Building Better Homes in Muskoka for Over 35 Years
R-2000 Builder of the Year
|
|
Building Better Homes in Muskoka for Over 35 Years |
|
| March 12, 2007 To Larry French From Joanna and Dan Elliott Dear Larry, Joanna and I wanted to drop you a short note to thank you for the wonderful experiences of having French Homes build our summer home. You came in on budget, which is unheard of, and the completion date that you promised was held with a minimum of aggravation. All of your staff at French Homes has been a pleasure to deal with, very helpful and patient when we were making changes. We certainly do appreciate the time that you personally spent with us when it was convenient for us at any time on any day. We have recommended you to many people due to our experience. The one thing that really impressed us was the service that you and your staff have given us. As you know we recently had a small problem that showed up after one and a half years and there was no delay you had Walllace there to fix it immediately with no problems. To me that is the sign of a company that looks after it’s customers. We have had experiences in the past with large homebuilders and I must say that none of them came close to the overall experience we have had with French Homes. Thanks again |
.JPG)
|
.jpg) |
Dear Larry, Mair, Janet and the rest of all who had a part in Building Our Beautiful Cottage Home.
Bill & I are so excited & thrilled at the quality & beauty of it. What a joy it was working with you. You take PRIDE in your WORKMANSHIP & we take PRIDE
in owning it & sharing it to others & how GREAT you ALL ARE to work with & getting the job finished. From two happy hearts with MANY THANKS. - Bill & Sheila Enderwick |
| I would like to pass this note along to Larry and his staff for a job well done on my home on Knotty Pine Trail, built the spring of 2005. At the time I was pressed to get my home built by the end of June, they tried for 9 weeks but took 10, not bad for a 2000 sq ft home. This was my 3rd home I had built in recent years and I was very impressed with the quality of construction and how solid my home felt. But most of all I have been very impressed with how comfortable I felt dealing Larry and the staff from the beginning, when something wasn't to my liking NO PROBLEM they took care of it. I have been very pleased that even 2 years later if a problem arises, they'll look after it. Thanks again for your courteous & professionl manner. I also have appreciated being able to talk to somebody whenever I call. - Paul Pilon |  |
 |
An excellant organization from top down. Al Bryant was just great. Can't say enough about the whole experience. Response to any deficiencies was/is prompt. We are happy with the whole experience & the house.
I have never seen or been involved with such a great organization - I can't say enough - especially having seen all manner over my years or practice. - Sam D. Woodruff I must add my praise for your wonderful company and all concerned. The guidance of Mair when so many decisions were to be made was invaluable. Everything was very positive and fun to have such a wonderful experience that we can't stop talking about it. Very fondly - Fran Woodruff |
 |
Thank you so much for our beautiful house! It is everything we hoped it would be and more.
We really appreciate the time and care you put into working with us .
Every detail of the house is so lovely and it is so tight and cozy.
We would particularly like to thank Mair for all the Many Saturdays you gave up for us and all the countless hours on the phone. Thank you, Mike Wilke for seeing us through the project from beginning to end. Thank you, John for your endless hours put into designing the plan for the house with us. Thank you, Larry for creating the Team to do the job and holding everyone to such a high standard of quality. - Jennifer, Kip, Solana & Gwynne Daynard |
|
Ye gads! The Toronto Home Show is coming up! Has it been two years since we first met Larry? As I think back I see the months flip by and recede into years. We bought the property ten years ago when we were still in Toronto. It was a ravine lot, 5 minutes walking distance from the swing bridge in Huntsville. It was for our last home. The house would be beautiful, fuel efficient, one level with basement walkout, have a screened in porch, easy care features, wide doorways, big shower stall, and grab bars just in case. The shopping list was endless and growing. Caching! Caching! But the property seemed so difficult to develop. We had vertigo every time we looked down on it from the road. Who would take this on? It was such a worry. What’s the name of that contractor? You know the one with the white trucks with turquoise trim. French’s! Weren't they the ones that did Grandview? Nice job!. But they only do big developments like Heritage Hill and Settlers Ridge. Would they do a tricky stand alone like this? Enough! Lets call them. The worst thing they can say is no. “I would love to build your home!” Those were the first words Larry said to us over the phone. Within three days we were mentally walking through several plans he sent us for ideas. One of them looked like it would work with some changes. Within the week we met with Larry at the home show to talk to him. To our surprise he had already visited the property and had ideas of his own. Using simple graph paper and a large dose of dry wit he sketched a floor plan which confirmed we had the right contractor. We have never regretted our decision. Because of Larry and his wonderful support staff we saved the price of an architect, a lawyer and an interior decorator. I, who look like a licorice allsort on my good days, became a Martha Stewart under Mair’s easing and teasing. Then there was Dan, “The Rock Man”, who harvested refrigerator sized boulders and delicately nudged them into a staircase now partially covered with thyme; Rocks of Ages. There were so many wonderful teams of people who worked on our home. Nothing stumped them. They were skilled, courteous and industrious. They gave us the impression they loved working on our house. Wow! Our house is beautiful. We are the envy of all our friends and they think we are smart. Larry and French’s have given us bragging rights for the rest of our lives. Thank you Larry and your staff. God bless you everyone. Harriet and Tom Hutchinson.
|  |
 |
This is our story and we're sticking to it! It was only a matter of time. Having discovered the charm of Muskoka years ago, we knew that we were going to end up moving from the GTA to Huntsville, and when circumstances finally allowed us to start planning our move, French’s were part of the picture. We were familiar with French’s Fine Homes from having seen their ads in various publications, and when spending the Christmas vacation with friends in Huntsville in 2002, we saw the name again, this time adorning the “Settler’s Ridge” sign on Muskoka Road 3. Settler’s Ridge, at that time, consisted of a nice looking model home, acres of forest, and very little else besides snow. This location was perfect in that it satisfied our need to be “out of town”, but not far enough out to be totally isolated. The next step was to check out their website and email French’s directly with a request for info, to which they promptly responded. Armed with their catalogue and our “wish list”, we then had a series of Sunday meetings with Al Bryant, who met us at Settler’s Ridge (on his day off!), provided coffee and doughnuts, and had the good grace not to laugh when he helped us flounder around the various home sites on snowshoes, which he had also provided. Modern technology played a vital role from here on in. It is difficult to envision a home based on a picture in a catalogue, but the AutoCAD experts at French’s made it much easier. Using our crude “wish list” , they were able to come up with plans for the home and send them to us by email, and we would respond with ideas or revisions, again by email. This is the pattern we followed for the next couple of months. It should also be mentioned that we were checking out existing homes in the Huntsville area at the same time, but the team at French’s proved to be so flexible and accommodating that our “wish list” quickly became reality, and no other homes we looked at filled the bill. How could we resist getting exactly what we wanted? Speaking of which, we also enjoyed our many “selections” meetings with Mair French, who did her best to ensure that our new home had everything we wanted, and made us aware of the many items that we hadn't even thought of. (We were new at this!) Through Mair, we developed a new respect for the colour pink, and the flagstone walkway leading to our front porch is a reflection of that! We've been here a year now. Settler’s Ridge has grown to become a small community. We're happy to have been the first family to build here, and we're very proud of our new “French’s Fine Home”. The quality of the house is excellent from top to bottom, and we've received numerous compliments on it from family, friends, and total strangers. Many thanks to the team at French’s Fine Homes for making our dream a reality! John, Linda and Katie Minnis
|
Dear Larry and the whole French's Fine Homes Team, Allan and I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you for making our dream come true. You have no idea how happy and content we are in our new home. We are grateful that you made everything so easy and simple for us while customizing our bungalow. Everything went smoothly and on time. You were patient and considerate, and you made us feel like we were part of your French family right from the beginning. Today, we still feel the same way. It was a great pleasure to work with such a caring, dedicated group of professionals, that take pride in fulfilling their promise of delivering a quality built French's home. It was your reputation that brought us knocking on your door and we've never looked back since. Thank-you for your integrity and your honorable business ethics. Sincerely Cindy & Allan Elzein |  |
 |
Dear Larry and all the staff and contractors, How does one say ‘thank you’ for something so wonderful as what you all have done for us! It started with an unscheduled meeting one afternoon with you Larry, after being so frustrated by other builders who didn’t listen to what I was telling them. Larry, you dropped what you were doing and asked me questions and listened to what I was after and then showed me a plan that would meet our needs. You also told me of a lot that we fell in love with. Waiting for our house to sell was a frustrating time for us and you and we were tempted to give up. But we didn’t and you were patient and encouraged us and gave us options along the way. When we finally sold our house and started the process that came to fruition this week, we discovered why your company has such a good reputation in Muskoka. The team you have put together is amazing. John, I really enjoyed working with you. Your creativity and ability to fit our wants and needs into 1064 square feet were phenomenal. My day with you, Mair, was fun and you helped me make decisions that work well. (I even went with a pink theme!) Thank you for making me decaf every time I came for a meeting, Leanne, and for organizing the gas company stuff, etc. Al, you spoiled me with outlets and pot lights and saved me from a colour boo-boo. Thank you to all the trades who did such excellent work and made it come together and to those two sweet girls who did an incredible job cleaning. Dan, what can I say. You put up with freezing weather, rain, blackflies, and mosquitos and moved piles of dirt, rocks, and gravel into a beautiful setting for our new home, including the stairs! Chris, thank you for the river rocks in the culvert. They are perfect. I know many others worked on our home. There are too many to mention in this letter, but thank you all for having even a small part in making our dream come true. Hugh and I have enjoyed every stage of the building process and felt like kids again with a new toy. We will think of you as we make this house into our home for many years to come. Sincerely, (signed by Hugh & Judy Parker) |
 |
|
...I'd like to thank you for your excellent and efficient work regarding the construction
of our home on Lake Vernon. Your ability to "make things happen" was demonstrated clearly.
I appreciate your honest and down to earth character. -Tom Copland ... your hard work, expertise and pleasant manner have made this a very enjoyable experience. -Cathy Copland |
 |
 |
... As usual the standard of workmanship was excellent, please pass on our appreciation to the trades involved. - Albert & Irene Payne
|
| Dear Larry; Mar; Lorne alias" French's Fiiiiiiiiiine Homes" , This message is long in coming. Thank you very much for building such a beautiful home. It is a pleasure to live in it. The cold of the winter does not feel too bad while looking outside through our large sliding doors with the warm radiant glow of the gas fireplace reflecting off the mantle place. We will always remember the way you took care of us while the house was been built. It surely is a " fine" home. All the best! Dave & Lorena Hornfield. |  |
... prompt and co-operative - Ann and Remo Semadeni
...Thank you for your swift and expert assistance. - Fred and Mary Schifferdecker
Bert French & Son Limited has consistently earned and been awarded an excellent rating by the Ontario New Home Warranty Program (now Tarion) for after sales service. At Bert French & Son Limited when the job is done the service continues. Help or advice is just a phone call away to our friendly service department.
