Blake Gilmore – President & Founder
I was born and raised on the south shore of Long Island in New York and graduated from high school in 1971. After a brief stint working as a construction laborer and painter in southern Vermont I came to Berkeley, CA in a retrofitted Ford Econoline van, carrying my future wife, our dog and all of our worldly belongings. Upon arriving I immediately went to work with a local builder. I added a few more stops along the way as a student activist, metal worker, auto worker, Teamster, and even a casket maker before returning to the construction field in 1978, where I have been ever since.

The architecture and fine craftsmanship of the older homes in the San Francisco Bay Area struck a familiar chord in me, giving me even more appreciation for my childhood home, a lovely old English Country Tudor back on Long Island. That appreciation has only grown in the ensuing 30-plus year period and the knowledge I have gained as a result of recycling (renovating and remodeling) these wonderful old homes has been one of greatest rewards of my professional experience.

However, my proudest achievements are my 37-year marriage to my high school sweetheart Michelle, and the raising of two wonderful children, one of whom is a freelance editor and journalist with a focus on all things equestrian and another who is managing a custom cabinet and millwork operation for an all green design-build firm in Portland, Oregon. The (Green) apple doesn’t fall far from the tree!