Along the way to building and selling more than $1 billion of Northern California real estate, the husband-wife team of Keith and Brenda Christopherson has created a much-respected brand among discerning homebuyers.

Established in 1978, Christopherson Homes has left its distinctive mark on more than 5,000 homes in nearly 50 communities throughout California’s North Bay and Sacramento areas. In fact, the Christophersons were recently elected to the California Building Industry Hall of Fame—the only couple to be inducted as co-honorees and the first woman to be inducted in the past 15 years.

As CEO, Keith’s focus has been on homebuilding, while Brenda, as executive vice president and director of marketing and product design, is renowned for her marketing passion and design creativity.

The Christopherson’s dedication to design excellence becomes abundantly apparent when you consider that not one of the company’s 180 employees actually swings a hammer or picks up a 2 x 4 (all of the construction work is subcontracted).

Employees are focused solely on the behind- the-scenes decisions that make the difference between a house and a home. These are the designers, the land acquisition specialists, the construction supervisors, and sales agents who all contribute to what the Christopherson Homes brand has come to mean: communities of extraordinary quality and design in highly desirable locations.

It all starts with smart land acquisition, a challenging process to say the least. “In the North Bay area, there is a lot of anti-growth sentiment, and the rules can change from city council to city council,” Brenda Christopherson said. “It’s nothing for the entitlement process to take five to 10 years there versus only a year or two in the Sacramento area.”

Next up is determining what features and materials homebuyers want, need, and can afford. “It is truly a balancing act,” Christopherson said. “You have to be careful not to put too much in the home, or it drives up the price and bumps people out of the market.”

To that end, the company conducts extensive market research with prospects and current homeowners and engages in a rigorous internal value-engineering process. “We go through a home from top to bottom and ask ourselves lots of questions,” Christopherson explained. “Is somebody really going to care about this piece of trim work? It adds cost, but does it add value? In the end, it’s all about knowing your market.”

And that market is certainly wide and varied. The Christopherson’s new 151-home Heartland community north of Sacramento targets first-time homebuyers and those priced out of big-city housing with 1,205 to 2,241 square-foot homes in the mid $200,000s. The square footage and prices jump markedly in the company’s West Haven community in West Petaluma, where Bungalow, Craftsman, and Cottage-style homes sell in the low millions.

The extra mile
Blame it on 20 years of long hours and tough working conditions in the travel industry, but Brenda’s dedication to employee appreciation borders on fanatical. From luncheons and field events to golf tournaments and family vacations in Hawaii, the Christophersons make sure their employees know that they are valued and appreciated. “I told myself that if I was ever in the position where I could make a difference in people’s day-to-day life, I would make sure that they had an exceptional environment where they couldn’t wait to get up each morning and go to work,” Christopherson said.

Subcontractors and vendors are not forgotten. During a particularly demanding 45-day build out, a painting subcontractor canceled a long-planned family camping trip to get the job done. During grand opening ceremonies for the community, he was called up and presented with a weeklong trip to Disney World for the entire family, courtesy of Christopherson Homes.

“We even arranged with his boss so that the time off wouldn’t be counted against his vacation time,” Christopherson said. “We believe that what goes around does come around. People will go the extra mile if they are appreciated, acknowledged, and treated with respect.”

The result of all this largesse? Enviable employee retention numbers—numbers that go directly to the company’s bottom line. “It’s no secret, the longer they stay with you, the more valuable employees are,” Christopherson said. “When you have turnover every couple years, you start to lose the things that made you a success to begin with.”

It also makes recruiting a lot easier for the company. “We’re a sought-after employer, and that helps when you are based in an area with such a high cost of living,” she said. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the Christophersons sweeten the pot with an employee home purchase program.

Hands-on approach
The Christophersons learned early on the value of allowing their customers to dream a little. “We found out we needed to let our customers touch and feel,” Christopherson said. “Pre-sales didn’t seem to work well for our communities, so we started building model homes.” And not just any old model homes. The company builds an entire neighborhood of homes on a landscaped street, adding pools, patios, and all the amenities.

“The trick is to help buyers actually see themselves living in that home,” she said. Another enjoyable aspect of purchasing a Christopherson home is a trip to one of the company’s well-appointed Design Studios, located in the North Bay and Sacramento, where homebuyers get to ooh and ahh over thousands of selections of flooring, appliances, cabinetry, and trim.

Another consistent theme in all Christopherson homes is a focus on practicality and livability. “I’ve heard people say so many times, ‘You can tell a woman designed this home,’” Christopherson said. That means a strong focus on the kitchen and family room. “Our designs make sure that these two rooms interact with one another and with the outside.”

This hands-on approach to designing and building quality homes certainly seems to work. Annual sales are typically in the $250 to $300 million range, and the company has remained viable even through some incredibly rough periods in California’s notoriously volatile real estate market.

The company is now in a major growth mode, focusing on building up developments in the Sacramento region the company entered some three years ago. “It is gratifying knowing you that you are creating housing and communities,” Christopherson shared. “It’s an honorable profession, and that is very satisfying.”

Steffen Smith is a freelance writer and a principal of Content Creative, an Atlanta-based marketing communications firm. He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it