Faces of Kelowna: Rockwood Custom Homes

Legacy homes delivered with the utmost care, top quality, craftsmanship and comprehensive stewardship.

In its nearly 15 years of designing and building luxury custom residential product, Rockwood Custom Homes has always held true to that founding vision of president Allison Grafton.

“Excellence is the standard,” says Allison.

“Excellence in the quality of products we specify, in the care and customer service we extend to our clientele, and in the overall financial stewardship we administer across our build process.”

In fact, Rockwood’s full integration of the build process is unprecedented in the custom residential home building market.

All under one roof, Rockwood takes clients from initial pen to paper architectural vision through full interior design, home construction, and all the way to a magical handover with homes completed down to all furniture, rugs, lamps, linens, flowers and lit candles.

“Our business model, by its very nature, demands accountability and alignment between Rockwood and our clients,” stresses Allison.

“We are involved and driving every stage of the home design and build process through our robust team encompassing divisions of architecture, interior design (who still execute the remarkable art of hand drafting), design project management, construction project management, accounting (with an in-house CFO), and business operations. The level of communication, attention to detail, customer care and, therefore, financial protection, resulting from our integrated business model is second to none.”

Rockwood interviews every potential client and vice versa.

“What unifies us is an alignment in expectation,” says Allison.

“Our clients are often entrepreneurial, financially savvy and hold high expectations on quality, custom care and investment protection, which we are pleased to meet and surpass on all fronts.”

Through careers in pharmaceutical sales and investment banking, Allison and her husband built, renovated and lived in nearly 20 homes, spurred by Allison’s passion for home design.

Also along the way, Allison experienced firsthand the cost overruns, lack of transparency and stress associated with dealing with many builders and renovators.

“I lived it firsthand and knew there had to be a different, and better, way of doing things,” remembers Allison.

“I knew in combining my business acumen, with my passion and wisdom in design and home building, I could and would build a company that not only addressed all of the shortcomings I personally experienced within the industry, but disrupted an accepted status quo that was, in my opinion, unacceptable for the discerning clientele.”

Allison lives and breathes Rockwood.

“To be truly great at anything, I believe it has to be fuelled not only by skill and ability, but also by passion,” she states.

“I am deeply invested in the product we create, the values we espouse and the clients we take on. We don’t just build houses, we design and build homes and sanctuaries, we transform communities and leave lasting legacy impact in the physical landscape.”

What has and will continue to drive Rockwood’s future is its intersection with the environment, a commitment to advancing and integrating sustainable building practices and energy efficiencies.

As well, there will forever be a deep respect for the natural surroundings in which it builds, a fluidity with the land, where architecture and design work in symbiosis with the communities and landscape that surround them.