Dawnelle Priddy: Bringing Work Home

Dawnelle Priddy: Bringing Work Home

Dawnelle Priddy spends her life designing houses and other commercial buildings as a design build contractor. However, she now embraces the challenge of designing and building her dream home here in Longview.

Dawnelle and her husband Rick were looking for property to build their dream home for months when they found this listing that stayed on the market for months. The topography seemed difficult to work with at the time, but Dawnelle saw the land and decided to carve out a place for her home — a place that would look out to a waterfall.

“It’s going to look like a mountain home in the woods, which is totally different from what everybody is doing right now,” Priddy said. “I love the modern look, but we’re trying to keep it like a rustic modern. We’ll see but I think we pulled it off pretty good.”

Dawnelle quite literally dug a hole in her property to carve out space to put her house in, so that looking out off her porch, there would be a waterfall. She used many subcontractors to help her accomplish her dream.

Because of her background on working on other houses, Dawnelle is able to get a more in-depth idea of what she should do, or what she shouldn’t with her home. After finishing a house or project, she does a review with her clients to figure out what they wished would have been different or better, along with what they did well. Because of this, Dawnelle had lots of ideas and notes for her own house.

Each client has their own tastes and wants, Dawnelle’s job is to make sure that their house reflects them and is their dream home. Most clients come in with a general idea or plan of what they want, Dawnelle takes that and makes all the details come together.

Dawnelle had the unique experience of having the creative freedom to make her house specific to her wants and needs. For her, this included putting an office in her bedroom, having a nook kids can play in from an empty space that would have been attic space, and designated exercise room. She mentioned that she did not even look at other plans to get ideas, she had her specific wants and it came together in a way that fit. She can also take notes about what other clients would have done differently and apply that to her plan.

“Many people make us who we are. We are nothing without our subcontractors. So, like all these guys [subcontractors] are making it happen, my job of course is just to make sure that we have everything correct, but they are the ones who are busting their butts all day, every day to make us look good. So we are lucky that they are here.”

- Dawnelle Priddy

"Every client comes in with their own needs and wants and then our job make sure we hear them and show them how it’s going so that they are not surprised,” Priddy said. “You walk through so many houses and since I was my own client in particular. I did exactly what I wanted.”

During the process of building a home, Dawnelle shows her clients 3D renderings in order to give them the most realistic version of how their home will turn out. Even if something does go wrong, there is a potential to make it better than was planned.

“[Designing my home] is going to help me be a better person for my clients because I can give resources to my clients that say ‘this isn’t going to be fun,” Priddy said. “This is going to cost your patience, things aren’t going to go as planned, but I will try and make this as easy for you as I possibly can. I do Friday updates for my clients.”

Dawnelle is a woman in construction, which is unusual in the field. All of her subcontractors are men, and while she is optimistic of having women working for her in the future, she understands the reality of men dominating the industry.

“I’m a woman in construction which isn’t very typical, but I don’t want anybody to be intimidated by that,” Priddy said. “ I don’t want anybody to ever feel intimidated about who they are to stop them from doing so.”

Dawnelle walks through her house with pride as she shows people the vision of the home. Because of her involvement in every step, she knows and has a purpose for every nook and cranny of the house. It’s the culmination of her career and personal life.

Dawnelle's Advice for Every Stage of A New Build

Before the Design

1. Make a budget.

2. Choose your property carefully and learn what you want long term.

3. Make a list of your needs, dreams, wants and don’t want.

4. Collect floor plan ideas and pictures of what you like.

5. Determine your design style and preferences.

Design is a Balance.

1. Your home is custom so it should be about you, break the rules if it fits your needs.

2. Learn what is timeless, there are things that have been around for a long time…for good reason.

3. Understand the current trends but acknowledge there are ones that will fade away.

4. Nature is your friend, bring natural elements into your home.

5. Speak up and let the designer and contractor know what you want upfront so there are no surprises.

6. Storage, storage, and more storage.

Construction Phase.

1. Know your contractor. Do they have insurance, references, and a good list of subcontractors?

2. Get a soils report for your house pad, construction for any new building needs to start with a with a good foundation.

3. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, this helps for clear communication between you and your contractor.

4. Be patient, houses have a lot of moving parts and pieces, and you want it done right.