Testimonials
Kate and I want to express to you our real appreciation for the job you have done in constructing our new home in 1st Addition. If some people have had nightmares during construction projects, we've had none. In fact, the house is so new we still feel a little reluctant to walk on the wood floors or hang pictures in the drywall.
Here are some of the things we appreciated about working with you:
You have been extremely honest and direct with us throughout the project. You did not hesitate to correct a false impression or to point out the advantages and disadvantages of various options. While every effort was made to make this house ours, you also insisted on enduring construction values.
Your budgeting process was transparent and you kept to it as you indicated at the outset you would. This allowed me to track expenses throughout the project, which helped us meet our financial commitments. It also gave us clear options for cost cutting or splurging as we went along.
The inclusion of a designer in your team was invaluable, and especially Joelle Jarvis who has such good taste and extensive experience. She too was committed to honesty and spoke frankly. Her extensive knowledge of available materials was a real asset. She helped us stay on our budget. She was able to help us maintain the consistency of our style and project the feel we wanted the house to have. Although she has a long list of preferred vendors, she would never hesitate to recommend other suppliers who had just the right product, even catalogues. We're sure she spent many hours doing things on our project she received no compensation for.
Your team of sub-contractors was excellent. To a man (and woman), they were the kind of people we were very comfortable having in our home (or on the site). Being new to construction ourselves, we did not appreciate that craftsmanship at that level was still available. What also impressed us was how quickly they responded to your requests and how well they seemed to cooperate with each other.
The relationship you had with the City of Lake Oswego was certainly to our advantage - from Kurt Olsen's drawings to Tim Quigley's preparation for inspections, we fulfilled the local requirements and moved along seemingly without delays or any costly modifications.
Time and again we were assured you would do everything possible to make this a truly custom home - our home, just the way we envisioned it, if possible and affordable. You and Tim and many of the subs asked us repeatedly exactly how we wanted things in the house and then made them in ways that would please us.
When it came time to make the final payment, I was pleased to discover, as expected, that all the sub-contractors had been paid and all right to lien were waived.
All the factors considered above have made building this home a delight for us and we are very pleased with the outcome.
John & Kate Warton
We wanted to take this time to thank you, Mary, Kathy, Tim, Chris, and all your subcontractors for the great job you have done for us on our home in Lake Oswego. Your staff and everyone connected with your firm have done everything you promised, and more, to make this home a wonderful place for Roz, Me, and our family to enjoy. All work was completed on time, as your schedule indicated, and any changes we might have made were done without stress or problems for us.
We genuinely appreciate your efforts, and if you ever wish to use our name as a reference for any of your prospective clients you are welcome to do so. If asked by any of them, we would also be glad to pass along nothing but high praise for you and all of your associates. You or any of your prospective clients are also welcome to stop by anytime to see the outside of our home, and when we are in town, the inside as well.
Thanks again for undertaking and completing this project. We truly appreciated all of your help.
Most sincerely, Dan & Roz Jacobs
We’re just settling into our brand new home on Parrett Mountain and I can’t begin to describe how thrilled we are. The home is simply gorgeous! The two of you made the whole building process easy, fun, and very educational. This is the first home we’ve ever built and we’d do it again in a heartbeat if we could work with Riverland.
Our first meeting on the property you helped us envision our dream home. Every step of the way, your positive “can do” approach put us at ease. During the build, I can’t tell you how many of your subcontractors told us how lucky we were to have Riverland as our builders. Their feedback was universal. Your “subs” all said you guys truly care about your clients and your homes. Now, it feels like we’re on vacation every day in this beautiful home. Thank you, thank you for making our dream a reality!
Rick and Dawni Jacobs
We were nervous first-time home builders with a very specific, and relatively modest, budget. From the very beginning, John scheduled weekly meetings with us throughout the home building process and patiently guided us through the decisions we needed to make, always with an eye to our budget.
The net result was a beautiful, well-built and comfortable home which we continue to enjoy nearly four years later. One of the most satisfying parts of the process was doing the final walkthrough with John and realizing we had just built a beautiful home and that it had been done within our budget.
As satisfied as we were at the walkthrough, we realized how much we were going to miss our weekly meetings with John and the close working relationship we had with Chris and the rest of his team. Because of their professionalism, integrity and honesty, our first-time homebuilding experience was a positive one and we would not hesitate to work with them again."
Susan Henderson
Gayle and Carol Post Wilsonville
I want to thank you for the good work you did on our beautiful home. Looking back after 2 years we see that the process you took us thru resulted in a home that really fits our needs and our style. From your suggestion of an architect thru to your input on the many details and your carefull management of our budget, it is very clear to us that you put our needs and desires first in your thinking. We have done this before and we know how stressful the process can be and I really compliment you on the patience and diligence you and your subcontractors showed in working thru some of the more challenging aspects of this unique home and property. Also your prompt help with the things that needed attention since we have been in has really been wonderful.
Sincerely, Ann Goss
Things are finally slowing down and we're feeling settled enough to reflect on our remodel project and the finished product. We are amazed at how, beautiful this house turned out. It's exactly what we envisioned and it functions as great as it looks.
We truly enjoyed the whole process from start to finish because each one of you was wonderful to work with. Every step of the way we felt like we were part of a team working together to create this house.
We can't think of anything we'd do differently -- aside from finding a level lot to build a house on! You four helped us make the most of what we had to deal with, not just accepting the challenges of the lot and the previous construction but finding ways to turn the challenges in to advantages.
This is an absolutely beautiful house, from the overall design down to every single finish detail. We find it hard to believe that in a project this big, we don't have one single complaint or regret. Everything was done RIGHT and that's a great feeling. And it was fun!
We will highly recommend you, as well as every subcontractor who worked with us. Thank you for making this remodel project a great experience and creating a finished house that is everything we dreamed of.
We need a little more practice with the pizza oven, but we promise a pizza feed this fall!
Sincerely, Pat & Sara Shannon
Building a home is one of the most significant financial investments you will make and, choosing a builder that you trust, can envision and embrace your goals for your dream home and, is knowledgeable in how to best balance price and quality are the keys to a successful builder and client relationship. In having recently completed this process with John Chlopek and Riverland Homes, I believe these are the three most important things to consider in choosing your builder! And, John and his team delivered exceptional results.
Trust is extremely important as you will be placing an enormous amount of responsibility into your builders' hands. And, it's critical that your builder and the sub-contractors they employ can be trusted to deliver what you set out to accomplish. Again, the experience we've had with John and his team continually demonstrated superior integrity and, created an environment where we were able to trust the team to deliver great results.
Second, it's critical to find a builder that can envision and deliver on your goals. Trust your eyes to tell you if a potential builder can do that. I would encourage you to visit the homes that Riverland has built. I think they speak volumes on the quality and care John and the team takes with each home. Our friends have continued to remark on the amazing quality of our home. My favorite comment was from a friend who said, "You just don't see this type of quality that comes through in your home with today's builders. It's truly very special".
Finally, finding someone that can really balance price and quality and, help you understand a range of options is critical. Again, John and his team continued, throughout the entire building process, to present multiple alternatives on how to approach each step in the process. There are always things that are more important than others for each client. John, his foreman, Tim and Joelle Jarvis of Ronda Divers Interiors, took the time to understand what was important to us and, how to help us in determining the best approach to meet our goals.
We simply love our new home, John Chlopek and the Riverland team! My experience is that I've found few friends and acquaintances that have completed a building project and, end-up having a good relationship with their builder. I am happy to say that we still like, trust and respect John and his team and, would highly recommend that you consider Riverland Homes for your next building project!"
Kathy & John Stromberg
John Chlopek tightly managed the bidding and budgeting, and promised only what he could deliver; our project was always under control. We saw a cost plus job as the most cost-effective way to build, but knew it would take a great deal of trust in the contractor. We found that in John and in Riverland Homes. John understands that the relationship with his client goes beyond his own team, and makes sure that he has the right subcontractors for the job.
Chris Bittner, John's partner, is the perfect person for the on-site supervision of the job. We found him to be extremely knowledgable and able to achieve our high expectations with ease and grace. He is a problem solver and a creative thinker and he made himself available. He's the kind of guy who becomes your friend while he's on the job and we looked forward to seeing him. It is apparent that Chris has a great deal of pride in the projects he manages, and he is a good liason between the homeowner and the subcontractors, and a good advocate for the homeowner in the process.
John and his staff at Riverland Homes gives excellent after care from every individual on the team. Over a year past project completion, the office staff provided an account breakdown of building costs for meetings with our home insurer and the tax accessor. Chris Bittner's on-site after care has been tremendous, responding to even the smallest concerns far beyond the one-year new home warranty period. This is a team where each person contributes to make a first class experience for the client.
The quality of work, the ability to tightly manage the budget, the team's dynamics, and the on-going customer care are what make this a team that we would hire again. We have referred Riverland Homes to others, which is the highest compliment we can pay to them."
Barbara McIntosh
Thank you so very much for the fabulous basket of goodies. It not only looks good to eat, but looks good to sit there – it fits right in with the decor! It seems odd to suddenly have the intensity of decisions, meetings etc. all settle down. It is great to be in the house and we cannot express enough how thrilled we are. This email won’t do it justice, but we will throw out a few thanks as a start. Chris, you have been amazing—the commitment and “caring” to doing the job right is so appreciated. This is what Riverland is all about, and why we wanted to do another project together. Both of you are terrific to work with, and we never had a doubt that anything but the right way on things would get done. It was also great to have Lorie and Bob again on the job—love their work. The others were great too. We really appreciate Ray and the new Bob, they did a great job. You know we are both in this industry, and we just don’t find that level of service and quality very often that you guys consistently deliver. You also got us in on schedule which is so awesome. Great teamwork makes great projects, and I think we all were a really good team. John – it’s such a bummer that you got hurt. We have thought and worried about you the whole time and really missed having you around. I really meant to get colors in front of you. I just wasn’t quick enough. We headed out one Saturday to visit you in the rehab, and you had just gotten out. Time just got away, and we went with our original gut – black, white and brown! It sounds like you are making great progress on your recovery, and we are so happy to hear that.
Sorry for the rambling---but thanks for everything!
We are anxious to have you both by very soon to see everything settled in and to thank you again. It’s been a great ride!
Susan B. Higbee Principal, Director of Interiors
MacKenzie Architecture · Interiors · Engineering · Planning