Builder/Architect article from February 1998

Join home builder Tim Horning on a driving trip through Archuleta County. Adjacent to fields and forests, where views of the Continental Divide are optimal, he’ll be pointing left, then right, then ahead, directing his companion's attention to a variety of custom homes: “We did those two Southwestern ones . . . and we did the one through the trees over there with the blue roof . . . . coming up on the right, we did that log home . . . ”
     Indeed, after more than 10 years of building custom homes in Southwestern Colorado, Horning and his company, Southwest Custom Builders, Inc., can proudly lay claim to the birth of a great many homes. Easy going and unassuming, Tom Horning is, however, not one to promote himself, “ I’ve spent the last years trying to keep my name out of the paper,” he says. “I don’t like being in the front row.”     
     But front row is where he finds himself. Between producing up to 20 mid-range to high-end custom homes per year (which has catapulted him to the position of number-one builder in Archuleta County), and his recent election as president of Pagosa Springs Chapter of the Home Builders Association, his pleas for anonymity, in all likelihood, will be ignored. When someone rises to the top, people tend to notice.
     The seeds of Horning’s success were sown early on, though his journey to the present has been somewhat non-traditional. Born in the Orient and raised in Alaska, Horning came to the Western business world with a different perspective than most.
     “I was very surprised when I learned the ways of the [continental] United States,” he says. “I knew little about social status, prejudice, and the survival techniques I suddenly came up against. When I saw things happening, I didn’t always understand why they happened. Today, I still refuse to change my morals and values, and I still desire to respect others, as well as earn their respect.”     
     While in Alaska, Horning’s interest in home building was ignited when, at age 16, he took an ax and a chainsaw into the forest and began fashioning log cabins.     
     “It was about creativity,” he says of discovering the craft. “ I like being out in the woods, and I had a piece of property on a lake where I built my first little cabin. I didn't follow a family [tradition]. I learned on my own by creating.”  Horning spent 26 years in Alaska, and utilized his education in accounting and business management to foster a lucrative business in commercial and residential rental property. Then the price of oil plummeted, plunging Alaska into depression. With his livelihood disintegrating literally before his eyes, Horning left Alaska and headed south.     
     “I flew to Phoenix and visited my folks, played some golf, then figured I’d start at the base of the Rocky Mountains, ski my way up and find a little ski town to settle in,” he says. “I’m not a big city kind of guy.”     
     It was 1986 when he rolled into the yet-to-be-discovered Pagosa Springs. Though in a depressed state at the time, Horning recognized the opportunity, knowing that with Pagosa's beauty, it was simply a matter of time before Pagosa Springs and Archuleta County would be “discovered.” He then set about carefully and conservatively establishing Southwest Custom Builders, Inc.
     “You can’t move here,” he says, “set up shop and announce 'Okay, come see me.' You have to pay your dues. We figured it would take five years, but by the third year, we’d become the #1 builder here.”
     Southwest Custom Builders, Inc. is billed as a full-service custom building company which takes on most types of homes, from elegant European style to Southwestern and log homes. The company has built in excess of 100, plus several light commercial projects. Though the styles differ, all have one thing in common: expert craftsmanship with emphasis on creativity.
     “We like to be diversified,” he says. “We don’t enjoy building boxes. We want to build houses that have a sense of architecture to them."
     If given the choice, Horning prefers to take a project from lot selection to final landscaping, though he often works with pre-drawn plans. The most challenging, however, and, he confides, the most fun, are those projects created from abstract visions in the minds of his clients. Horning truly enjoys working with people, giving functional form to dreams.
     “There’s nothing better than to see the look on people’s faces when they see everything they had imagined in their finished house,” he says.
     Designing and building in the Rocky Mountains does have its difficulties, though such challenges often ignite Horning’s imagination. “I don’t like the word can’t - probably makes me madder than anything I hear. When someone says, 'We can’t do that,' my response is, “'How much time did you spend thinking before you made that decision?' I see it all as a challenge.”
     Considering the number of complex structures Horning has built over the years, the challenges have been many. One reoccurring concern in Pagosa Springs is capturing the view without sacrificing energy efficiency.
     “The majority of our views are to the north,” says Horning. “And though exposing a lot of glass on the north side is not typically energy-efficient, a client wants to make the most of that $50,000 lot. With the solar gain to the south, however, we must also integrate this into the plan. There’s always a happy medium, and we endeavor to find it.”
     Horning operates under the assumption that there are solutions to every problem. In answer to the energy efficiency question, he compensates for the abundant use of glass by always using a good quality, “low-E” window. In addition, all walls are insulated with polyurethane foam.
     “My home is 5,300 square feet and my worst heating bill was probably $125 in the depths of winter,” he says, illustrating the savings which, over just a few years, more than justifies the up-front investment in insulation. “If you want to ask somebody who knows, just talk to the propane guy.”
     Satisfied client Steve Heboian, for whom Horning built a home as well as Pagosa’s Sports Page Bar & Grill, attests to an additional advantage of Horning’s insulation beyond efficient heating. “I had an expensive home in California, and you’d always hear the pipes, water running, people upstairs. Here, we never hear anything. It’s terrific.”
     To ensure a high level of craftsmanship and quality, Horning selects his subcontractors carefully. “There’s not a policy written, but everybody knows without question that they need to be just as proud of their piece of the work as we are of the whole house. Every single person on that team has to make it happen, and I’m proud of everyone working for Southwest Custom Builders.” Horning considers his current associates the best in the area.
     One of those top craftsmen who has contributed what has become a signature feature in a Southwest Custom Builders project, is master woodworker Clyde Ketchum. Found in many fine custom homes throughout the area, Ketchum’s world-class woodworking is also on view daily at the Sports Page Bar & Grill.
     “It’s important for us to spend the money locally,” Horning says. “No matter where we build, we try to use local people.” In the event that particular expertise cannot be found locally, as was the case when bringing state-of-the-art audio/video technology to the Sports Page, Horning hires outside consultants - but all are advised that they must work with the local contractor.
     “I tell consultants, "This is what we need from you, but this is the person who’s going to do the work. I want you guys to work together. The first time you don’t, the one who’s not being a team player is gone.'”
     When a project reaches completion, does that mean Horning disappears? Never. Horning stands behind his work for as long as a house remains standing.
     As one homeowner explains, “We had a problem with our fireplaces. Even though the warranty had run out, Tim came down and fixed everything. He backed up the work when the dealer didn’t. He’s always taken care of us.”
     Horning feels such personal responsibility and integrity are essential to doing business, especially in a small town. “When I run into someone in the grocery store,” he says, “I don’t want to feel I have to avoid them. It’s really very simple . . . just do what you say you'll do, in the time you say you’re going to do it, for what you told the people you were going to do it for, and that’s really it. It’s not that we’re the most talented builders in the world. There are other qualified people who miss these very basic rules - and it really is that basic. That’s the reason we’re successful.”
     But there's another dimension to that success, and it goes back to Horning’s ability to read people. He’s very selective about who he takes on.
     “We don’t compete, we don’t bid,” he says. “ I ask myself, 'Do I want to build for these people?' I qualify my potential clients so I can ensure they will be happy when the house is done. Then we build their dream together. If you set up that situation and let it happen through the course of the house, a lasting friendship develops, a bond.”
     Horning will tell you that the client-builder relationship is all about communication, and he doesn’t skimp on the communicating. Potential clients need to be prepared for Horning’s candor.
     “They say, 'My, you are blunt,'” he laughs. “But most people appreciate it. I don’t try to come off as a macho guy, I’m getting too old for that.”
     In all seriousness, he adds, “You’ve got to be open. Once clients know you are on their side, then you’ve got something going. But it’s hard to win a race when there’s a governor on your engine and you can’t put the petal down. So get conflicts resolved right away and then you’re off and running. It can be the difference between a marginal and a good building experience.”
     Horning nurtures his clients by simply listening to them. “I don’t try to impress them with how good we are or tell them what they should do. I just let them talk. In that first 30 minutes, you can do 90 percent of your qualifying.”
     The clients Southwest Custom Builders seeks are “people who truly want to spend a fair dollar for a quality product - have a good time in the process, and want to hang on to everything about that house, including relationships that develop along the way.”
     Though he cuts straight to the point, Horning’s attitude fosters loyalty, which is demonstrated a number of ways, including the continual stream of referral clients. Horning also holds the keys to almost all of the homes he has built, and has an open invitation to show these homes to prospective clients.
     “You can’t buy those keys,” he says. “You have to earn them, and it can’t be done overnight.”
     Horning presently finds himself in a comfortable position, but he is looking ahead. Though it will mean relinquishing his title as number one, Horning intends to scale back, perhaps building as few as six high-end custom homes per year. His reasons are personal, but understandable: He wants to spend more quality time with his young family.
     “I think there are two important things in a person’s life,” he says. “One is, be happy with what you’re doing. Secondly, you’ve got to make enough money to have a decent life without too much hardship . . . the only thing more you can have is good health.”
     And just like the houses he builds, he stands behinds his words. Tim Horning is, indeed , a living example of the adage, “Do what you love and success will follow.”
(Reprinted with permission of Builder/Architect, February 1998.)