What happens when a 13-year-old who gets caught stealing lumber from a job site to build a tree house ends up working off the debt swinging a hammer — and that summer job turns into a construction engineering degree, two companies, $500 million in projects, and the final home ever designed by the architect who drew Bill Gates' house and Steve Jobs' house?

In this episode of the Trustcast Show, Zane Myers speaks with Richard Hubbert, founder of Great Estates, about what transparency actually looks like in custom home construction, why the McMansion trend of the 80s and 90s left thousands of families with unsellable homes, and how he keeps clients from destroying their own budget through scope creep when an architect's vision or an owner's trip to a showroom starts pulling the project sideways. Richard explains why he walks into competitor job sites in new markets to meet the superintendent and ask who the good subs are, why he refuses to be a guinea pig for new building materials no matter how good the pitch sounds, and what you should do when a builder gives you a number 30% below everyone else's.

They also discuss the Fairmount Water Works renovation — a historic site connected to Grace Kelly's father — how a Wellesley connection to the executive vice president of Penn launched the company from garage-based estimating into institutional construction, why working with Peter Bohlin at 88 years old with pencil and paper and no cell phone is one of the greatest privileges of his career, and the one piece of advice he gives every client before a single line gets drawn: build what you're going to use.

Richard Hubbert is the founder of Great Estates, a luxury custom home builder based in the Philadelphia area serving Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and select remote locations.

Connect with Richard Hubbert:

greatestates.com

Phone: 215-416-2503

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Richard Hubbert

00:50 What a young craftsman understood about building that boardroom executives never will

01:30 Growing up doing projects with his father — plumbing, electrical, masonry, and carpentry with no internet

03:55 The tree house, the stolen lumber, and the builder who said work it off instead

07:26 Three summers swinging a hammer and watching every trade from framing to electrical

09:24 His father's advice — think about why there are no older carpenters on the job site

11:00 Construction engineering, graduating at the top of his class, and landing at a third-generation Philadelphia firm

13:59 When a third-generation company starts robbing Peter to pay Paul — and why he walked

17:00 The marketing woman who offered to back him at 28 years old with nothing in the bank

19:35 Starting from a garage with plywood for a desk, cleaning job sites at midnight

21:32 The Wellesley connection that opened the University of Pennsylvania and changed everything

23:00 Getting certified as a Women Business Enterprise and landing the Fairmount Water Works

25:59 How the company grew — from fit-outs to institutions to pharmaceuticals to luxury residential

27:28 Working with Robert Stern and then Peter Bohlin — the architect who designed Bill Gates' and Steve Jobs' homes

29:11 The one thing every client building a $2 million home wishes someone had told them first

31:30 How Great Estates runs transparently — every cost open, every allowance explained

34:23 Scope creep — how architects and owners both do it and how Richard stops it

37:18 How to know if a builder is low-balling you to get the job and kill you on change orders

40:00 Reputation is everything — and the contractors playing the change order game won't be around long

41:04 Why Richard refuses to be a guinea pig on new building materials no matter how good the pitch

43:00 The LP siding story — and why proof lives in time, not in the product presentation

45:22 Owning an architectural millwork company and why he shut it down

48:43 Katie Hubbert as VP and marketing director — building the business together

50:39 Geographic coverage — Pennsylvania, New Jersey shore, Martha's Vineyard, and why Florida requires homework first

53:43 How he researches a new market — pulling over at job sites and asking the superintendent for the inside scoop

55:34 How to reach Richard Hubbert

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