Staff report
Drees Homes is celebrating 95 years of building dream homes for tens of thousands of homeowners across the country — and it’s a success story that started right here in Northern Kentucky.
Headquartered in Fort Mitchell, the family-owned company was recently named a U.S. Best Managed Company, a program sponsored by Deloitte Private and The Wall Street Journal and set another record-breaking revenue year in 2022.
The Drees Homes story began in 1928 when German immigrant Theodore Drees crossed the Atlantic
with visions of a better life. Today, the first Drees home ever built, a brick cape cod in Wilder, still stands as a testament to Theodore’s dedication to craftsmanship.
The first Drees-built home in Wilder.
Theodore’s son, Ralph, joined the business in 1959 after serving in the Army. It was Ralph Drees’ philosophy of diversification and industry leadership that took the company into new markets.
Ralph Drees died in 2021 at age 86. In addition to leading the company to national prominence, he was active in the Northern Kentucky community, serving as Judge Executive of Kenton County, chairman of the airport board, chairman of the Chamber, to name just a few, and receiving a long list of honors and recognitions.
Today, Drees Homes builds in 10 different metros spanning the Midwest, Southeast, and Texas. It is the nation’s 19th largest privately-owned home builder – the 36th largest overall.
While the original values of excellence and integrity continue to serve the company well, David Drees, President and CEO since 2000, has been instrumental in cultivating a culture that promotes an unwavering commitment to homebuyers and always doing what is right.
Drees employees sustain this culture by living it every day – treating each other as family, celebrating successes together and learning from marketplace challenges.
Ralph Drees and his father, Theodore Drees.
Unlike other family-owned builders, Drees uses the most advanced programs to do something very personal – create the customers’ unique idea of home in their dream community.
“Our company 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,” said Drees.
These values have only been strengthened over the years – the Drees Homes commitment to excellence runs four generations deep.
Drees Homes has earned the title of “America’s Best Builder” (twice) from Builder Magazine, “National Builder of the Year” from Professional Builder Magazine, as well as the “National Housing Quality Award” from the National Association of Home Builders. This is known as the prestigious “Triple Crown” of national homebuilding awards.
Third-generation leadership: David Drees
Drees operates in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Nashville, Raleigh, Washington D.C., Austin, Houston and Dallas. The company operates as Drees Custom Homes in Texas. For more information, visit dreeshomes.com.
Dress currently builds in more than three dozen communities in the Greater Cincinnati region.
In Northern Kentucky, Drees is excited to roll out Pure Style, a newly-crafted collection of homes emphasizing affordable, statement-making style with design packages assembled by our team of professionals, at the Villages of Decoursey in Independence and a new all-ranch townhome community – Riffle Ridge in Alexandria.
Examples of today’s Drees Homes:
