Tom Dillard reflects on the 20-year milestone of his company, Dillard-Jones.
With 600 homes under his belt, Tom Dillard is proud to be at the helm of Dillard-Jones Builders as his company celebrates its 20th anniversary. The prestigious builder, which has won dozens of national and state awards over the years, recently earned another coveted accolade: Best Custom Home Over 6,000 Square Feet, from the North Carolina Home Builders Association. The award is based on a house the company built and furnished in The Cliffs at Walnut Cove in Asheville.
It was a winding road from graduating Clemson with a degree in mechanical engineering to owning a building company. Dillard worked for several companies in international sales and manufacturing before meeting Bryan Jones, who was building houses on the side. Tired of hammering away in the corporate world, Dillard yearned to own his own business. He proposed that Jones build him a personal house, and they discussed forming a home-building company. Next, the two soon-to-be partners purchased a lot in Mahaffey Plantation for $49,000, constructed a spec house, and sold it for approximately half-a-million dollars. Building on that idea, Dillard-Jones was incorporated in 2003.
Two years later, the company became involved with the Southern Living Custom Builder program. When new construction ground to a halt in the Upstate in 2011, Dillard jumped at the opportunity to build a Southern Living Showcase Home in the Clermont subdivision on Greenville’s Eastside. “We ended up selling 11 custom homes in December 2011 just out of that one showcase house,” the builder reports. “That was when we hired someone to do our design work internally and transformed into a design-build firm.” Their coverage now extends from the North Carolina mountains to Upstate South Carolina and on to the coast, with offices in each area.
Today, as the top luxury custom homebuilder in North and South Carolina, Dillard-Jones is a $100 million company, unique for its Design-Build-Dwell-Maintain model. Under the umbrella of Luxe Brands Collective, which includes Dillard-Jones Builders, two architectural firms, Tribus Interior Design, and other sister companies, Dillard and his staff collaborate with a team of architects, designers, interior designers, and construction professionals to streamline the building process and create a client’s dream home. “Our hope is that [the clients] trust the process that we deliver and they’re emotionally blown away when they open the front door,” Dillard says.
Last year, the family-run business—all three of Dillard’s children are involved in the company—released the Cottage Group, headed by Dillard’s son Matthew and his wife, Liza. This group specializes in “smart-sized luxury homes” under 3,400 square feet. COVID necessitated the establishment of Village Millworks, a new arm of the company that produces and installs cabinets and millwork for Dillard-Jones’ homes.
“Surreal” is the word Dillard uses to describe how it feels to look back over the past 20 years. He attributes his company’s success to “really good people [his dedicated team] and really good clients,” and also to the company’s integrity. “We are not perfect, but we don’t misrepresent or lie, and we always make things right,” he says. “Integrity is the secret sauce.”
Board of Dog Directors
When Dillard bought out his partner, Bryan Jones, in 2007, he decided not to change the company’s name, as Dillard-Jones had garnered significant name recognition through their participation in the Southern Living Custom Builder program.
Over the years, however, people would still ask, “Where’s Jones?” At the time, Dillard and his family had a black Labrador retriever named Jonsie, who he would often bring to work with him. When someone inquired about “Jones,” he would point to the dog and say, “There’s Jones.” She even had an official title: Director of Happiness. Today, clients may be greeted at the office by Dillard’s current pups: Cam, a black Lab, aka Director of Fun; and Dilli, a rescued Weimaraner, Director of Security.
Dillard-Jones Fast Facts
Homes built: 600 and counting
Southern Living Showcase Homes built to date: 11
Passions when not at work: Hunting, fishing, and just relaxing with his wife, Deana, and their dogs on the farm they own in Gray Court
Early sales experience: Selling sunglasses at his grandfather’s store, Fowler’s Pharmacy
Bragging rights: For nearly the past decade, Dillard-Jones has been the largest builder in The Cliffs communities in terms of number of houses completed
Dillard-Jones, 115 N. Brown St., Ste. 200, Greenville, 864.527.0463, dillardjones.com
