Sotherby Homes Cleans House at Texas Star Awards

Sotherby Homes Receives Grand Award and Seven Star Awards

The Texas Association of Builders presented the 2003 Grand Award for a Mid-Volume Builder to Sotherby Homes at the Star and Lone Star Awards Banquet in Dallas on October 18th. This highly coveted Award is given annually to recognize excellence in building and to reward innovation, creativity and flair. The Grand Award is the highest honor a builder can received from the Texas Association of Builders.

The Star Award for Best Product Design $400,000-$500,000 was earned for a Rolling Ridge home of nearly 6,000 square feet. A chandelier housed in a magnificent wood structure in the entryway, a media room assuring the best seat in the house, and a unique island shape separating the kitchen area ­ leaving one side to cooking and one side to leisure ­ are just a few of many impressive details in this design.

Another Star Award, for Best Interior Merchandising $325,000-$400,000, honored a Custer Meadows model in Allen. Interior design elements of wrought iron railings, dark wood floor colors, and a floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace complement the bold Old World feeling of the exterior.

In addition, Sotherby was honored with a Star Award for Best Showroom/Sales Center. As visitors enter the Sotherby Homes design center in Dallas, they are greeted by a warm stone fireplace and a realistic resemblance of a new home with amerities. Although the center is smaller than most, it uses a keen sense of space to entice visitors, and even includes a children¹s area complete with TV and VCR.

Another Star Award was given for Best Black & White Ad by a Builder, created by mundayMorning Creative Group. The ad¹s image of a crowd of people stopped in their tracks in a neighborhood and staring at a Sotherby Homes product was designed to pull Dallas Morning News readers into the ad, visually and with its creative headline ­ "It must be a Sotherby".

The Best Sales Brochure shows the same attention to detail Sotherby gives to its homes, with its large format, paper selection, imagery and printing working together in a piece that boldly stands on its own, portraying the feeling of strength and integrity Sotherby Homes possesses as a builder.

The Star Award for Sales Manager of the Year went to Lisa Dritschler. Experience in land development and homebuilding gives Dritschler a unique perspective into what it takes to be successful in this business. Throughout her 15 year career, she has concentrated on treating all people professionally and respectfully. She sets the expectations up front and keeps them there through the buying process, giving the buyer confidence in their process and her professionalism.

Jay Hankla received the Star Award for Sales Professional of the Year for a Mid Volume Builder. Hankla works on the premise that a salesperson should be accessible, up front and honest at all times with the client and understand the emotion involved in the home buying process.

The Texas Association of Builders is a non-profit organization with more than 10,000 members, serving the needs of builders and remodelers statewide, as well as the companies that service them. The Star Awards and Lone Star Awards are presented annually to honor the best in new building, remodeling and restoration.