oct-2017

56 57 ebbs and flows in the market. Sendero Homes, a staple of Austin’s luxury home market since 1994, is one of Austin’s oldest, privately-held, custom home firms.A look at its history, operations, and its future explains why. Sendero Homes is the product of two lifelong friends whose bond lasted through familymoves and different high schools. Reunited at the Uni- versity of Texas, Cosmo Palmieri and Lance Haley started a small business relationship that would soon meld into something more.Haley,who was earning a degree in fine arts, began building custom furniture. Pairing up with Palmieri,who was study- ing economics, to handle the business side of the creative process, allowed them to earn just enough profit to cover extracurricular expenses during their junior and senior years.While a valiant first en- deavor, the two knew that there was more to their future in business together. Upon graduation, the second-generation builders laid the foundation for Sendero Homes. Scott Walther, current President of the company, explains the founders’ vision: “Austin was a lot differ- ent 25 years ago.One of the main roads into a city, called Lakeway was just a two-lane road. But sitting between Lake Travis and Lake Austin, it was prime real estate.All those lake lots were created and it was a great niche.Over the past 10 to15 years, SENDERO HOMES we’ve been involved in building custom homes from $1.5 million to $10 million on the lakes.” Today, Sendero Homes boasts an extensive port- folio of custom, classic, and contemporary homes with footprints spanning from 3,000 to 18,000 square feet.The firm averages six custom homes and 16 remodels per year.Many of their projects are contracted by repeat customers, and manymore are garnered by way of the firm’s excellent reputation. “Word of mouth is the heartbeat of our company,” Walther states.He explains that clients take the pro- cess of home building personally,meaning the firm must add that element to its business model.“What I’ve found in my time in business in the construction world is that it’s about the end.”He describes the ex- perience of an owner closing on a house and mov- ing in as an end result of the entire home-building experience.“For us, focus on communication and relationships, and doing what’s right for them, [al- lows them] to enjoy the process and ultimately their homes.” Doing what’s fair during the project extends be- yond the client, continues Walther.“We want to be fair with everyone involved with building the house so, in the end, everyone’s happy.”Karma for fair deeds is returned in many ways: “It doesn’t always pay off immediately, but we’ve found that in the long run it does. Loyalty becomes a dividend.”