Photo by Caitlin Abrams
Terry Robertson
“I wanted to run my own company when I was five or six years old,” says Terry Robertson, builder and owner of C Alan Homes. It didn’t take long for him to realize his childhood dream.
In his 20s, he started out working as a manufacturer sales rep, selling countertops and flooring. “Then I realized I could probably build a better home than the people I was selling to,” he says. He partnered with a lifelong friend in the construction business, Curt Brekke, to learn the process of homebuilding.
At 46, Robertson (and Brekke) started C Alan Homes, a custom home company based in Plymouth—and Robertson became one of the only African American residential builders in the Twin Cities. “Some people aren’t used to dealing with people of color, or women, in this industry,” he says. “I’ve worked with people who don’t think I’m the boss.” Robertson hopes to inspire others who may not see themselves represented in the homebuilding industry.
At C Alan, Robertson works with his three-person team designing and building multimillion-dollar homes in Edina and southwest Minneapolis, but they also work on projects of most any budget all over the metro. His team is currently designing a sleek modern home for a local professional athlete.
Photo by Spacecrafting
Contemporary kitchen
“We’ll do contemporary designs, we’ll do traditional, we’ll do it all,” says the C Alan Homes interior designer, Kimberly Niosi, who collaborated with Robertson on the dual-island Edina kitchen below, juxtaposing warm, sustainable elm wood with Carrara marble and giving the family plenty of space to entertain.
Though so much of the company’s work is custom, Robertson has observered some overall shifts in homebuilding trends in the last few years. “People aren’t building huge homes anymore,” he says. “We’ve been scaling down a bit.” More and more clients request homes that are easier to care for and manage. Older clients are also starting to think long term. “They want to age in place,” Robertson says.
In fact, even if clients aren’t yet retired, Robertson says he has seen an increase in requests for elevators, wide doorways, and other accessible elements.
“It fits right into our business model,” he says. “We want to offer higher-end, quality homes that will last.”
C Alan Homes, 5215 Terraceview Ln. N., Plymouth, 763-228-1785, c-alanhomes.com
