“When the kids at school used to talk about what they planned to do during their summer vacations, I used to think, ‘What’s a summer vacation?’” shared Don Messick of Robert L. Messick Builder/Developer, one of the region’s premier and most esteemed homebuilders. The reason that the concept was so elusive to Don and his brother, Rob, is that when their classmates were taking trips, going swimming, playing sports and sleeping late, the Messick boys were on-site, helping founding-father Robert build the future of residential Salisbury.
“I must have been in the second or third grade,” Don recalled, “and I can vividly remember Rob and I having to grab each end of an eight-foot two-by-four in order to stack it on a pile of other two-by-fours. Neither of us alone could do it; we were that young and small.”
Today, the two laugh off their childhood sacrifices because it was precisely those sacrifices that fashioned them into the master builders they would come to be.
“Our apprenticeship as builders started lower than low,” Don said with a slight smile and an even slighter hint of pride. “We did it all from the bottom up. Eventually, Rob and I could do drywall, masonry, plumbing, electrical work, flooring, roofing, siding, trim, install windows and doors… you name it; we did it.”
That’s no doubt the main reason that the siblings born two years apart didn’t even blink in hesitation when it came time to launch the company’s newest division, Messick Home Improvements.
“Staying robust in this industry requires many things,” averred Don, who is in his second year as president of the Eastern Shore Building Industry Association. “It requires talent, an impeccable work ethic, a good reputation, diversification, flexibility, and communicating to the client the sense that you’re really listening and that you’re not just in it for the money.”
With such a philosophy, one may only conclude that Messick Home Improvements is destined to become the equal of Robert L. Messick Builder/Developers in stature. Whether it’s inside or out, from top to bottom, Messick Home Improvements has the track record and expertise to bring in your upgrade on time, on budget and exactly according to your specifications.
“We’ve deliberately structured the home improvement division,” Don shared, “so that we have the time and the personnel to take on any job. Nothing is too big or too small.”
That means that the Messicks are not only capable of completely renovating every single square foot of a 4,000-plus-square-foot house, like they did for Joe Bozick’s beautiful home on Riverside Pines Court in Salisbury, but are also equally ready to redo your half-bath or kitchen, finish your basement, build you a deck, porch, shed, enclosure, sunroom or virtually anything else you can imagine.
“Heck, we’ll even build a custom-made doghouse if that’s what the client wants,” Don added. “When we say no job is too big or too small, we’re speaking literally.”
And while we’re speaking literally of big jobs, the Messicks are well under way in their expansion of one of the area’s landmark and unequivocally most beautiful residential communities, Steeplechase in Salisbury.
Filled with quiet cul-de-sacs, open spaces and superlative manicures, Steeplechase is something beyond exclusive… it’s virtually majestic. And though every home bears the timeless brick imprimatur of a Messick design, no two are at all alike (thanks in no small part to skilled resident draftsman Greg Grieser). Each is a singular showpiece in its own right. Add to this the blissfully peaceful composition and the sense of communal responsibility and pride that the neighbors share, and Steeplechase emerges as a respite of quintessential Americana on Crooked Oak Lane.
Section 6 — with its 30 wooded lots — is already complete but mostly sold, though the builder says there are still several lots available. The 40-lot Section 7, meanwhile, is moving along according to plan and is scheduled for completion by the end of summer 2009. When all is said and done, Don advises that Steeplechase will have doubled in size, which is great news for Salisbury.
Given the Messicks’ talent, experience and work ethic, it’s obvious why they — or anybody else for that matter — would be successful. What that magical combination of virtues doesn’t explain, however, is how the Messicks manage to be at the very top of their field year after year — proven as they have been repeatedly voted “Best Builder” in Metropolitan Magazine’s Annual “Best Of” Reader’s Poll.
“I think it probably comes down to family,” shared Don, who, for a moment, put aside his charmingly self-effacing sense of humor in favor of earnest contemplation. “I think what makes this family very lucky is that we all just really get along with each other. Sure, we’ve had a disagreement or two over the years, but whether we’re talking about my father or Rob, we’ve just always been in each other’s corner. And in the end, whether it’s good times or bad, that’s what’s gonna get you through.”
Robert L. Messick Inc., 106 Morris Mill Rd., Salisbury, Md.,
410-742-8072, www.rlmessick.com
