Today we’d like to introduce you to Dee Thompson and Alissa Cardone.
Dee and Alissa, both Ohio natives who met in Chicago close to ten years ago, are a dynamic duo with a passion for design and development. They saw an industry that could benefit from their combined thirty plus years experience in project management, their obsession with organization and their never-ending commitment to chasing perfection.
Dee’s love of home design and real estate began in the mid-1990s when she turned a frustrating experience of not finding her first home into a transformative one that would guide her course for years to come. Her first project was de-converting a 100+ year 3-unit building into a 4200+ sqft single family home in Lakeview. After a good amount of successes and a fair share of challenges, Dee completed her first dream home in less than 7 months. From that point forward, Dee was hooked on real estate, pursued her broker’s license and continued renovation as well as new construction projects.
Alissa’s passion for home design and renovation started from childhood as she watched and participated in her parents’ renovation of their century home, an Arts & Crafts Bungalow, built in 1904 in Akron, Ohio. Her love of design and creating lead to a career in production as an agency producer where she worked with global brands on marketing campaigns and events, video/media production, and building brand stories. Looking for a new challenge and chapter in her life, Alissa partnered with Dee to build Urbane Home, a custom luxury home design and development firm.
Urbane Home is women-led, women-owned and women-run. Their attention to detail, the pursuit of perfection and passion for this industry is reflected not only in their product but their process. Dee and Alissa’s purpose is to add to the rich architectural story of Chicago, build homes for extraordinary clients, and make something truly beautiful.
Has it been a smooth road?
We take our process extremely seriously. There is a spreadsheet, specific protocol and plan for every single step of the build and design process. There is no such thing as too much communication in this industry, whether it’s between us, our trades, partners or clients.
Even with our attention to detail and obsessive organization, shifts and changes happen in building/design process. Being flexible, fluid and responsive is imperative to keep the project on track and moving forward. Any challenge or hiccup can be resolved when you keep an open mind and look at it from every angle.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
At Urbane Home, we specialize in luxury home design and development. Our attention to detail, insistence upon quality material and tradesmen, commitment to safe and organized job sites and aggressive construction timelines sets us apart from others. We are onsite every day, working alongside our skilled craftsmen, managing daily workflow while paying close attention to each and every detail, even the ones you can’t see.
We are extremely proud to be a successful and thriving women-owned, women-led and women-run business. Urbane Home is also certified by the Women’s Business Development Center here in Chicago as well.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
The luxury home design and development industry is a competitive market as there are many skilled and reputable firms – even so, quality architecture and design are a huge part of Chicago’s history and DNA. The need for renovation or new construction in the ever-growing neighborhoods and Chicago communities provides a good amount of opportunities for building new homes/condos.
The key is to be smart with investments, fully educated on permit/regulation processes in Chicago and have something that sets you apart from the competition.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://urbanehome.com/
- Phone: (312) 588-6878
- Email: hello@urbanehome.com
- Instagram: @urbanehome (https://www.instagram.com/urbanehome/)
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/urbanehome/
Image Credit:
Ian Mclaren photography & VHT Studios
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