Pinn Brothers Fine Homes

Illuminates Home Building's Solar Potential

By Kay Wilthew

During summer vacation at Lake Tahoe in the early 1970s, brothers Alan and Dave Pinn, both Santa Clara Valley schoolteachers, built a small A-frame cabin to enjoy weekends with their families. Teacher incomes being what they were, the brothers reluctantly made the decision to sell the cabin eventually. To their surprise, they made a small profit. A year later, they got the bug again, and enlisting the services of brother-in-law Chuck Bommarito, built another home. That too sold for a profit. Energized, the newly formed team decided to try their luck back home in the San Jose area. Now, almost 35 years later, Pinn Brothers Fine Homes is scheduled to unveil 400 homes before the end of this year. Pinn Brothers specializes in high-end home building in coveted locations throughout the Bay Area.

Pinn Bros. has built virtually all types of residential construction, from hotels to condominiums, townhomes to courtyard homes and large custom residences. But to Pinn Bros., "custom" is a subjective term. The company builds homes that meet its own tough standards, with fixtures and amenities that exceed the expectations of home buyers.

"We're a custom builder that happens to build production homes," says Alan's son Greg Pinn, Vice President of Pinn Bros.

Growing up in the Pinn family, Greg says he learned early on from his father and uncle to choose a diverse range of projects to develop, a strategy that has allowed the company to remain nimble, even through slow times. For example, building condominiums, mixed-use infill projects, as well as single-family detached homes, offers more choices to customers.

Another winning trait Greg cites is his father Alan's ability to anticipate future trends. "He seems to know what's going to happen in the housing market before anyone else does." Alan purchased lots in Saratoga, CA, for $850,000 per acre lot in the early 1990s. Everyone thought it was a crazy move. The company built 5,000-square-foot houses, got them on the market right around the mid- to late-1990s, just in time for the high-tech boom. "We started selling the homes at $3.5 million, and when they hit $7 million we didn't even know how to price them."

These days, mixed-use infill developments are in high demand. By pairing retail spaces on the first floor with townhomes or condominiums above, builders are breathing new life into urban centers and other areas of cities once thought to be good only for strip malls. Residents also end up driving less and walking more. Tralee Village in Dublin (233 residences), Oak Park in Cupertino (50 residences) and Onyx in Campbell (100 residences) are mixed-use developments that will change for the better the look of their cities for decades to come. Shoppers and homeowners at both communities will be attracted by the close proximity to freeways, an important factor in the overall success formula at Pinn Bros.

Greg Pinn has a meticulous eye for detail and insists on thoroughly inspecting each unit for sale. After all, he is in charge of much of the design, and he wants to make sure his ideas come to fruition. "I'm very particular about showing the potential buyer what they're actually going to get," he says. "And the way we look at it, our standard features are upgrades to other home builders." This is the case with Pinn Bros. condominiums and townhomes, as well as its larger, executive single-family homes.

Another important feature Pinn Bros. is now proud to offer home buyers is solar power. Increasingly informed home buyers are demanding sustainable and energy-efficient methods in their homes. Recently, the company announced its homes at Palmilla in Brentwood, a community with 455 residence, would come standard with solar power built in, the largest in the nation. "We now have the largest solar home community in the nation. We're very proud of that," states Pinn. "We're designing solar energy into all of our homes going forward, and we're finding more ways to use sustainable building practices overall." One hundred homes in San Jose will also be put on the market with solar power this year, leading the charge in the city's quest to become the world center of clean technology."

Dale Garren, East Bay Division Vice President, says that partnering with city government was essential to starting the Palmilla community in Brentwood, and the same is true everywhere they are incorporating solar in new construction. "It meant everything," Garren says. "The city was behind us every step of the way, but we also had to educate them on how building with solar impacts construction, so that we could get the permits — that took trust."

Building with solar is gaining popularity as modern systems are enabling homeowners to cut down on their carbon footprint, as well as their utility bill. "The time has come because the technology has evolved so that it is now feasible to generate a significant amount of electricity for a home using solar power," he says. "It's just the right thing to do, and home buyers want it."

Pinn homes will also exceed state energy-efficiency standards by 35% or more, thanks to tankless water heaters, high-efficiency heating and cooling systems, additional insulation and high-efficiency windows that block out 70% of UV rays. With the combination of both solar and energy efficiency, home buyers are expected to save 50% to 70% on their electricity bills.

Besides cutting-edge building practices and brilliant land acquisition, the success of Pinn Bros. comes from a strong mix of enterprising family and friends who take the business of providing home buyers with quality, distinctive architecture and value seriously. Employees and subcontractors are thought of as family and are encouraged to think independently and make their own decisions. "Everyone is given a lot of leeway, and are able to put their own stamp on things in the company," explains Greg. "It makes the work fun. When you've created a team like this one, it's easy to follow through on the company's motto: 'From our family to yours.'"

Tralee Village is located at 6617 Dublin Blvd. in Dublin, CA 94568. Onyx is located at 1815 S. Bascom Ave. in Campbell, CA 95008. Call (408) 252-9131 or visit pinnbros.com for more information on other communities being built by Pinn Bros. Fine Homes.

November 2007 Builder Architect Edition Issue

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