When my husband's job relocated us to the Chicago area from California, we were under a tight…read moretimeframe to find and buy a new home. Quite by accident we found the community of Hawthorn Place by Icon Building Group located in Hawthorn Woods. Right from the start, we were impressed with the quality of the homes built by Icon. We looked at three different homes that were available at that time and fell in love with the first one that we originally walked through. We met Charlie Murphy, the owner of Icon that first day. Lucky for us, his office just happened to be located in the model home in our new neighborhood. We did our research on Icon, and discovered they have at least 10 new home communities throughout the Chicagoland area and also specialize in new custom homes and remodeling. Their homes are hands down gorgeous - whether new builds or remodels. From start to finish, Charlie was super to work with. What really made our experience great was his availability. He would answer all of our calls, texts, or e-mails no matter what time of the day. The whole process felt very personal. While our new home was near perfect to what we were looking for, there were a few things on our wish list that we wanted. Right from the start, Charlie put us in touch with his Design Center manager, Angela, who started the process while we were still back in California preparing for our move. Our project included adding a basement bar/kitchen with an island, a feature wall w/floating shelves (Charlie's idea) and a built-in electric fireplace in the great room, crown molding throughout the downstairs, and extra cabinets in the laundry room. What we liked most about working with Angela is that she helped us make decisions that kept the rooms in harmony overall - especially the finished basement. Sometimes it was hard to visual the finished look, and she helped us by showing us pictures and different samples as we decided on tile, cabinets, backsplash etc. She was also very patient when we had a few changes along the way.
Rachel, our lead project manager, was invaluable during the entire project. She was always courteous, on time, helpful and above all resourceful. Rachel did an excellent job of communicating exactly what was going on the entire time. She stayed in constant communication with all of the contractors, and addressed any issues that came up regarding scheduling, materials, etc. What we liked the most was that she would stop by nearly every day that work was being done, to make sure everything was on track and give us updates. We know we weren't her only project, but we sure felt like it.
As with any projects, a few hiccups came up along the way, but anytime this happened the Icon team was quick to respond and resolve the issue. We would like to especially thank Joe, Icon's VP of Purchasing & Design who came to the rescue several times when we needed to make some last-minute changes on a few design choices and clear up some miscommunication. He was very fair and reasonable with his solutions, and we were happy with the outcome.
Lastly, we want to give a shout out to Sandy, our Service/Warranty manager. While all of the exciting upgrades were happening, she was available to resolve any issues we identified during the original walkthrough. She was responsive and professional. Everything on our list was followed up on and resolved to our satisfaction.
We love our new Icon home, and the upgrades we had done turned out better than we even imagined. If you are thinking of buying a new home, building a custom one or remodeling we highly recommend Charlie and his team at Icon Building Group. We promise you won't be disappointed.
