Dane Isenmann Builders

March 16, 2015

From:  Roger Pettiford

(Formerly Sales & Marketing Manager, Custom Homesite Sales, 

Howard Hughes Corp., Summerlin - The Ridges)

To Whom It May Concern:

I worked for the above named company for 16 years until my recent retirement.  During that time I was privileged to work with, and become familiar with, many of the city’s most prominent custom home builders.

I have been asked for a character reference by Mr. Dane Isenmann.  Of course, I am pleased to oblige in the hope that it might be of some assistance to you as you consider the builder for your residence.

He has built a number of homes for our customers as well as for two of the company’s senior officers: Mr. W. Stewart Gibbons - Vice President of the Howard Hughes Corporation and Mr. Kevin Orrock - Current President of the Howard Hughes Corporation.  I have had opportunity to visit with many of these folks and feel absolutely no hesitation in saying that all were pleased with the results.

Naturally, there are many fine home builders in Las Vegas and while I am hard pressed to single any one out, it is important to say that not all provide the service after the sale that Mr. Isenmann is well-known for.  I am confident that were you to choose Dane as your builder you would be very pleased with your home for many years to come.

I’m hoping that this is of some assistance to you.

Sincerely,

Roger Pettiford

702.838.7597

To: Prospective Clients of Dane Isenmann

Re: 8 Soaring Bird Court located in Redhawk - The Ridges

On May 20, 2006, after spending a year with architects, engineers and designers, we were ready to select a builder who would be proficient in building a Frank Lloyd Wright inspired home of just under 10,000 sq.ft. We wanted a builder experienced in building a complex designed home and one that would be structually and environmentally sound. Alas, our first builder could not provide the talent or experience to build the home or get a handle on the budget necessary to build this type of home. Both of these short comings forced us to re-evaluate and start the builder selection process all over.

The task of finding a Residential Builder mid-project could have been troublesome, but we were to referred to Dane Isenmann and he was extremely willing to help us out but first wanted to walk the project and review all architectural engineering drawings and all county inspection reports to date. After this process, Dane felt comfortable with the project and provided us with a completion time frame, an updated budget and discussed how the project would be managed on a day to day basis. His thorough evaluation of the project  prior to accepting or presenting us a contract offered us a high level of confidence in his knowledge level, experience in residential construction and his high level of professionalism and integrity. 

During the completion phase, Dane immediately cleaned up the worksite and kept it cleaned throughout completion. His supervisory personnel were on site every day to interact and monitor all vendors and they immediately kept us in the data loop when they discovered any irregularity that might need to be reengineered in order to provide us with a structurally and environmentally sound home. Dane's philosophy on the building process was that you never leave anything to chance and the "right time" to correct problems prior to the new home owner moving into the home. Dane fully understood that we wanted a structurally/environmentally sound home. WE DIDN'T WANT TO LIVE IN A HOME WITH WINDOW LEAKS, DRAINAGE PROBLEMS OR STRUCTURAL WEAKNESSES. 

in summary: Dane provided the highest level of residential building knowledge and supervision of the project, his interaction with vendors was of the highest and he insured full communication between all parties involved in building our new home. Our home was selected to be in the "Parade of Homes 2009" and Dane and his entire team completed our home in time and all features of the home were in full working order and remain that way today.

We truly realized that you need a committed builder with vast experience to build and COMPLETE a home as complex as 8 Soaring Bird. If we would have selected Dane as our primary builder initially, it would have made the building of our home much easier and less strain on the family.

In closing, let me say that Dane was a true professional to do business with and we developed an excellent relationship throughout the process of building our home. He still makes himself available whenever we need to explain or need help with any maintenance items of our home.

Sincerely,

John Lendacky

Ken Kulas Cleo Design

Re: The Home at 8 Soaring Bird Court, The Ridges - Redhawk Community

Dear Prospective Home Buyer:

Dane stepped in to rescue our client's residential project mid-way in construction. The client was frustrated with a General Contractor that could not perform up to their standards. With a multi-million dollar home on the line, the space went from a thorn of contention for the Owners and all involved, to one of the most wonderful experiences.

As the interior design firm tasked with this extraordinary home, it was refreshing to work with a colleague that was familiar with current methods and procedures of residential construction. Our words of Site Visit Documentation, Request for Information, and Budget alignment, no longer fell on deaf ears. Each challenge of the previous project mistakes were received by Dane with professionalism, thoughtfulness, and motivation to make right. 

In the end, eager to show off the completed building, the Owners had no hesitation to include Dane into their "open house" celebration and show the world. 

Dane not only brought his expertise and experience to the table, but his compassion and a gentle authority. We are genuinely proud of the team's accomplishment and are grateful for Dane's orchestration.

Sincerely,

Ken Kulas

Pia Zadora

Re: Dane Isenmann Builders

To Whom It May Concern:

My entire house was flooded in the late summer of 2011 and I hired Dane Isenmann to restore it. 

The project took several months to complete. Dane has been incredible to work with. From the quality of his work, to the efficiency of his subcontractors to his honesty and integrity, not to mention getting the job done on time, I could not have been more pleased.

I have worked with many contractors (on house like to Pickfair Estate in Beverly Hills, and a Major Beverly Park Estate and several homes in Malibu and a Lakefront Estate in Lake Arrowhead) and have found Dane to be the fittest and easiest to work with.

Pia Zadora

Subject: Letter of Recommendation

To Whom It May Concern,

I am writing this letter to briefly share my experience with Dane Isenamnn and his crew from Dane Isenmann Builders. 

We originally used another builder, Palm Canyon Development,, for the construction of our home in the Redhawk development of The Ridges. The overall quality of our home's construction was very good, however, shortly after moving into our home in 2008, we discovered that our home had problems with the construction of the roof, upper balcony, and the theater in our downstairs basement that required repair. Our original builder was not able or willing to make the repairs, so we regrettably had no choice to initiate a construction defect lawsuit against our original builder.

Four years later in 2012, we were successful with the lawsuit, and we very cautiously began the process of selecting a new builder to make the necessary repairs for our home. We interviewed four candidates, checked references, visited homes, and had numerous meetings with each candidate. For us, the decision to select Dane was easy. He was far and away the most personable, passionate, and qualified candidate we interviewed. We knew from several homes he had built on our street that his work quality was impeccable, and his clients could not stop talking about the quality of the experience of working with Dane over the course of the construction process. It was very important that we select the right builder that we could trust to deliver quality and we could employ with over a long period of time.

We are extremely pleased that we selected Dane as our builder, and I don't think any builder in the city of Las Vegas could have done a better job for our family. Dane and his crew completed the work on our house within six months, and the combination of Dane's attention to detail, the quality of the subcontractors he selected, and the third party engineers he brought into guide and inspect the construction processes delivered to us a home that is finally complete after four years. The work quality he has delivered is obvious, and we are confident that Dane has increased the resale value of our home. Additionally, we will continue to work with Dane in 2013 to make further improvements to home, and if we ever build another home in Las Vegas we will certainly select Dane as our builder. 

We would be happy to walk you through our home and answer any questions you might have about Dane or our knowledge of other builders working in this area. We also can share with you volumes of photos and documentation of Dane's construction process, and we can refer you to the third party engineers from California that we hired to inspect Dane's work - they were very impressed with Dane's cooperative attitude and work quality,

In summary, I can whole heartedly recommend Dane Isenmann as the best builder for your construction project.

Best regards,

Parker Dunn 

Pinnacle Homes

To: Prospective Clients of Dane Isenmann

As as experienced local homebuilder with a civil engineering background, many of my friends and professional acquaintances perhaps questioned why my wife Kjersti and I elected to seek out and hire an outside builder to build our home. It actually was a fairly straightforward decision for us. We have been involved in the construction of primarily smaller and less complex homes over the past 16 years. It was therefore important us to team up with someone who has more extensive background in the custom home arena and who also could bring with him a team of subcontractors with a similar level of experience. That experience, we felt, would assist us in making some of the major decisions during the construction process. 

We selected Dane Isenamnn after a review of his credentials and a few personal encounters over lunch, coffee, and plan review sessions. Dane appeared to have the temperament we were looking for and got the impression that he was very sincere in his approach to the job he does. Of a major concern for me, was the type of relationship that would evolve over the course of the project due to my background as a builder and potential for differing opinions on work quality, design elements and so forth. We were not disappointed. Dane proved to be a true professional in his approach toward dealing with us and we worked together very well. 

In terms of the construction of our home, we could not be more pleased with the end product. We do recognize that a home is built by human hands, so there will always be minor things that require correction or fine tuning. It is the nature of new home construction. We are nonetheless very pleased with the quality of the home. 

We had a great experience at the end of the project. About 30 days before the home was due to be completed, we took a trip to Europe which had been planned well in advance. Due to the sale of our other home, we had no choice but to begin moving a few days after we returned. Dane had the home ready for us. We performed our walk through, developed a punch list, which was very minor, and begin moving in. 

We have been in our home now for almost two years, which is hard for us to believe. There have been very few issues that required resolution, and all of them have been extremely minor in nature. We are also very pleased with the overall comfort of the home.

In closing, let us say that Dane is a pleasure to do business with and we appreciate the relationship we had during the building of our home.

Sincerely,

Frank E. Wyatt

President and Founder, Pinnacle Homes

William R. Smith

Mr. Kevin Orrock

Chief Executive Officer

10000 Howard Hughes Corporation

Las Vegas, NV, 89138

Subject: Letter of Recommendation for Dane Isenmann, LLC

Dear Kevin,

Please consider this Letter of Recommendation for Dane Isenmann, LLC. Dane was the Residential Builder of our custom home in the community of Redhawk within The Ridges.

In 2005, after interviewing five (5) separate Residential Builders we chose Dane Isenamnn, LLC. Dane began by assembling all the Construction Documents: including Architectural, Structural, Plumbing, Electrical and Interior Design. Dane went to the subcontractor market and procured competitive bids for all trades. This provided us with the best possible pricing in the market.

During the Construction phase, Dane maintained a close working relationship with us on a daily basis. This relationship proved to be very helpful in addressing details before the work was actually installed. Dane always listened to the needs of the client. Constructing a custom home is full of numerous details. Dane was always willing to make an adjustment or modification once an item was identified. 

Finally, Dane Isenmann, LLC has done an excellent job on responding to warranty work after our initial occupancy. Donald Thompson has always been willing to investigate and correct an item as quickly as possible. As an Architect and developer of high quality gaming, hotel and mixed-used facilities, I understand the importance of a committed builder. Dane Isenmann, LLC is one of those committed builders and his integrity is exemplary.

Please call if you have any questions regarding our custom home building experience.

Sincerely,

Bill and Linda Smith

Dane Isenmann 

7500 W. Lake Mead Suite 9-461

Las Vegas, NV 89128

Dear Dane,

First, apologies that we were not able to get this letter off to you prior to our move; however, the slight delay in delivery does not diminish that sentiment this note is meant to convey.

Clearly, the building of a custom home is not to be taken lightly - something that we learned as we moved further into the process, which was only compounded by the competing demands for our time at work. We started the process around the same time that the financial crisis started to bubble (the severity and duration of what was to come unbeknownst to even the most astute student of capital markets) and moved in shortly after Lehman failed and markets entered a free fall, the bottom not to be seen for many months thereafter. However, the one constant throughout this turbulence was your promise to deliver what we had envisioned when the world was calm - our home - both on time and on budget. Nearly twelve months to the day, you delivered on both counts. 

If we have learned anything in the this process, our custom home building outcome is not the typical norm - in fact, it is more often that not the exception - which, when coupled with the ongoing financial crisis, speaks volumes to your commitment to deliver on a promise. For that - we owe you our sincere thank you.

Aside from the budget and time aspects, we also learned another invaluable lesson about the custom home building experience upon move in - which was the importance of a builder's commitment to not only deliver the vision on time and on budget but to deliver this product with integrity and attention to detail. From day one, the product spoke for itself - by functioning and operating in the manner that we had envisioned - allowing us to find safe haven in a home that protected us from the more turbulent world we faced by day.

It is strange to think that we will not be part of this home for years to come - that was always the plan - however, life often has other plans that can not necessarily be known; and, we now find ourselves very far away from Nevada. However, we couldn't officially say goodbye to the home without sending a letter. You allowed us to spend our last days in a home that we created together - it spoke to us and brought us peace and happiness. This would never have been possible if you had not remained true to the task at hand, which speaks as much as your ability as a builder as it does your work ethic and integrity as a person. 

In the end, it became very clear to both os us that the most critical factor to the outcome was our selection of the contractor who would help turn our vision of a house into a home. It wasn't the design, the location or the materials - it was the people. This is the right answer to us, for only people turn a house into a home. Without the right people, a house is simply a house - materials, design, and form - but not substance. People turn that form into substance and, in the process, that house into a home. 

Thank you Dane and best of luck in all of your endeavors. 

With very best regards,

Jeff and Cathy Santoro

To: Prosepctive Clients of Dane Isenmann Builders

Re: Our home in Azure Ridge, Las Vegas

There are several areas a great custom home builder must excel at:

1. Work closely with the owners, architect and interior designer during the project
2. Hire and supervise the best subcontractors
3. Oban the lowest possible cost for quality work
4. Complete the project on time and on budget
5. Provide excellent warranty work after completion 

Dane met, exceeded, our expectations in building our custom home for all 5 areas. He has proved to be professional who is honest and has high integrity. I would like to touch on some of these areas in further details, where, Dane has a much higher standard than any other homebuilder I'm familiar with:

Area 2 (Hire and supervise the best subcontractors) was an unusual challenge, as the building took place during the heart of the recession. It seemed Dane was able to negotiate lower costs, as the subcontractors were hungry for work, but he was also experiencing the need to more frequently replace the subcontractor that weren't keeping their quality high, as they were losing quality workmen. Dane was an expert in navigating through this situation, and wouldn't let it derails Area 4 (Complete the project on time and on budget). 

Regarding Area 3 (Obtain the best possible cost for quality work: Based on my experience, it seems to be "common sense" among homebuilders to negotiate the lowest costs, but then personally keep much to eh lower costs as additional profit. Dane told us upfront, and kept his word, that he would state what his fees were, negotiate the best possible financial deals with the subcontractors, and pass all savings onto us - frequently showing us the invoices from the subcontractors. I believe this led to a much lower cost of building our custom home. 

Regarding area 5 (Provide excellent warranty wok after completion), I've saved the best for last. In the homebuilding industry, it is "common practice" for homebuilders to warranty homes for 12 months. Dane told us he would provide warranty for YEARS after we move in. At first, we were skeptical that he would do this - but, he certainly has. For example, he has even replaced roof tile (that was installed correctly) that blew off during one of Summerlin's 60 mph wind storms, 18 months after we moved in, at NO COST to us. His excellent warranty work eliminates any doubt that an owner can have regarding the high quality of homebuilding Dane provides. It's a true security blanket!

In closing, Dane and his crew, were a pleasure to do business with, and earned our complete trust, and became our friends, during and after the project. I would highly recommend him to other owners seeking the highest quality custom homebuilder in Las Vegas. 

Sincerely,

Jerry Winkelstein 

Joseph K. Rader

Attorney at Law

To Whom It May Concern:

I have been personally and professionally acquainted with Dane Isenmann for at least thirty years, beginning when I was employed by Friendswood Development Company as the Residential Coordinator for the Kingwood development. At that time Dane was employed by Ryland homes and was responsible for several innovations that gave then a competitive edge in the market for that price range home. In 1984, I was the Residential and Commercial Marketing Manager for the Kingwood project and worked with Dane to qualify him as an independent custom home builder. After a brief tenure with Harold Prock Homes, Dane had exhibited the initiative and dedication to constructing quality custom homes at competitive process necessary to allow us to appoint him as one of Kingwood's few authorized custom home builders. 

To say that Dane single-handedly revolutionized the custom home market in Kingwood would not be an understatement. Within a few years he was by far the highest volume custom home builder in Kingwood, building homes from the low 100's up to a million dollars. Dane is hard worker and is very loyal to the development where he builds. His customer satisfaction, in a very discerning market, was excellent and he was always cooperative with our sales agent and the other Realtors.

I have a great deal of request for Dane's work ethic, integrity, and total dedication to the job at hand. If I can provide any further information, please contact me.

Sincerely,

Joseph K. Rader

JKR/pac

EXXON LAND DEVELOPMENT, INC

To Whom It May Concern,

I have known Dane Isenmann both personally and professionally for twenty five years. During my tenure as Marketing Manager for Friendswood Development Company, a subsidiary of Exxon Corporation, I had a close working relationship with Mr. Isenmann. At the time, Mr. Isenmann was custom homebuilder in our master planned community of Kingwood. My overall experience with Mr. Isenmann was very positive. He built high quality custom homes and has an excellent reputation with his customer base. He took a great deal of pride in every home he built and did an outstanding job in attention to details and customer follow-up. His house designs exemplified creativity and innovation.

Mr. Isenmann has a strong competitive drive supported by commitment and dedication to his work endeavors. He delivers on promises and stands behind his work. i have a great deal of respect for Mr. Isenmann and would highly recommended that he be considered for other homebuilding opportunities. 

Dale E. Bowman

President Exxon/Mobil Land Development INC Worldwide

S. Allen Lackey

Vice President and Legal Counsel/Shell Oil Company

Dear Dane:

Now that the repainting of the exterior of our home has been completed, I wanted to thank you again for all of the outstanding work you have done for me and Janice. It is rare today to find someone who always does what he promises and you are even rarer because you actually do more than you promise. We have always enjoyed our working and social relationship and are really grateful to you for making our home the wonderful experience that it should be. 

We frequently recommend you to friends and acquaintances who are prospective home buyers and certainly understand why your business continues to be such a success. We also appreciate everything that David has done for us and believe he is an outstanding person who creates a great deal of customer loyalty.

Thanks again for all that you have done.

Sincerely,

cc: Mr. John E. Walsh, Jr.

President

Friendswood Development Company

THE HOWARD HUGHES CORPORATION

To Whom It May Concern:

Subject: Dane Isenmann Recommendation

I have known Dane Isenamnn since the mid 1980's and am very familiar with him personally and professionally. I highly and unequivocally recommend Dane as a homebuilder to any prospective investor, homebuyer or land developer.

Dane began building in Kingwood, Texas in the late 1970's as an employee of a very successful local homebuilder. When he began his own building firm in 1987 he was given a tentative okay by a Friendswood Development Company (Exxon's land development subsidiary) to begin a limited building program. I was an officer of that company at that time and we uncertain how much lot inventory we should extend to Dane as he had not yet had experience in dealing with company ownership. By the mid-1990's, Dane has an unequalled track record as the most successful and highest volume custom homebuilder in the history of the 14,000 acre Kingwood master-planned community. Dane built his reputation on quality, customer service and innovation. To my knowledge, Dane satisfied even the most discriminating and demanding customers and at the time I left Friendswood in 1994, we had never had a significant customer complaint. 

My experience with Dane as my personal homebuilder here in Las Vegas has been exceptional. Despite his relative unfamiliarity with Las Vegas labor and material costs, building and regulatory practices and subcontractors and suppliers, Dane took on our project with a singular determination to create the best possible product with the greatest possible value for us. The cost estimates and projected schedule were completed in February of this year. Despite the fact that our estimated construction costs were at least 20% below his competitors' current costs, Dane is on budget. Despite his lack of prior relationships with local subcontractors and inspectors, Dane is approximately six full seeks ahead of our original schedule. We currently expect to move into our home in August instead of October. 

Obviously, I am a great advocate for Dane. O have recommended him highly to the Summerlin team. Based on my recommendation, he is already approved as a builder in prestigious Red Rock Country Club. Once he has the financial backing of an investor and the ability to build two or three speculative semi-custom homes, I anticipate he would be invited to participate in Summerlin's preferred builder program. Dane has the potential to develop a very successful business based on his market knowledge and the strong need of Summerlin to produce custom homes in the $400-750,000 range.

Please feel free to call me at my office or home to discuss my personal knowledge of Dane Isenmann.

Very truly yours,

W. Stewart Gibbons

Vice President 

Dear Dane:

This letter is long overdue. The recent assistance you gave us reminded us to take the time to thank you, not only for the help last month, bust also for the help over the past several years. Most people who speak about building a custom home will tell everyone what a nightmare it was and how they found it to be the most stressful challenge of their lives and marriages. We would like to tell you exactly the opposite.

Your assistance as our contractor made the entire experience far easier than anyone ever told us it would be. We were amazed at the amount of time and effort you put in, even during the design stage before we hired you. Your professionalism throughout that stage and the bidding process made you an easy choice. Throughout construction, you were alway accessible and immediately responded to all our requests. It was also obvious to us that your professionalism with your subcontractors made them always want to accommodate you and your clients before any of their other customers. This is an extraordinary achievement for any contractor. 

Although we're sure no house ever comes in at its budge and one is ever happy to pay more than that planned, we were very lease that all the items you budgeted for which you have complete information did, in, fact come in close to their budgeted amounts. the only item were over budget were those with estimated allowances (subject to personal taste) and those which were reasonably unforeseen. This, too, is a sign of your professionalism and attention to detail. 

Above we mentioned the recent assistance you gave us. Although we expected every item in the house to be covered by some kind of warranty, either through you, the manufacturer or the subcontractors, we also expected the process of getting something fixed to be cumbersome and filled with challenges. Once again, you made the entire process easier and allowed us to simply call you, and you took care of the rest. This is the most important part of the service you have given us. The ability for a homeowner to always reach their contractor and have any problem taken care of is the best recommendation that can be given. And, of course, let's not forget the house itself. We love it, and the quality of construction is everything we expected it to be. 

Please feel free to give out our name and phone number to any customers or potential customers, and also feel free to them a copy of this letter. We appreciate everything you have done for us and look forward to continuing our friendship. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Julie and Andy Gruber