 |
| |
| Express Yourself |
| Home Economics ... For Real |
| Making It Work |
| Stay In Tonight ... Outside |
| Thinking Forward |
| Grow Older Together |
| Come Together |
| WANE-TV Villa No. 1 by Granite Ridge Builders |
| WANE-TV Villa No. 2 by Granite Ridge Builders |
| Big Brothers/Big Sisters Home No. 3 by Slattery Builders |
| Centier Bank Home No. 4 by Granite Ridge Builders |
| New 95.1 Best FM and Fun 101 Classic Hits Home No. 5 by Quality Crafted Homes |
| Carter Lumber Home No. 6 by Bob Buescher Homes |
| Frontier Communications Home No. 7 by Star Homes by Delagrange and Richhart |
| Lutheran Health Network Home No. 8 by Hickory Creek Homes |
| Fort Wayne Monthly Home No. 9 by Timberlin Homes |
 |
 Photo courtesy of Hickory Creek Homes Discovering the perfect blend of building and designing convinced Don Fischer he was meant to be a homebuilder. Now with Hickory Creek Homes, he's part of a corporate team that designs and builds custom homes at prices ranging from $200,000 to more than $1 million. With CEO Keith Busse, Fischer is president and Chris Busse is vice president. Fischer was interested in architecture as a career and worked beginning as a 16-year-old in his father-in-law's homebuilding business. He went to school for architecture at IPFW but founded his first home design business before graduating. He designed and helped build a home for Busse, which is how he met Busse. Keith Busse chose Fischer's design for his home and ended up going into business with him and his son Chris, who also has years of experience in the construction business. "It was a dream that fell into place early," Fischer said. "It was a perfect blend for me." He values those early years learning the trade, he said, "but part of the trade is not just the concrete, the framing and the roof but all the decorating factors from the cabinets to the trim details. "I'm big on the floor plan layout. I try to really make a floor plan functional and not waste space with hallways, always taking full advantage, with site orientation, of natural views." The early lesson he learned and still uses daily is simple. "Working hard and not taking anything for granted. Just putting your whole heart into the whole project, from the design stage to the completion of the whole house and making sure the homeowner is happy with the whole process." 1. Why are you in this Parade of Homes and Lifestyle Show?For the excitement of the event and the exposure to the public. Putting our product out there for a larger number of people to see and, hopefully, appreciate. Not everyone is out there with models. This will be a fun parade, I think. 2. Do you have a Grand Theory of how home building works in the larger economy?It's always been a leap of faith, really. You just feel like you can put a product out there that will be in demand. You have confidence in the home you build. There is no grand theory, no crystal ball. The home building business is a unique part of the economy. 3. What is your favorite thing about being a homebuilder?My favorite is initially designing the home from scratch. I start with paper and then put it on the computer as CAD drawings. It's just the challenge of working with any particular site, coming up with something that is custom to that site and watching it go from paper to an actual finished product. |
© 2025 Fort Wayne Newspapers