It takes good leadership and a passion for quality for a business to prosper. In the case of Newcastle Homes, that leadership was built on 40 years of construction and quality home building experience. “I started out as a journeyman carpenter,” says Glen Nystrom, president of Newcastle Homes. Nystrom’s homebuilding experience has taken him to Kelowna, Saskatchewan and then into the Calgary marketplace where he finally set up Newcastle Homes about 20 years ago.

Like other builders before him, Nystrom started building from smaller homes, then to move-up markets, before embarking onto executive custom-built estate homes with his Newcastle Homes signature. “I wanted to do special houses for clients, just something different from the average,” says Nystrom of how he came to specialize in upper-scale custom-designed homes.

His choice of the name Newcastle Homes sat well with the kind of grander homes he had in mind. “There’s a couple of different places in England called Newcastle—and it rang well with us because we like building castles for people,” says Nystrom. Today, a Newcastle home is synonymous with high end quality and detailed attention to workmanship.

A distinct characteristic of a Newcastle home is its historical theme, whether it’s French Country, Craftsman or Prairie. “It’s more French provincial or Tudor in style,” says Nystrom. Signature Newcastle homes can be found in Elbow Valley, Discovery Ridge, and Spring Valley and currently in prestigious Wentworth Estates. “Right now we do about 25 houses a year,” says Nystrom.

Although Newcastle has won many accolades over the years, ranging from numerous SAM awards to renovation and builder nods, Nystrom believes the strength of a business is built on the company it keeps. His hard­working team of master builders, renovators and supervisors as well as partner vendors and suppliers ensures that each Newcastle home is built to the highest quality espoused by the company. Many of the trades and suppliers have been business partners of Newcastle Homes for many years and quietly work behind the scenes, but each giving the focus and integrity so associated with a Newcastle address.

The builder approaches every home with the client’s specific needs in mind, walking the client through each building process. “We sit with our clients and we discuss what’s important to them,” says Nystrom. Clients are then connected with vendors after they have made choices, and this can be anywhere from basic structu­ral design to the home’s finishing touches. Nystrom believes ongoing communications make for a happier customer. And to add that personal touch, Nystrom still does the final walk-through with each client before handing him the keys to his new home.

Building new estate homes is not the only feather in Newcastle Homes’ cap. They also specialize in estate-style renovations. “We always say that no job is too large for us,” says Nystrom. Using the latest in design, materials and technology, Newcastle’s estate home renovations have transformed homes from bland to beautiful.

Renovations range from custom-designed kitchens and up­dated bathrooms to front ele­va­tions and have helped breathe new life into indoor or outdoor living spaces, all the while paying as much attention to detail as a new estate home of the same calibre.
Asked what the trademark secret to his success and outstanding quality of the homes he builds, Nystrom says it’s in the extra care his company takes and the presence of a co-ordinator who takes the time to go through all the homebuilding steps. “I always say our mission is to produce quality homes, and we deliver.”   NL

For information about Newcastle Homes, visit their website at http://www.newcastlehomes.net