Phil Kean firmly believes in the design/build approach to creating custom homes. “Obviously, it’s easy to make changes this way,” says the Winter Park, Fla., designer and builder. “I also think that for me personally, having the ability to walk through the house and tweak it generally makes the design better.” And he feels that having the same company in charge of both aspects makes the entire construction process move more quickly.
Kean realized he had a passion for design when he was 7 years old, roaming jobsites with his builder father.”I used to take the blueprints and figure out wherea house’s walls would go,” he says. “It was like agame.”
With a master’s degree in architecture and a residential contractor’s license (and an M.B.A., for good measure), Kean makes sure he has all the design and build bases covered. He builds about 75 percent of the homes he designs, with the remaining 25 percent constructed by outside contractors.He prides himself on being able to move comfortably between traditional and modern housestyles, also designing homes he calls “transitional”that fall in the middle of the style spectrum. Residences that promote a strong connection between indoors and outdoorshave become a specialty of his company’s. Kean and his staff use lanais, courtyards, and other techniques to unite the home and the landscape. “That’s really where our little niche is,” he says “We take a style and make it live inside/outside.”
Phil Kean Designs, Winter Park, Fla.; Type of business: design/build; Years in business: 6; Employees: 6; 2007 volume: $9.6 million; 2007 starts: 7
