Fort Mitchell-based Drees Homes, one of the oldest home builders in the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky area, celebrated their 95th anniversary last Tuesday.
Founded in 1928 by German immigrant Theodore Drees, the company has grown into the 19th largest privately owned home builder in the United States. Drees built his first home in Wilder, which was a brick cape cod that is still standing today.
In 1959, Drees’ son Ralph joined the company after serving in the Army. Ralph helped expand the company into 10 different metro markets across the country such as Dallas-Fort Worth, Indianapolis, Nashville, Jacksonville and of course, continued growing their imprint in Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky. Ralph passed away at the age of 86 in March 2021.
As a legacy home builder in Northern Kentucky, Drees Homes played a role in building and shaping the region’s housing market throughout the second half of the 20th century.
“Northern Kentucky used to have a lot of these villages and burgs,” said Drees Homes Northern Kentucky Division President Ben Taylor. “The suburbs began to develop outside of Covington. I think the Drees company was very influential in shaping the landscape here.”
Taylor told LINK nky that Drees Homes went from being a company that was primarily a tract builder — which is a home builder that builds homes in a neighborhood with a set number of floor plans and features buyers can choose — into a company that designs communities.
“A lot of what you see today, it really goes back to stuff we started in the 70s,” Taylor said.
In Northern Kentucky, Drees Homes is involved in building subdivisions in towns such as Alexandria, Walton, Independence, Hebron, Crescent Springs and Villa Hills.
Going forward, Taylor said Drees Homes is “focused on the long game.”
‘We’re constantly developing new home plans that fit the needs of modern living,” said Taylor. “We’re continuing to focus on suburban areas, but we also pivoted in the last few years to do more infill locations.”
Today, Drees Home is led by Theodore’s grandson David, who took over as CEO in 2000. The primary focus of his tenure has been integrating 21st century technology into the company’s day-to-day operations, as well as continuing to promote family culture within the organization.
“Our company’s purpose of enriching lives by making dream homes easy is dependent on a focused approach that always begins and ends with quality, personalization and customer service,” Drees said in a press release.
