Business View - December 2014 45
philanthropists, having built more than 4000 homes
and many other commercial and multi-family develop-
ments. It is impossible to turn around in the Fayette-
ville area and not see the impact the Huffs have had
on this community. Building and land development
was not the original plan, Ralph simply wanted to help
homeowners find a place they could call their own.
As a young man, Ralph focused on real estate, sell-
ing homes for decades in the Fayetteville area to many
of the 55 thousand soldiers and families stationed at
nearby Fort Bragg. To him, he saw it as his responsi-
bility to find the perfect home for so many of our na-
tion’s heroes, who have to spend a great deal of time
away from their loved ones. While he knew he could
not do anything about the time they spent away, he
could help them find the perfect home in which they
could enjoy the time they did have to spend together.
Working so closely with military families for almost two
decades led to an awareness that a massive cadre of
U.S. Army soldiers from nearby Fort Bragg would be en-
tering the housing market upon returning home from
the Persian Gulf conflict in the early 1990s, and there
would not be enough homes for them to buy. He de-
cided he would start a company to build the perfect
homes for them.
The company grew at a modest pace in and around
the Fayetteville area during its ten years of operation,
reaching 113 homes in 2002 by focusing on tract,
custom homes and commercial buildings. While the
housing market faltered nationally for much of the
company’s second decade, U.S. involvement in glob-
al conflicts and the enhanced importance of the Fort
Bragg installation allowed H&H to maintain an annual
rate of as many as 100-200 new homes.
“What happens around military installations when
there’s that kind of repeated deployment and rede-
ployment home is that you’ve got a lot of soldiers who
have had tax-free income and expendable income
built up from savings and they’re ready to spend it,”
said Jack Rostetter, Chief Executive Officer.
“Many single soldiers spend it on cars and other luxury
items, and many soldiers with growing families spend
CONSTRUCTION
