David Weekley, then 23, started a home building business in Houston with his brother, Dick. David closed his first sale just as money was about to run out.

Their dad, who owned an advertising agency, created a “David or Goliath” newspaper ad, showing his confidence that they could beat larger builders.

David initially focused on design as a way to make his homes stand out from big national builders. Pictured is a “California Contemporary” from west Houston.

The company was selling close to 600 homes a year in Houston alone, leading David to grow his Team of talented people and earning us recognition as one of the fastest-growing companies in the nation by Inc. magazine.

Houston was ravaged by the oil bust. Housing starts plummeted from 30,000 to 6,000 per year, and thousands of people lost their jobs. To help the company survive, we expanded into Dallas/Ft. Worth.

Coming out of the oil bust, David Weekley Homes began to grow at an astounding rate of nearly 60 percent a year and expanded into Austin.

Professional Builder named David Weekley Homes “National Builder of the Year” – the top honor in the home building business.

David realized that he needed to hire a leader who could guide the company through the next stages of growth. He recruited John Johnson to be that leader.

After building our first Habitat for Humanity home, David started The David Weekley Family Foundation and began to donate half of his share of the company’s profits to worthwhile causes.

From 1992 to 1995 we expanded to San Antonio, Denver, Orlando and Raleigh.

We were recognized as “America’s Best Builder” by Builder magazine. We also won the “National Housing Quality Award.” Combined with national “Builder of the Year,” we were the first builder to earn the Triple Crown of American Home Building.

The Walt Disney Company asked David Weekley Homes to build in Celebration, a new community outside Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando. We were the only builder with the creativity and Customer-driven focus to build in Celebration from start to finish.

We opened one of the first Design Centers in the U.S. in Houston, where Customers could discover a wide variety of Custom Choices™ to personalize their homes. Now Design Centers are part of our brand promise: Design, Choice, Service.

The Leadership Team defined our company’s Purpose to Enhance People’s Lives.

We celebrated our Team Members’ successes by lounging on the beautiful beaches of Hawaii.

David Weekley Homes was first named one of FORTUNE magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For^®” – a huge honor that recognizes the quality of our workplace as rated by our own Team Members.

The “TODAY” show on NBC chose David Weekley Homes for a 12-part segment called “TODAY Builds a House.” Once it was built, the home was auctioned to benefit Habitat for Humanity.

We introduced our Imagination series, enabling thousands of first-time Homebuyers to own a more affordable David Weekley home.

We hired building science expert Joseph Lstiburek to develop innovative energy-efficient building techniques, including our advanced framing and EnergySaver™ programs.

We took our second companywide trip to Hawaii to celebrate our Team Members’ success.

During the biggest recession since World War II, our conservative fiscal policies allowed us to weather the storm and expand quickly as the market returned.

Housing bubble bursts in 2008 with the largest price drop in U.S. History.

J.D. Power and Associates named David Weekley Homes a “Customer Service Champion” – and one of the 50 highest-performing companies in the country in the area of Customer experience.

We rephrased Our Purpose to Building Dreams, Enhancing Lives. We launched our Noble Journey 2025 program.

Between 2012 and 2015, we expanded into Phoenix, Indianapolis, Salt Lake City, Nashville, Minneapolis/St. Paul and Sarasota.

In 2013, we were first recognized as the largest privately-held home builder in America by Builder magazine on its “Builder 100 List.”

We obtained our first public credit rating and were issued $200 million 10-year bonds on Wall Street.

David Weekley Homes was honored once again as the “National Builder of the Year” by Professional Builder. Only one other builder has ever won this top honor twice!

We launched Encore by David Weekley Homes 55+ active adult communities.

We closed our 80,000^th home.

After many years of generous giving, The David Weekley Family Foundation reached $100 million in donations and grants.

We made FORTUNE magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For^®” from 2015-2020.

We broadened our outreach program and named it CARE as a way to expand our giving and volunteer efforts within the company.

We entered two new markets: Colorado Springs and Portland.

We celebrated our 40-year Anniversary.

For the third time, we took all Team Members and their guests to Hawaii to celebrate a successful year!

We formed BuildAid to help rebuild 200+ homes for Hurricane Harvey victims.

David Weekley Homes became an employee-owned company: owned 1/3 by Team Members, 1/3 by charities and 1/3 by the Weekley family.

We closed our 90,000^th home.

The David Weekley Family Foundation donated $15 million in grants.

We started HEART Diversity & Inclusion Council.

David Weekley Homes hit 200,000 Instagram followers.

We obtained an unsecured $400 million line of credit with upgrade in ratings from Moody’s and S&P.