J. Patrick Homes is celebrating 30 years of exceptional homebuilding this year, and many of the people who worked with the company in its early days are still there today. Here’s a look at a person with J. Patrick Homes from the very first day — Eduardo Ponce.
When J. Patrick Homes was first launched, the founder asked Eduardo Ponce to join him as his bricklayer contractor.
Eduardo said yes and since then, has been responsible for the brick work for thousands of J. Patrick homes built over the last three decades. And now, there are two generations of the Ponce family contracting with J. Patrick Homes.
“My father has such loyalty for J. Patrick Homes,” said Ingrid Ponce, who joined her father almost nine years ago at Maya Masonry to help manage the projects and construction crews. “We feel like family.”
Ingrid says the leaders of the company always take time to speak with her and her father when on a jobsite.
“They have built a relationship with us that makes it easy for us to talk to them about the project, how the work is progressing and what’s coming next,” she said. “That open communication is important and makes us feel valued.”
Also important, Ingrid says, is knowing that other parts of the homebuilding process will be completed in time for her company to stay on schedule with its portion of the work.
“We can meet our deadline without waiting on other work to be finished first,” she said. “It all comes down to having a good construction superintendent and J. Patrick Homes does, including those who have been with the company as long as my father.”
J. Patrick Homes is the only builder Maya Masonry has ever worked for.
“I’m comfortable here,” Eduardo said. “They treat me well and there is no need to work anywhere else.”
Ingrid says there has always been enough work, with she and her father sometimes managing up to 10 crews at a time.
“That’s why I started working with Dad,” she said. “He had a lot of crews and asked for my help. I remember Sundays he would take us with him to work to check on his crews and I liked it there. When I had the chance to work with him, I said yes.”
Ingrid said she works with all aspects of the business except one — working with tools.
“It’s better that my dad does this,” she laughed.
Ingrid said her father has been talking retirement for about five years, but she thinks it might just remain talk.
“He can’t stay home,” she said. “He still likes to be onsite and will usually supervise the punch-out work as we near closing.”
As for expanding Maya Masonry to take on other builders, Ingrid says she doesn’t really see that happening.
“J. Patrick Homes will always be a priority,” she said. “They are the reason we have what we have. We care about that company. Like my father says, “They feel like family.’”
