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| 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 |
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 Photo courtesy of Star Homes by Delagrange and Richhart People have been moving into brand new Star Homes since 1960, and Gregg Richhart is proud every time he meets someone who tells him they have a Star home and how much they still love it. People remember that his late father-in-law, Delbert Delagrange, built it, and they believe they bought it for "a good, solid, fair price," he said. "It's something people can enjoy for a lifetime, raise their family, make a lot of memories." Richhart and his wife bought into the business at Delagrange's invitation and have since bought out his mother-in-law, too, so the company is fully in its second generation. He keeps Delagrange's name in the company name out of respect for the man who taught him so much. "It will always be Star Homes," he said. He's been designing homes for Star since his early days selling in model homes. "My favorite thing is actually working with the clients in the initial design and designing the houses," he said, "then building the houses and all the way through." Though the past five years were slow for homebuilders nationwide, business is picking up, and on a good year, Star Homes will build about 30 homes. "I take one day at a time," he said. "I don't dwell on the economy. You can get caught up in that. You just deal with things as they come along. You do the right thing and continue on. Save your money. Work hard. I don't even think about it, honestly. I think about what do I do, what do I build, what the market will bear. "If the price(s) of materials go up, they go up. You just try to make the best of it, stay on top of it." He counts on long-term, trusted relationships with suppliers. "Take care of the people who take care of you,"he said. 1. What's the biggest change you've seen during your career as a homebuilder?For me and for Star Homes, the biggest change is the space and customization of the houses we build now versus the houses we built 30 years ago. You go back to 1960. We have a lot of pictures and brochures from then, and I thought those were really custom houses, but today those would not be considered custom. The types and complexity of houses we are building today are leaps and bounds different from 30 years ago. 2. What lesson did you learn early and still find valuable today?I would say the most valuable lesson is what goes around comes around. Early on I had competitors who would bad-mouth Delbert because of his Parkinson's (disease), but over time the guy that did that is no longer in business and went through some tough times. I think about that a lot as far as treating people fair and never saying anything that isn't fair and accurate. 3. Why are you in this Parade of Homes and Lifestyle Show?Since I had a client already interested in that location, it was a great opportunity to support the Parade project and showcase the great things Star Homes is capable of. |
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