About Us
About Downe Homes Inc.
Downe Homes has been building and renovating fine homes in Calgary and surrounding areas for over 20 years. Completed projects include new homes and complete renovations in the notable communities of Elbow Park, Eagle Ridge, Lakeview Village, Bel-Aire, Britannia, Heritage Pointe, Pinnacle Ridge, Chinook Park, Dalhousie Estates, Elmont Estates, Marda Loop, South Calgary, Pump Hill, and Lake Bonavista.
Downe Homes is an industry leader in building envelope science, incorporating the latest research to ensure the health and integrity of the structure. This led to our discovery of the many advantages of post frame construction. At the same time, we discovered the joys of building outside the city! Now our emphasis is on rural post frame construction of new homes and turnkey buildings.
About Post Frame
Post frame construction offers many important advantages over traditional building methods.
- Economical: because a post frame structure does not require a foundation - which is a significant portion of costs in building a home - you save on labour and materials.
- Building strength: large sturdy posts are set into the ground on a concrete pier and directly connected to heavy duty roof trusses. Horizontal strapping further stabilizes the exterior structure. This triple combination provides exceptional strength and protection against heavy snow loads and strong winds when compared to traditional home construction.
- Energy efficiency: this is where post frame construction really shines! With the wide placement of posts and large exterior wall cavities, post frame design inherently reduces heat transfer between building materials. This produces an outstanding R-value rating and lowers your heating/cooling costs.
- Speed of construction: post frame buildings are faster to erect. From construction start to 100% completion of the exterior takes a matter of weeks rather than months. The absence of a foundation also means no waiting for ideal weather to pour concrete.
- Design flexibility: interior walls are not needed for support offering great flexibility in your design.
Interior Finishing
Downe Homes is recognized and admired for the quality of our interior finishing, particularly our custom millwork and finishing details. Our hand-crafted kitchens are renowned for their quality and design.
Relationships
Downe Homes has many long-standing relationships with trades and suppliers in the Calgary community and surrounding areas. This focus on relationships enables Downe Homes to attract and retain the best craftsmen, which contributes to the completion of your project in a timely and cost effective manner.
Steve Downe
Principal Designer & Project Manager
Armed with dual SAIT diplomas in Building Development Technologies and Architectural Technologies, Steve began his home building career in disaster restoration. He specialized in structural repair and refurbishing and fixed many catastrophic building failures. This experience led to over a decade of building estate homes for other prominent Calgary-based home builders. Wanting more control over construction methods and outcomes, Steve founded Downe Homes in 2001 to fulfill his unwavering personal commitment to the highest quality in construction, communication, and service. That commitment continues today and is shared by all those who work on a Downe Homes building.
Julie Janssen Downe
Financial Operations
After a lengthy career as a Business Analyst at Shell Canada, Julie joined Downe Homes in 2017. She applies her experience in financial operations and project services to manage all business administration activities for Downe Homes.
Tristan Downe
Project Manager
Tristan graduated from SAIT with a diploma in Architectural Technologies while continuing to pursue his carpenter’s apprenticeship. He has worked in the building industry for over a decade. Most recently, Tristan was Crew Lead at Remuda Building Ltd., bringing his post-frame experience to Downe Homes Inc. Tristan is very proud to continue the tradition of quality and craftsmanship for which Downe Homes is known.
