home in:
record time: especially for a custom home designer.
Very truly yours,
Esther Gulyas
Dear Fred, Theresa and Staff,
Thank you again so very much for the beautiful flower arrangement, it makes a
beautiful centerpiece. Thank you for everything that you’ve done for us over the
last year. We wouldn’t be in the house with out you!
Kim & Dale Berger
Dear Fred,
Thank you for guiding Lynn and I through this complicated process of designing
our home and making it a reality. As I approach the house I remember your words
– “home”—I’m home! Marsha, Lynn and I enjoyed the dinner out, it certainly came
at a good time and so thoughtful of you. Stop in please.
Fondly,
Margie Miller
Dear John,
This is to thank you, and to provide you with this letter of recommendation for
the wonderful job you did in buying our Barden home this year. Your help and
leadership in the design, siting, acquiring permits, sub-contractor selection
and construction oversight resulted in our first new home being a home of
distinction on Chenango Lake. The Barden Home quality is first rate. Your price
estimating, timing and though there has not been much need, your after service
and follow through has been exemplary. You are truly a man of great honesty and
integrity. It has been a pleasure working with you. We are very pleased to give
you and Barden Homes our highest recommendation. Please feel free to use us as
references. We are very satisfied customers!
Sincerely,
John and Gail Hunt
Dear Kevin,
I would like to commend Barden Homes on the completion of our new home on Tully
Lake. The materials and construction are of high quality; the construction
process was quick and allowed us to be in our new home for a major family event
that was planned for the end of June. I would highly recommend the panelized
method of construction- we feel the quality was first rate in addition to
completing the house in a much shorter period of time. The process of selecting
the materials was easy, given the multitude of choices; the dealer, Tom
Niederhofer, was in close contact as the process moved forward. Tom did an
exceptional job in keeping us informed as we made a few changes to the plans, as
the construction was under way. We felt very comfortable with the construction
process in spite of being in Arizona during the construction. Given the
outstanding location we began with on the lake, the results were excellent.
Please feel free to use this letter as a reference. We look forward to spending
many years at the lake in this wonderful home!
Sincerely,
E. Thomas Billard
Dear Mr. Tomko,
This is to share our experience with you in designing our first new home this
year. We evaluated and selected Barden Homes as a result of pursuing an
advertisement John Hunt, Creative Building Services, had placed in our local
paper. We toured your factory in Homer and looked at several Barden Homes at
various stages of completion in Cortland. The quality we were looking for was
very apparent, and we decided to proceed with purchasing a Barden Home. The
attached unsolicited letter of recommendation for Mr. Hunt says it all. If you
provide recognition to your dealers, we would like to nominate Mr. John Hunt for
Barden’s Dealer of the Year. We would emphasize John’s exemplary character. It
truly was a good experience working with him. He is an outstanding
representative of Barden Homes. The Barden Home quality is first rate. Your
design staff was very helpful. The only glitch we experienced was in your
administrative area dealing with your internal accounting processes. Net, we are
very pleased to give Barden Homes our highest recommendation. Please feel free
to use us as references. We are very satisfied customers!
Sincerely,
John and Gail Huhtala
Dear Mr. Gelder,
My wife and I felt it was absolutely necessary to express our appreciation and
sincere thanks to the Barden Professionals that made our dream home a reality.
Prior to designing with Barden we visited a countless number of other builder
models. The Barden Homes consistently stood out from the others for quality and
craftsmanship regardless of the value of the home. Your program enabled us to
save money without sacrificing quality or expectations. There are two
individuals that we must personally recommend; Joe McCombes and Ralph Dufour. It
is easy to see why Barden has been so successful with the professionalism of
individuals such as Joe and Ralph. I cannot list the number of times they put
aside what they were doing to address our concerns. The result was always the
same…they met or exceeded our expectations. Before buying we had heard a lot of
nightmare stories about building a house. Joe and Ralph, along with the
professional crews they work with, made our experience a pleasure. Ralph was
diligent in his progress towards a timely completion with a genuine concern for
our satisfaction, and when Joe came through for a follow up, we could not find a
significant thing wrong with our house. We cannot say enough about their level
of commitment to us and our appreciation of that commitment. Thanks to everyone
at Barden that made 6508 Amy Lane a reality. Please feel free to use us as a
reference to anyone considering a Barden Home.
Sincerely,
Brad Cherry
Scott and Julie Lynch
“ We are now living in our second Barden Home. Barden gave us the opportunity to
buy the home we really wanted at a price we could afford. Designing your own
home is not for everyone, but those with a sense of adventure and willingness to
learn will benefit greatly from the Barden package. We are very grateful to Mike
and Kris Bierer for introducing us to Barden. They helped us to achieve the
dream and vision of our new home. Being our own builder allowed us to do it our
way! We wouldn’t change a thing. Happy Building.”
Mike and Marie Bleau
“ An exciting and pleasant experience from start to finish – from selecting a
house site and house plan, making floor plan changes, to the unlimited choices
which made our home exactly what we wanted. The friendly and courteous people at
Barden Homes and Vermont Built, INC. made us feel comfortable and were nothing
less than professional and responsive. We just want to have everyone who had
anything to do with our new home over for dinner to thank them for a most
pleasant experience. The personal attention given by Paul Truax and his family
at Vermont Built, Inc. was phenomenal. Our decision to buy with Barden was made
when we met Paul and his wife, Colleen, for the first time, with their grandson,
Alex, in tow, at one of their projects. We were sold as soon as we seen the
quality of materials and workmanship, which were very evident since we
previously had met with several other contractors. We cannot thank Barden Homes
and Vermont Built, Inc. enough for want we now call home.”
Tom and Maureen Szpara
“ The thing that impressed us the most about Barden Homes was that we were able
to act as our own general contractor and call the shots. We got far more for our
money than others were able to offer.”
Robert and Carrie Martin
Barden Homes brings the world of true custom home buying into an affordable
price range. Our unique design needs resulted in total satisfaction with the
entire home-buying process from concept to completion. Barden’s design team and
sales support did whatever it took to ensure our satisfaction by going “above
and beyond” to make our “dream” home come true.
Lawrence Claus
As I near the end of my first year in my Barden home, I wanted to send a note of
appreciation for the efforts of your fine company and my dealer… The quality of
the material and workmanship was simply excellent… And, most importantly, the
cost savings from utilizing Barden’s panelized construction were truly
significant over the bids that I received from builders offering more
conventional on-site construction! I greatly appreciated the way my dealer
supervised the entire construction process, from excavation to trim. …I want to
thank everyone at Barden Homes and McLachlan Builders whose efforts have
resulted in the completion of my “dream home.” I can strongly recommend that any
person contemplating an new home should consider Barden Homes, particularly one
built by McLachlan Builders!”
