This is one of an occasional series of stories on South Florida home builders.
By: Jana Soeldner Danger

During a torrential rainstorm some years ago, a pool under construction behind a newly built house popped out of the ground. What's worse, it happened just days before the new homeowners were to host a party for their daughter's bat mitzvah.

Marvin Hollub, the builder of the custom house and pool, took care of it. "They had the party at my house," Hollub said.

Hollub 67, retired in 1995. His son Harry, now 36, and daughter Helene, now 39, had both begun working in their father's business, Hollub Construction Group in Pinecrest, during the mid 1980's, when Marvin Hollub began having health problems. After their father's retirement, the siblings took over the company.

They build homes in such areas as Pine Bay Estates at Old Cutler Road and 152nd Street in Southwest Miami Dade and the Royal Palm Club and St. Andrews Country Club, both in Boca Raton. About 30 percent of the firm's work is custom homes, 40 percent is speculative homes, and the remaining 30 percent is building additions and renovations. The Hollubs construct six to eight new homes each year, ranging in size from about 3,800 to 9,000 air-conditioned square feet. Prices start about $650,000 and go up to $3.7 million.

Jay Colestock, an architect in Boca Raton who has been working with the family for two years, has designed two homes for them, one in Royal Palm and one in St. Andrews. "[The Hollubs] are very detail oriented. That comes across when a customer walks through the house," Colestock said.

Harry Hollub oversees the construction of the homes, making sure the jobs progress on schedule.  Helene Hollub handles the finish side of the business, seeing that cabinets, moldings and other finish products are available on time.

"It's nice to see my children continue the business," Marvin Hollub said. "They still come to me for advice, and that makes me feel good."

The elder Hollub may be retired, but he does go to the office everyday to help the company run smoothly. His wife Mimi, to whom he has been married for 46 years, doesn't actually work in the business. "But we get her opinion a lot anyway, whether we want it or not," Harry Hollub said with a smile.

The older Hollubs live within two miles of Harry and his wife, Amy and their three children, ages 12, 11 and 3, and Helene and her 7-year-old daughter. They also live within a couple of miles of the Pinecrest office where Harry, Helene and Marvin all go to work everyday.

"My kids get to see a lot of their grandparents," Harry Hollub said.

When Marvin Hollub built his own 7,200-square-foot home 27 years ago, he installed insulation board that was the same material used for refrigerators, instead of the usual plaster board. Harry chose not to have a living room in his 7,000  square-foot house. "That's unusual in this size and price range," Harry said. "When we're doing our own homes, we'll do things a little different and act as guinea pigs."

Marvin Hollub moved to Florida from his native New York in 1953. In 1954, family members provided him with $50,000 to invest in building two houses in what is now Pinecrest. Acre lots sold for $4,000; the homes for $19,000 each.

Hollub was 21 then and unfamiliar with the construction business. "I learned by being on the job" he said.

He never did construction work himself; his challenge was finding top-notch architects and capable subcontractors. "I was younger than any of the people I hired, and I’d call them 'mister,' " he said.

Home prices are different today, and so are homes, Hollub said. When he started, most had three bedrooms and two baths. "Kitchens were smaller and styling was simpler," he said. "They didn't have central air conditioning, and when we first started doing houses with pools, it was revolutionary.”

"Now, people want four, five and six bedrooms and covered patios and pools."

Times and homes keep changing, but many of the company's subcontractors stick around. Frank Calhoun, who started with Hollub 40 years ago as a plasterer, still works for the company.

"They’re great people," Calhoun said. "They cut no corners, and when you buy from them, you are getting the best."

Why do subcontractors stay with the Hollubs?

Over the years Hollub built unusual homes. One constructed in the mid 1980s in Coconut Grove for a member of the Ford Motor Co. family had an exterior that was mostly blue glass.

Thirty years ago, Hollub built a home in Pinecrest for a physician who wanted an orchid house next to it. Hollub found what was then an experimental product -Mylar- and used it for the orchid house's roof.

Harry Hollub started working with his father when he was 12. Before going into the business, he got a degree in economics at Tulane and a master's at the University of Miami.

"I always knew that at some point  I was planning to get in," Harry said. But when my father got sick [in 1985], it happened immediately.

Helene has a degree in social work and had been employed at Fellowship House in South Miami. After her father became ill, she also joined the company. Her degree is useful in the home-building business, she said. "You can't do your job and have happy customers without having good people skills."

After Hurricane Andrew, when decades-old Hollub-built homes that were in the storm's path were left standing while some nearby homes were destroyed, some owners expressed appreciation , Helene Hollub said.

"We were very fortunate," Marvin Hollub said, "Every builder tells you their homes are the best. Ours aren't perfect but we do always try to do the right thing."

Paul Matalon is the owner of a Hollub home built in Pinecrest in 1992. The company has also built houses for his brother, parents, an uncle and a sister-in-law.

WORK HARDER
Family members in business together may tend to work harder and care more about end products than if they were employed in an outside company, said Bob Preziosi, a business professor at Nova Southeastern University.

"The company has their name and their reputation is at stake," he said.

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