When Zach Goodgame found out at the age of 17 that he was about to become a father, he didn’t run and hide. Instead, he embraced the unexpected news as the start of an exciting chapter in his life; a chapter in which he could determine the outcome.
“My plans shifted from going to college and pursuing those dreams, to making a living and supporting my family,” he says. So far, so good.
Today, at the age of 31, he’s now the father of three boys and the owner of Cornerstone Construction, one of the best-known builders of luxury homes in Middle Tennessee. While his priorities changed, his ambition to work hard, coupled with his desire to be the best, did not. For Zach, that meant going to work in the family concrete business. From there he went to work for a custom
homebuilder before stepping out on his own and forming Cornerstone in 2015.
“Cornerstone started small,” he says. “We did remodels, built spec homes in Spring Hill, then custom homes. Then when the timing was right, we entered the high-end custom homebuilding market in Williamson County.”
Cornerstone Construction is not the biggest nor least expensive player in the market. But the company fashions itself on providing the very best quality and service. For Goodgame, that’s important in a business where clients and customers talk to each other about a builder’s craftsmanship and trustworthiness.
“We see it through blue collar eyes,” he says. “We pour the concrete and drive the nails. But we listen to our customers so that we deliver exactly what they want and that it will last a very long time."
“To me, it’s about problem solving. I want to take my customer’s vision and make it a reality. Challenges present themselves every day; there are things that can really surprise you, but I figure out a way to make it happen. I love that part of the job.”
While new construction is here for the foreseeable future, late last year Cornerstone introduced a remodel division that, in a sense, brings the company full circle. But the evolution is natural and driven by the demands of the marketplace. “Williamson County has grown substantially, but there are a lot of people who have owned homes here for a very long time that cannot afford or justify the expense of building a brand new $4 million house,” says Goodgame. “But they still want to live in an updated home, so remodeling has become a renewed point of emphasis.”
Goodgame, along with lead project manager Allen Bledsoe and project manager Zenon Horb, approach remodels with the same custom-build ideas as they bring to new construction. “We are not a cookie cutter operation; we strive to be very creative and to come up with new ideas,” says Goodgame. “Our aim is to capture the remodel market by providing the same great service and quality as we do to the new construction side. We like taking the old bones and turning them into a vibrant, new living space.”
C3ofTN.com
