By JULIE CARLE
BG Independent News
A home building company with roots in Ohio’s Amish region is expanding its reach into northwest Ohio.
Capstone Custom Homes, based in Jeromesville, was officially welcomed to Bowling Green on Friday. The Bowling Green Chamber of Commerce hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the company’s foray into building custom homes in the Bowling Green and northwest Ohio area.
“We are excited to be a part of the Bowling Green community and service northwest Ohio, expanding our service area,” said Dina Greenawalt, director of sales and business development.
The company is a third-generation family business started by the Ben Weaver family in the 1970s. The goal from the start was to provide quality and craftsmanship in custom-built homes. The mission hasn’t changed.
“Grandpa, who had grown up Amish but was no longer Amish, was a farmer and then he realized there was a need for quality housing in the Wooster area,” said Andrea Martin, vice president of Capstone. “He had good relationships with the labor base known for quality work” and relied on their skills for building the company’s custom homes. Capstone was a spinoff of his company.
“My dad, aunts and uncles were the next generation to pick it up. They all had a part in building the company,” said Capstone President John Weaver.
The generation that is running Capstone now are the grandchildren, who remember riding around with their faither checking on jobs and being part of the summer paint and landscaping crews.
Capstone chose the Bowling Green area because of the potential and because it falls within the two-hour radius that they cover from their Jeromesville location.
“Talking with our subcontractors who are our partners and other people in the construction business, they all were telling me Bowling Green is surprisingly good. There is demand, and positive things are happening here,” said John Weaver.
By adding the location at 13025 Jerry City Road, Cygnet, which had previously been owned by K. Hovanian and Wayne Homes, they can create another radius for building homes.
The company can build homes that range between about 900 square feet to 3,600 square feet. People can choose from the base plan that includes features and finishes. The company’s goal is to build a custom house that includes the finishes and features they want.
Home costs start at about $200,000 for the small ranch home, which doesn’t include the cost of the land.
Often builders expect customers “to fit inside their box,” John Weaver said. “They don’t have the level of customization that we’re willing to do.”
“We try to make it so that people don’t have to upgrade to all the other things if they don’t want to,” said Brian Weaver, vice president of operations. “But being custom, we can do just about anything.”
At the Cygnet site, one section of the building features a complete design center. There are also two model homes for prospective buyers to view—a ranch and a two-story home. The company plans to add other model options on site.
“Often with smaller builders, they send you to different vendors to get your granite, tub, and fixtures,” said John Weaver.
Capstone Custom Homes offers more of a one-stop shop, Martin said. “Because a lot of our homeowners are people who work all day, they don’t have a lot of time to take off to do all these extra meetings. We try to shorten that process as best we can.”
Some customers walk in and pick a house as is; that’s all they want. Others want to customize their home in the million-dollar range. “Our customers are special. We just want to be flexible with how our process works,” Martin said. “So it’s fun to get to serve all those different types of homebuyers.”
Because people’s lives are busy, the company’s process also tries to reduce the number of times a customer has to come to the building site. Instead of choosing features during construction, Capstone helps customers make those choices up front.
“We want you to be able to relax while we are building your house so you don’t have to come in a million times,” explained Brian Weaver. “We’re trying to offer a quality-built home at a fair price, with the fact that we can customize so you get what you’re looking for.”
We are very, very happy to have you in town,” said Jim Phares, Civista Bank vice president, commercial lender. “The timing is right. We are coming off a really good week here in Bowling Green. We passed our school levy, which is going to propel the city even further.”
“I know we have great opportunities to get homes in Bowling Green,” said Bowling Green Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Mary Hinkelman. “One thing Bowling Green does need is more housing and at different levels, so those people who are first-time buyers and those who might be downsizing and everybody in between will have the opportunity to get the home of their dreams. That’s what we are hoping for from Capstone.”
For more information, contact Dina Greenawalt at 419-368-8108 or Dina.Greenawalt@mycapstonehome.com.
