Built on determination, integrity and hard work...

Carriage Place Homes, Inc. was established by A. Ronald Godfrey in early 1983. The company started with a few homes that Ron and Sharon Godfrey coordinated, doing all the painting, cleaning, selling and administration work themselves. In late 1983 Jeffrey Godfrey started with the company, painting and cleaning the homes.

The company continued to grow and in 1985 Ron and Sharon decided to participate in the Parade of Homes, to be held in the Arlington Park subdivision. Ron helped design a spectacular, all brick, traditional, two-story home with an oval foyer and stairway. The home won second place for interior design.

Then in 1986, Ron built their personal home for the Parade of Homes, again being held in Arlington Park. Also that year, Ron decided to build a second home for the parade. With only 60 days left, framing began. Ron was told by many people the house would never be completed in such a short time. Being the excellent coordinator he was, not only did Ron have the home completed -- even the basement was finished! By this time Jeff was working full-time for the company.

In the spring of 1987, Ron began training Jeff for the position of job superintendent. Jeff went from jobsite to jobsite trying to learn every aspect of the business while still running the drywall and painting division of the company full-time. In July 1987, Ron unexpectedly passed away -- leaving 31 homes under construction; seven of which had homeowners wanting to move into their new homes.

A week and a half later Jeff took over the reins of Carriage Place Homes. Realizing he lacked some of the necessary skills and knowledge to run the company, he proceeded to do the best he could -- remembering the three most important things Ron and Sharon taught him: "determination, integrity, and hard work will help you succeed in any business." This was the beginning of a new era for Carriage Place Homes. Jeff worked day and night, seven days a week, and was able to maintain the number of sales at about 20 per year. In order to concentrate solely on the construction business, he discontinued the drywall and painting division of the company in the spring of 1991.

In 1992, Jeff expanded the range of homes being built to include custom homes, due to customer response to the quality construction. The company averaged around 17 homes per year between 1993 and 1996, with sales around $2.4 million. Even today, Carriage Place Homes still has over half of the same subcontractors and suppliers working on all of its homes. While now specializing in custom homes, every home constructed still maintains the quality of construction Ron Godfrey started back in 1983. With an average of 20 homes per year, Jeff guarantees each home will be completed on time, and offers a 50-name reference sheet to potential clients.

Bette Schuette has been drafting home plans for Carriage Place Homes since 1986 and joined the company as the office manager in 1996.