Love at first site
She built another, and another, and now she's an industry leader
Denise Patterson has been a homebuilder for a while now — nearly 20 years — but it took her some time to get into industry leadership.
She never dreamed of being president of Central Oklahoma Home Builders Association.
But here she is, at 48, the first woman to lead the group in its 75 years.
Next weekend through Sept. 22, during the Parade of Homes Fall Classic, she will be showing off her latest work, someone's dream home at 6308 NW 178 in the Deer Creek area where she grew up — and unexpectedly became a builder in 2001. Since then, she's added swimming pool
and outdoor living space design and installation.
Lots of other builders will be showing their skills from 1 to 7 p.m. each day at more than 100 new houses across the metro area. They will be peppered with questions from shoppers and other visitors. OnCue will have the parade guide books.
We began our Q&A with the one question only she might be asked.
Q. How did a nice girl like you wind up as a homebuilder?
A. Being a female in a male-dominated world, I get asked that question a lot. I actually had a friend in the construction business that helped me build my first house. I enjoyed the process but
wasn't thinking of making it a career. I got married, had my son and decided to sell that house and build another one. I enjoyed the build of the second house even more.
I was working on my master's at the same time, so I was still career-oriented in my accounting/finance field. I was the CFO for the American Red Cross for several years and decided it was time to take the leap to become a "builder."
I sold my first spec house in the frame stage. I was hooked. I was stepping outside my educational background to some extent. However, owning a business is all about networking, finance, management and
being business smart. I never want to grow bigger than what I can personally handle. I am very much a hands-on, active builder.
Q. What did your parents think?
A. My mom passed away before I started my construction business, but I know she would be proud of me. My dad is one of my biggest supporters. He taught me how to work hard, value a dollar and not be scared to be challenged. He is a big inspiration to me. At the age of 86, he still gets up every day and checks his cattle and works on his 80-acre farm. He is a retired large-animal Federal Veterinarian. I think growing up on the farm myself helped instill hard work and the opportunity to build sweat equity.
Q. Tell us about your entry(ies) in the Parade of Homes.
A. I am building specs in the $250,000-$275,000 range. My parade house is $252,800 and located in the Deer Creek school district. It is right at 1,800 square feet with three bedrooms and two full baths. It has a transitional color palette. It is staged and ready for that special family to call home.
Q. How do you ride out the highs and lows of the market, especially the big boom and bust a decade ago?
A. My parents taught me to value the dollar. So I have always been conservative with my spec builds. I actually built my largest spec in 2008 right before the bust. It was my first parade house — $685,000. Thanks to a lady by the name of Cindy Carpenter who came through the front door of that house for nine straight days, that house became hers shortly after the parade was over.
But that also gave me an opportunity to diversify my business. I promised my kids that when I sold that house I would guinea pig our backyard with a pool. In 2009 I added pool builder to my resume. I diversified my business. I have built close to 30 pools and outdoor living spaces. Pools allow me to add that next component to homes. So many memories happen in the backyard around swimming pools and fireplaces. I love being a part of that transformation.
Q. What was the best time you've had as a builder?
A. I don't know that there has been one best time. I get the opportunity to build homes for families. Each home that I build is unique. That gives me a sense of accomplishment that each
family will have their own unique home.
Q. What was the most challenging time?
A. 2017. It was slower than I wanted to be, but I survived.
Q. What made you want to get into leadership, to become president of Central Oklahoma Home Builders Association?
A. It took me years to actually become active at COHBA. I started on the Women's Council, then was asked to sit on the Parade of Homes Committee. I then chaired the Parade and become involved on the board. I don't think I ever thought of myself as being the president of COHBA much less the first female president of COHBA. I have 74 amazing male presidents to look up to. Very large shoes to fill, so I hope that I make each of them proud.