In 1981, Stephen Reed left a lucrative Civil Service job with the City of Arcadia in California to follow a dream. That dream was to earn a living doing something that he loved... working with his hands, and particularly with wood. For years he had been building a fairly impressive "hobby shop" in the garage of his South Pasadena home by building furniture and cabinets for family and friends, putting the proceeds of those jobs back into equipment purchases. By mid 1981 the jobs he was turning down due to lack of time were far greater than the ones he was taking on and it was time to make a decision... do you keep the job with the benefits and regular hours, or do you reach out and grab for that dream? It seemed such a bizarre idea that one could make a living and enjoy the work too, but he was turning down the stuff he loved, to work in grease left by the city trucks he was repairing. The choice seemed too easy, and so it was made!  The road ahead was anything but easy, but today there are no regrets.

In 1986 we had outgrown the cramped quarters of that home garage and expansion was in order. A retail store where we sold doors, windows, and other home improvement items was purchased, and the shop space available there made building entire kitchens a joy. We also installed all of the items we sold, and even manufactured our own leaded glass hardwood entry doors as well as representing a number of other door manufacturers.  The late '80's in California were good times for business, but the early '90's proved quite the opposite and a staff of 7 employees was suddenly down to 3. Construction in Southern California was dismal, and it soon became obvious that another change was in order. Back to the house and garage. It was hard to give up all that space, especially the air conditioned shop! As the economy weakened further, the jobs got fewer and by 1994 we were heading for greener pastures which took us to North Carolina. Quite a change from the smog of Southern California, clean air... how does one breathe what they can't see?

Today, based in Raleigh, we service a number of builders in the triangle area with the majority of them in Durham. Although we would love to stay closer to home, we have covered the area from Greensboro to Smithfield, Southern Pines to Henderson. Won't some of you Raleigh builders give us a call? Our smaller crew of 2 to 4 (depending on the job) makes our normal size job of 3000 to 4000 square foot homes a perfect match but we have rolled with the "big boys" in the $3.5 million dollar homes in Wakefield, and we have  breezed through some 900 square foot homes in the country. The biggest advantage to the smaller crew is the quality control that having the owner onsite, working every job gives.

Our attention to detail can be seen first hand by visiting the sales model of Pinnacle Custom Homes http://www.pinnaclecustomhomes.com in the Fairfield subdivision of Durham near the Streets of Southpoint mall, or let us show you in person on your next project.