Dietrich Homes, Inc.

Clay learned every aspect of the building trade from the ground up, getting his hands dirty and honing his skills in every aspect of construction.

He got his start at age 15, sweeping floors, staining and varnishing trim and mastering his carpentry skills while working with his brother, Brent, first for another builder and then in Dietrich Construction.

Over the years, Clay mastered applicable aspects of architecture, engineering and landscaping. He also become an expert on land use and construction regulations while forming strong relationships with the agencies that oversee home building.

In 2009, Clay earned the Certified Graduate Builder designation from the National Association of Homebuilders. Only builders who meet specific benchmarks for quality in all areas of homebuilding, such as finance, management and subcontractor coordination, qualify for the designation. In 2014, the Builders Association of Minnesota honored Clay with its President’s Award for outstanding service to the industry. In 2015, the Home Builders Association of Fargo-Moorhead gave Clay its  Builder of the Year award, as did the North Dakota Association of Builders.

Clay can take a look at a site and in a few minutes tell you exactly what home orientation will be best for views and sun exposure, discuss an initial design for your home, work through details of the exterior and a whole lot more. With his expertise, you’re going to know exactly what will work best for your lot, how much it’s going to cost and how long it will take to build.

Clay’s hands-on experience comes through in the homes we build. With more than 40 years of managing construction projects, as well as 26 years as a professional firefighter, retiring at the rank of assistant fire chief in 2009, his leadership skills are well honed. His demand for perfection is the foundation upon which we build every home.

“It’s all about taking pride in your work and honoring the commitments you make,” he says. “That’s a big part of how I approach building homes and working with people, and I think it’s had an impact on our staff. We all take a lot of pride in what we do and do what we say, and that shows in the quality of the homes and how happy our clients are with the process.”

Clay built his own home in 1995 in Moorhead, Minn., where he and his wife, Suzy, raised their two children. Like the dream homes he builds for clients, it still functions beautifully and efficiently, has a timeless appeal and offers sanctuary from the everyday demands of leading a growing company.

Rachel will look you right in the eye and in all seriousness tell you, “I enjoy reviewing balance sheets and income statements, entering takeoffs and collecting bids.”

While that might not make great dinner conversation, it’s exactly what we like to hear from the person who handles our books and stays on top of all the numbers for our clients’ projects.

And in all fairness, what Rachel will tell you next is she really loves working with people, from other team members to subcontractors and vendors to you and your family.

“Accounting is a diverse field, but it was important for me to be in a position where I can work directly with people and build those relationships,” she says. “Finding my niche in construction early on really allowed me to become more passionate about my job.”

Rachel’s experience in the construction industry began in 2004. Prior to joining Dietrich Homes in 2014, she held full-time positions with other construction firms and ran her own construction accounting business for several years.

Rachel holds a Master’s of Business Administration from Southwest Minnesota State University, Marshall, Minn.; a Bachelor of Science in business administration from Minnesota State University Moorhead; and an Associate in Applied Science in accounting from Rasmussen College, Minnetonka, MN.

Tom grew up in the business. Literally.

He’s been doing odd jobs for Dietrich Homes since he was old enough to hold a paint brush and swing a hammer. Makes sense – the owner’s son always gets an early start on learning with the tools of the trade.

Tom gained more experience beginning in the summer of 2000, when he worked for his uncle Brent as a framer at Dietrich Construction. In the summer of 2001, he worked for our custom cabinetmaker learning the cabinet trade. Tom joined Dietrich Homes full time in 2002, even though he was carrying a full load of credits at North Dakota State University.

Along the way he’s learned just about all there is to know about home construction from Clay and other mentors on the Dietrich Homes team – framing, electrical, plumbing, siding, roofing, HVAC. Mostly, though, he focused on honing his finish carpentry skills.

Tom completed his degree in business administration at NDSU in 2007. He became our vice president shortly after college and has recently become a partner in the business.

As our construction manager, Tom starts nearly every day looking at challenges on a project, figuring out how to solve problems and finding a way to get the job done. He says that, at the end of each day, knowing he and his crew got it done is the greatest reward.

“I grew up respecting construction and what it gives to every family involved, including my own,” Tom said. “Knowing there will be a beautiful, high-quality structure for a family to enjoy when we’re completely done – that’s what gets me going every morning.”

It’s the heart that matters. That’s the way Zack sees it.

“There are numerous people and companies that build houses, and all of them are built with hands and head,” he says. “It’s the heart that’s hard to come by.”

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves, and we’re thankful Zack is one of the professionals at the heart of Dietrich Homes. As a jobsite manager and carpenter, Zack’s work is at the core of the structural integrity and finished appeal of every home we build, whether it’s a custom Design-Build or from our Inspired line.

In addition to the exceptional craftsmanship, our clients appreciate Zack’s straight-forward, level-headed approach, which he says revolves around honesty and integrity.

“Honesty, because I believe just telling someone what you think they want to hear does no good in the grand scheme,” he said. “Integrity, because everyone should be accountable and take pride in what they do.”

Zack holds himself to an even higher standard, what he calls “absolute pride,” both for himself in doing exceptional work and for the people who are going to call the structure home.

That sense of dignity, combined with flexibility learned as a U.S. Navy brat, have served Zack well throughout his life. His parents were both career military professionals, so he moved around a lot as a kid, including a three-year stint at the base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Those experiences resulted in a calm, collected person who deals with change well and brings a different perspective to solving problem.

Prior to joining us, Zack was a jobsite manager and lead carpenter for a Wisconsin company, and before that he was a master certified Ford technician. He holds a degree in automotive and diesel technology from Universal Technical Institute.

Zack and his wife, Kara, have a chocolate lab named Elvira, who is his constant companion on hunting trips for pheasants and turkey. When he’s not doing that, his heart is in his other hobby, woodworking. 

Heart, and we’d add soul, too, because that’s what Zack gives on the jobsite, working hard every day to build your dreams.

Heather was Clay’s first office hire in 2003. While she originally was hired to be the office manager, Clay soon realized she had awesome design skills that would be valuable to the company. After 10 years, as the company continued to grow and it became clear that both roles needed someone who could devote 40 hours a week to them, Heather began focusing on design only.

Heather has the best eye for interior home décor and design in the business. It’s that simple. Which is appropriate, by the way, since simplicity is one of her watchwords. WOW! is another because that’s what you’re going to say when you walk into your finished dream home for the first time.

Heather will take you through a detailed, step-by-step process to get to know your style, personality and desires for your home, then weave all the bits and pieces into a living space that’s both sanctuary and showcase. Form, function and aesthetics all come together beautifully under her watchful eye, and she makes sure the process is as easy as possible along the way.

Heather brought her knack for design with her when she and her husband, Todd, moved to North Dakota from Oregon, where she’d been a bookkeeper and designer at a construction firm. She started meeting builders in search of a similar position, met our owner, Clay, and, “As they say, the rest is history.”

Heather has already taken custom home design to another level that gives Dietrich Homes a strong competitive edge. Even so, she invests a lot of time keeping up on the latest products.

“Every day is an opportunity to learn, and every client has their own idea of what a dream home is,” she says. “I want to make sure I stay ahead of the trends so I can help them define their style and bring their vision to life.”

Heather’s own life is a collage of colors and textures, too. She and Todd have two kids, she volunteers for Cowboy Up Ride Against Cancer, designs jewelry and bridal broach bouquets, enjoys riding through the hills and prairies in their side-by-side 4-wheeler, and cheers for the green and yellow every fall – either the North Dakota State University Bison or Green Bay Packers will do, thank you very much.

Hidden abilities. Raw talent. Untapped creativity.

These are just a few of the phrases that come to mind when we think of Josh and the person he was when he joined Dietrich Homes in June 2014.

“Beautiful, abstract craziness,” is what other team members call it, and if you really need a label, that’s probably as close as you’re going to get.

None if it does justice to Josh’s imagination or skills with a sketchpad, saw or welding torch. And, fact is, we don’t think he should be pigeonholed, anyway. After all, none of his creations can be.

But first, a little history. Josh was working as a convenience store assistant manager, ringing up fuel, candy and soda purchases day after day, marking time by doing remodeling projects at the store and taking a little time here and there to visit with customers. One of those customers was a Dietrich Homes jobsite supervisor, and in June 2014, when we needed someone to run our shop, Josh’s name came up.

We got way more than we bargained for, and we mean that in the best possible way.

Josh has flourished as our lead fabricator of custom doors, stair rails, custom woodwork, parts of windows, tooled accents… no matter what it is, if we need something made for one of our clients or model homes, he can do it.

Where he really excels is adding a touch of “different.” Show him a picture of something similar to what you want, and he’ll come up with something 15 times better.

He took a bunch of leftover hardwood flooring and built an extraordinary waterfall desk for our CAD designer’s office. There’s the lifelike yet abstract tree bookshelf he cut and carved for our office lobby. Then there are the wine racks, cabinets and other Josh originals, made of everything from scrap wood to scrap metal, that we put into every one of our model and custom homes in the Fargo-Moorhead Parade of Homes.

Josh downplays it all, of course. “I do for clients what I would do for myself,” he says humbly. “I’m just proud to be in the position I’m in with this company.”

Suffice it to say that Josh is an incredibly talented, really nice and down-to-earth guy who likes people he can learn from and who can give him a surprise from time to time. Given that we’re often drawn to people like ourselves, that’s just about right.