Shoptalk - Richard Rogers
Many of your homes appear to have a strong focus on both user experience and natural light, is this correct? Can you tell us more about this?
ROGERS R&R Development Company creates luxury homes, built on spec, yet at the quality level of high-end custom homes. As a boutique firm, we work toward a level of detail throughout our development process that you likely will not find with most other larger spec builders. User experience and natural light are extremely important to us, but those are only two of the many factors we consider when designing our homes, including architectural style, overall size, choice of rooms, floorplans and room layouts, amenities, finish details...the list goes on.
The livability of the home for the home buyer as well as the home’s architectural influence in the neighborhood where we plan to build are both at the forefront of our minds throughout the process. As we strive to develop the most luxurious home in the area, we ensure it is a home that both the new buyer and all the neighbors will love.
What sparked your interest in residential development?
ROGERS I have been surrounded by both residential and commercial development since I was born. My grandfather, uncle, and cousin on one side of my family were all general contractors. My parents also invested in spec developments when I was growing up on O’ahu.
The house where we lived in Hawaii Kai was a spec investment by my parents and built by my grandfather and uncle. During that time, my dad, who is also my business partner in R&R, was at Hemmeter Corporation, where he oversaw the financing and development of massive hotel resorts, including the Hilton Waikoloa, Westin Maui, Westin Kauai (now the Kauai Marriott) and Hyatt Regency in Lahaina. I was just a kid then, but I remember going to a few of the grand openings of those amazing resorts.
Later, I helped my dad frame and trim out the house my family owned when I was in high school in Lake Stevens, WA. While I was studying Accounting and Information Systems at UW Foster School of Business, I worked summers at Edifice Construction, where I gained more hands-on experience in high-end residential construction in Seattle. Considering all of the above, it would be safe to say that I have been surrounded by residential and commercial development my entire life.
What is your ultimate goal when it comes to your work?
ROGERS One aspect of construction development that surprised me early on was the amount of relationships I made with the various people with whom we work. This is a huge benefit to me on a personal level. Plus, the positive camaraderie helps with the efficiency and quality of our developments. We all get along very well and know how to work with each other. I plan to continue working in luxury residential development and diversify into commercial projects with a residential component. I’d like to develop condominium towers but still continue building luxury single family homes. That type of portfolio is very attractive to me. No matter the direction we move toward, however, my goal for our work will be to continually provide the highest quality, most luxurious residences in any location at a given time, wherever we develop.
What’s the best way to spend a weekend in the Northwest?
ROGERS With my wife and two kids! Our daughter is 5 and son just turned 1, and I’m quickly learning how fast time seems to go by when they are so young. I put long hours into our developments during the week but don’t want to sacrifice too much weekend time with my family during these amazing years. We recently moved from Seattle to Woodway, which was a very welcome change of pace for us. Sometimes, we’ll spend the weekend at home. Our property in Woodway is large and provides plenty of outdoor space with a big yard and old growth trees where we play with the kids and build forts.
Moving out of Seattle also means we can now experience the city from a new perspective as visitors. Working around our daughter’s soccer and swim lessons, we enjoy spending weekend days visiting our old neighborhood in Queen Anne or soaking up sunny days out on the beach at Alki. Our daughter is also learning to ski, so more of our weekends are spent up at Snoqualmie or Steven’s Pass, or we’ll take a few extra days to head up to Whistler. The Pacific Northwest is an outdoors lover’s paradise.
For more information visit: www.rrdevelopment.com
