Community Spotlight

Red House Building

Where structure meets art

by Nancy Humphrey Case • Photos by Jeremy Gantz

It’s a sunny September day on Shelburne Point. Westerly breezes lift the waves on Lake Champlain into whitecaps beneath the blue Adirondacks. Where an expansive lawn ends at the shore, a hammock hangs between shade trees beside a low boathouse. Overlooking this heavenly scene is a three-story, 5,500-square-foot shingled structure as perfect as any home could be. With its classic features, pleasing proportions, and fine craftsmanship, it looks as though it might have been here for decades—or as though it will be here for countless years to come. That’s what Chris Quinn hopes. Like the rest of the team at Red House Building, an employee-owned co-op in Colchester, Chris favors a sustainable approach to building design. For him this includes using materials that will endure, physically and aesthetically—like the classically detailed columns and copper roofing of this home’s porches; its Douglas fir flooring and beadboard ceilings; and its Vermont slate kitchen counters. “I hope 50 years from now this house will still be considered highly crafted, with architectural integrity,” Chris says, standing outside the recently completed renovation designed by Ramsay Gourd Architects. Leslie Vought, who owns the property with her husband, had been through three other major renovations. All of them went well.

But she distinguishes this one as “an amazing experience” due to the quality of service as well as craftsmanship Red House Builders gave the couple. “Chris [manager of the project] was so organized and so thoughtful,” Leslie says, “and everyone who worked on [the house] did an incredible job.” Talented and Dedicated Employee-Owners The business has an uncommon structure. Eleven employee-owners set policy and share profits, while another eleven employees have the potential to buy into the company after working for Red House for three years. Dunbar Oehmig, who started the company, turned his conventional construction business into an employee-owned company in 2003. While Dunbar and Chris manage day-to-day operations and interface with clients and architects, the business has a one-person, one-vote corporate structure. This translates into a highly motivated workforce that thinks in terms of what’s best for the company—and the client. Perhaps this shows itself best in the energy efficiency of the houses they build and renovate. Two lake houses currently under construction in South Hero have double the insulation required by code, geothermal heating and cooling systems, solar electric and hot water, and wind power. “We’re reinventing the way we build houses,” Chris says. Besides whole-house projects, the business welcomes and values small jobs. “It might be someone’s dream house they’re building for retirement, or it might be a kitchen remodel that someone has been saving for her whole life,” Chris says. “People put a lot of trust and confidence in us, and we respect that.”