Meet the Team

These are just a few of the actual Brookfield Residential employees who are putting their experience to work helping our Houston customers and building the best places to call home. Keep reading to learn about some of the faces behind Brookfield.

Mike  |  Lupita  |  Clay  |  John  |  Ryan  |  Jacob  |  Carley

Customers might not meet Mike Robinson, but his hands play an important role in ensuring the quality of each Brookfield Residential home. As Brookfield Residential’s Director of Operations, Mike oversees our building processes, practices, and materials to make sure that homeowners will be more than satisfied. “Right now, I’m quality walking all of the homes as they’re completed,” Mike says. “And I’ll do these checks before the homeowner ever steps foot in the home for the new homeowner orientation.”

Even with more than 20 years of experience in residential homebuilding in the Houston area, Mike still treats each home as if it were his own. “When I do those quality walks, I always consider, if I were building a home for myself, what would I do?” Mike says. “In every decision I make, providing that quality and customer service is top of mind. I want them to know they’re getting a quality home.”

Mike and his team work closely with the Customer Experience team to make sure customers receive regular updates and communication about their new homes. “We’re hand-in-hand with the customer experience team,” Mike says. “Quality is important with a completed house at closing, but we also want transparency and communication throughout the homebuilding process, before we ever get to that point.”

Mike especially enjoys the visual progress that happens during the framing process, when the raw materials of concrete and wood suddenly start to look like the home they will become. “I love seeing the progress from dirt to the structure,” Mike says. “All of a sudden, you can start to picture what the home and community will look like — and it happens fast. I enjoy that part of it.”

A Houston native, Mike left the city to earn his degree from The University of Texas at Austin. He had planned to go to graduate school, but a summer job with a homebuilder led to a life-long career. Today, Mike enjoys spending time off with his family, which includes two young children and guinea pigs Pom Pom and Milky Way.

Lupita Contreras grew up in Sacramento as the oldest of four kids, so she’s used to being the responsible one. Her dad was a framer who built production homes, and she often spent weekends helping him out on job sites. “As I got into my teens, I was usually either handing him material or cleaning,” Lupita says. “We had to work for our allowance back then. Then I started doing a lot of the paperwork part of his jobs, which was doing timesheets for his workers, invoicing for clients, buying materials, and coordinating trades.”

After studying business in college in San Diego, Lupita and her husband moved to Houston to be closer to family. It was a natural fit for her to start working for a custom homebuilder. “I worked for Jason, who is my boss now,” Lupita says. “We met because we both had a passion for building science and doing things correctly without cutting corners.”

When Brookfield came to Houston, both Lupita and Jason were excited to join the team. “We have the same values, and Brookfield gives us the flexibility to incorporate best practices and material selections when building” Lupita says. “People don’t see what’s inside the walls of their house, but it’s important to us to use the quality materials and take time to get things right.”

As a mom of two, Lupita also brings an eye for safety to her work. “We’re always thinking about families when building and thinking about safety where kids will be playing,” she says. She also loves the efficiency and design of Brookfield’s Houston floor plans. “The use of space is very well planned out,” Lupita says, “There’s a place to store stuff when you come home—a drop zone for kids’ backpacks. It’s very usable! I go back to my house, and I’m like, ‘I need that!’ My husband gets scared when he sees me staring off into space because it usually means I am planning the next home project!”

When she’s not working, Lupita enjoys cooking healthy food and spending time with her family, including her cocker spaniel, Coco. She also loves reading and traveling. “My family is from Guadalajara, Mexico,” Lupita says, “So, growing up we went every summer. Now I try to take my kids down there as much as possible. There’s tons of stuff to do!”

Keep an eye out for Lupita, and say hi if you see her around!

When Clay Burditt was in college, he realized he wanted to go into residential building. “As part of our Construction Management program, we had to do an internship, and the builder I interned with offered me a position in customer care when I graduated,” Clay says. He worked his way into the building side of the company, and soon had earned an internal construction management position.

While building homes in Elyson, Clay became friends with some fellow builders who worked for Brookfield, and made it his goal to join their team. “We were building in the section next to them, and we went to lunch a couple of times,” Clay says. “We both had that same go-getter mentality, always striving for perfection. It was a perfect fit, and a year later, here we are.”

Clay has always enjoyed working on something that will be part of a family’s future. “It’s amazing, being able to provide something permanent like that,” he says. “On the single-family side, we get to meet the buyers, do meetings, and go through the experience with them. I love seeing their excitement every step of the way, loved doing updates and emails with pictures and things we had worked on that week to keep them informed and updated on the house, especially when the buyers are not close by.”

Clay loves the distinctive floor plans that Brookfield offers. “Our plans are so unique; it brings in a different aspect than what other production builders are doing,” Clay says. “One of the biggest factors I notice is the separation of rooms, where you have an open-concept living area but then tucked away parts and pieces, so the bedrooms feel private.” His favorite plan is the Norwich, with its vaulted ceiling in the living room.

Clay is proud of the ways Brookfield is elevating the Elyson community. “Brookfield offers such quality construction,” he says. “From foundation to completion, everyone that has walked their home, whether it’s the first walk or the signoff, they are blown away by the quality and cleanliness of their home. Brookfield really gives a custom feel to production homes, which means a lot when we’re talking about the customer experience.”

When Clay isn’t working, he enjoys spending time with his wife and young sons, as well as with his large extended family in the Houston area. “My mom likes to brag that all her kids moved within a 5-minute radius of her,” he laughs.

There aren’t too many people who get giddy about electric meters, but that’s what makes John Kirkpatrick so well suited for his job as Superintendent here at Brookfield Residential. “When you show up and that meter is installed, you know it can lead to the next three steps,” John says. “I love seeing every aspect of a home being built and completed.”

Day to day, John makes sure that schedules are adhered to, that the construction teams have everything they need, and that every piece of the puzzle fits together properly. But his true joy comes from the craftsmanship throughout each phase of the homebuilding process. “It’s exciting to see the beautiful tile selections the homeowners made,” he says. “Or every phase of a room being built, from framing to drywall and then adding the lighting selections and fixtures, glass doors, and amazing mirrors – just the quality that we bring to every step.”

Homebuyers typically meet with John several times during the building process, and he delights in educating them about how their new home works and seeing their vision come to life. “When we take a house from dirt to finish out, we first meet with the buyers during the design phase, so we can understand their vision and plan for their home” John says. “Before drywall, we show them where all the outlets are located and how things function, we do a final walk through, and then we celebrate at the end when they get their keys.”

John’s passion for customer care started with a career in the hospitality industry — he attended Johnson & Wales University after growing up in San Antonio. He left the hotel business to go into the customer care side of custom home building and has spent decades working in various construction-related positions in the Houston area. “I’ve been blessed to be in the industry for 20 years, and I have a passion to take it to another level here at Brookfield,” John says. “It gets me out of bed every morning.”

John loves Houston’s food, concerts, and sports. He stays busy with his Australian Shepherd, Ryder, who is named for the golf tournament and a 140-gallon saltwater aquarium that has 2 clownfish and a Dorie.

Building Superintendent Ryan Duggan graduated from the Art Institute of Houston, and he brings that artist’s gaze to work every day here at Brookfield Residential. “I’m always keeping an eye on the details,” Ryan says. “I walk around and make sure everyone is doing what they’re supposed to be doing.”

A Houston native, Ryan switched to the construction industry when he realized he didn’t want to be stuck inside behind a desk all day doing graphic design. A college summer survey job for an engineering job led to a long-term career building houses. “My favorite stage in the homebuilding process is probably everything before sheetrock,” Ryan says. “I like managing how everything gets put together and making sure it’s all being supported properly, getting all my electrical and plumbing running as efficiently as can be before we cover it all up.”

Ryan does see a lot of similarities between homebuilding and the graphic design process. “There’s a lot of structure to the design process, with many steps from start to finish,” he says. “It’s important for us to work in a timely manner for the customer. And, of course, the clients tell you what to fix and what they like and don’t like.”

Ryan recognizes that the homes he works on are more than just houses. “I really like that I’m building where people are going to have all their big memories and Christmas and Easter and all that stuff. It’s important work,” he says. “I also enjoy closing with homeowners, especially when you get the difficult ones. One of the biggest perks is being able to meet all of their expectations and see that they’re happy with the decisions they’ve made.”

After learning the ropes at other homebuilders, Ryan is happy to have landed at Brookfield Residential. “We build nice products with a lot of options,” he says. “I like the fact that it’s a small division, but there’s also a large company behind it. It seems like everyone here is open to other peoples’ ideas and anything that would make Brookfield better. At other places, people just say, ‘This is how we do it.’”

When he’s not at work, Ryan enjoys spending time with his family. Ryan and his wife have two young children, so they spend a lot of time at parks and playgrounds. This year, they’re excited to go to the Renaissance Festival for the first time as a family, and they all love cheering on the Astros.

If you ask Building Superintendent Jacob Janak what his favorite step is in the homebuilding process, he’ll tell you it’s the end. Not because the work is over, but because Jacob loves being part of such a meaningful milestone for Brookfield Residential homebuyers. “When you see it all come together and be special to a family at move in, that’s the most important part of my job,” Jacob says.

As a Superintendent, Jacob spends his days managing the building of houses from the very beginning – starting with getting the pad built through the final inspection, and ending with the day the completed home is delivered to the customers. “It’s a very dynamic position,” Jacob says. “I like to look at it as I’m a liaison between a lot of different parties. I work in between the vendors and our office, managing what’s expected in the field and what the final product should look like.”

Jacob enjoys the variety and the challenges of his job, and he feels a sense of responsibility for each home he oversees. Because every home is built by many hands, things do sometimes go wrong during the homebuilding process. But Jacob and his team are there to make things right and ensure that every customer ends up happy. “If something happens on a home, like a roof leak, or an inspector finds something, we do the right thing and replace it,” Jacob says. “You want to make the customer feel comfortable — you want them to know they’re getting a brand new home, not a repaired home, so we’re going to do the right thing, even if it takes a couple more steps. If it’s the right thing, it’s the right thing.”

That dedication to quality and doing things right is one of the reasons Jacob likes working for Brookfield Residential. “There’s a dynamic between everyone in the office and the field that everyone is here for the greater good and working toward a common goal,” Jacob says. “Sometimes at bigger companies, it’s sales versus construction or vice versa — it gets competitive. It doesn’t seem like that here; we’re all on the same team.”

Building Superintendent is just the latest in Jacob’s string of helping professions — when he was growing up, he wanted to be a flight nurse, but he grew taller than the height requirement to serve on a helicopter. When Jacob’s not working, he spends time with his wife and two young children as well as with his extended family in his hometown of Hallettsville.

Carley Rolon isn’t just Brookfield’s Design Center Manager for Texas – she’s also a Brookfield customer. After serving on the product development team that designed the prototypes for Brookfield’s Urban Courtyard Homes in Austin, Carley knew she had to live in one.

Now, Carley’s focus is on the Houston market, and she has spent the last few months working with the product design team on brand new floor plans and models, as well as building out the Brookfield Design Center in Elyson. Here, customers will have access to all the latest and greatest interior products when it comes to lighting, plumbing fixtures, tile, and more.

Carley can’t wait for people to see Brookfield’s new floor plans for the Houston metroplex. “They’re amazing!” Carley says. “We took existing features from our current floor plans that we knew worked well and made our Houston layouts even more functional.”

And the styling is just as on point as the functionality. The exteriors will feature a sophisticated European look, with options including white painted brick, black trim, curved entryways, and high-pitched roof lines. “Our model homes are going to be different than any of the other models in Houston. There is a balance of traditional, transitional, and modern design that speaks to all age ranges.”

Today Carley has worked at Brookfield for more than 7 years. When she’s not working, she loves seeing live music, traveling with friends, and relaxing with her three teacup Pomeranians, Nara, Riri, and Zaza.