About Us

Discovery House Homes…

Bringing Affordable Luxury to the Blue Ridge Mountains.

 

With more than 300 completed homes and 20 years experience building in Blairsville (GA), Hiawassee (GA), and Hayesville (NC), the founders of Discovery House Homes have come to realize one thing… reputation and experience matter. After many years in an ownership and leadership position at a local custom home building company, we came to realize that luxury living should not be out of the financial reach of the average person and take more than a year to complete. To solve this challenge, we decided to create a new company with a new vision. Our desire was to develop an affordable and high quality portfolio of homes all professionally and specifically designed for the Blue Ridge Mountains. Creating a unique personalization process around these homes, combined with trade partners who were accustomed to building high end custom houses, we created a platform that allows us to deliver affordable luxury mountain living starting at a move‐in ready $299,000. Living in the mountains can now transition from a dream to reality! If you are ready to experience mountain life… If you appreciate small town values, quality construction and luxury but desire or require affordability, Discovery House Homes wants to be your neighbor and home building partner. We would be honored to welcome you to our community.

What We Believe

Executive Team

Cale Crawford

Managing Partner

 cale@discoveryhousehomes.com
 706-466-7075

Reputation Matters… Cale began his construction career prior to college focused on residential and commercial concrete foundations. Aft...

Reputation Matters… Cale began his construction career prior to college focused on residential and commercial concrete foundations. After leaving Western Carolina University, Cale was recruited to Florida where he furthered his focus on construction as a project manager. In Florida, Cale managed high-end residential, industrial, commercial, and classified government projects. This diverse experience led him back to the mountains where he joined an established custom home design-build company as lead project manager. In Cale’s role, he was personally responsible for overseeing every aspect of the custom home building process with projects ranging from $300,000 - $2,000,000. In 2019 Cale made the decision to pursue his general contractor's license which created the foundation for launching Discovery House Homes in 2020.

Cale is active at church as a small group leader for high school seniors and runs the computers for the band and youth minister. Through both church and business, Cale leads by example. When not building houses, you can find Cale spending time with his wife/family, relaxing by the pool, exercising, or simply enjoying the mountains.

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Jim Crawford

Partner

 jim@discoveryhousellc.com
 706-466-7075

Experience Matters… Jim has worked in the home building and home restoration (remodeling) business for over 40 years. He began his bui...

Experience Matters… Jim has worked in the home building and home restoration (remodeling) business for over 40 years. He began his building career, hands-on by working with a carpenter building homes before moving on to a building supply company making and installing kitchen cabinets. This experience led Jim to start his own home restoration and building supply business where he provided and installed everything from windows to siding and decks. After 10 years of successfully growing and ultimately selling this business, Jim felt God calling him and his family to the mountains in Hiawassee, GA. After arriving in the mountains, Jim became a partner and construction manager in a custom home design-build company and ultimately built more than 200 custom homes. After a successful exit of this company, Jim joined his son Cale to launch Discovery House Homes in 2020.

Jim is active in church and has been married to his wife, Sheila for 43 years. They have one son, Cale and daughter in law, Taylor. When not building houses, Jim enjoys fishing (both trout and lake), hiking and riding his motorcycle in the mountains of North Georgia and Western North Carolina.

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Ed Oravetz

Partner

 ed@discoveryhousellc.com
 706-466-7075

Relationships Matter… Ed, born and raised in Texas, has been an entrepreneur his entire adult life. His passion for business started i...

Relationships Matter… Ed, born and raised in Texas, has been an entrepreneur his entire adult life. His passion for business started immediately after high school when he launched his first company. Over the proceeding 30 years, Ed was extremely active in starting, building, and ultimately exiting multiple businesses including insurance, technology, and restaurants. After selling his insurance company, Ed and his family started migrating from Texas to the mountains of Western North Carolina at which time they found a very special lot to build their eventual retirement home. After interviewing many builders, Ed and his wife eventually chose the company where Jim and Cale played a leadership role. This relationship not only blossomed professionally, but personally as well and Ed eventually became a partner in that same custom home design-build company. During the construction process, Ed worked closely with Cale as both an owner of the company and as a customer, as Cale was the lead project manager on his personal residence. In 2020, Ed and his wife, Kim, sold their restaurants in Houston and moved to the mountains full time which led to an opportunity to join Cale and Jim at Discovery House Homes.

Ed values his Christian beliefs and has been married to Kim for 29 years. Together, they have four grown boys, one of which went home to the Lord in 2007. When not building houses, Ed loves spending time with family, experimenting with his smoker while making his favorite Texas style BBQ, and as much time as possible on the river... fishing, kayaking, and tubing.

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Jon Rickett

Information Systems Manager

 jon@discoveryhousellc.com
 706-466-7075

Systems Matter... Jon has a unique blend of experience, having worked in technology fields as well as construction. His technology career...

Systems Matter... Jon has a unique blend of experience, having worked in technology fields as well as construction. His technology career began at a tax software company where he worked his way up to Division Manager. Jon was then recruited to join a custom home construction company where he wore many hats. Jon gained experience in all aspects of the construction business, including sales, estimating, purchasing, design, selections, and accounting. He was also in charge of implementing and maintaining project management software, as well as handling all corporate IT tasks. Jon enjoys finding more efficient ways to manage the construction process using technology which has proven to help Discovery House Homes meet and exceed client expectations.

Jon has been married to his wife, Shea, for 2 years. They have one daughter, Blakely. Jon is active in church and serves on the worship team as an acoustic guitar player. When not building houses, Jon loves spending time with his family, taking weekend trips, and occasionally hiking and mountain biking.

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Ben Chapman

Project Manager

 ben@discoveryhousellc.com
 706-466-7075

Passion Matters... Ben got his start on the sales and supply side of the home building industry in Nashville, TN over 10 years ago. Selli...

Passion Matters... Ben got his start on the sales and supply side of the home building industry in Nashville, TN over 10 years ago. Selling and supplying customers with everything from lumber, siding, doors, windows and everything in between. His driving passion has always been customer service and mutual satisfaction. Experienced in working alongside contractors to get them the right material, as well as helping homeowners to complete their projects, Ben is willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done.

Born and raised in Blairsville, GA, he and his wife along with their two daughters, moved back home to the mountains several years ago. Personal interests and hobbies include music, reading, long distance running, Braves baseball, and the Georgia Bulldogs. But more than anything else, Ben has a deep passion to see the glory of Jesus Christ be made known in North Georgia and far beyond. He and his family are active members in a local church body, and seek to know the God of Holy Scripture more and more each day. The study of God’s Word being his foundation, Ben seeks to do all things, including project managing and serving customers, all to the glory of God.

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Darin Lloyd

Project Manager

 darin@discoveryhousellc.com
 706-466-7075

Integrity Matters... Born in New Jersey, raised in Florida, but found the North Georgia mountains as quickly as possible! Darin has been ...

Integrity Matters... Born in New Jersey, raised in Florida, but found the North Georgia mountains as quickly as possible! Darin has been in various stages of the construction business for the last 24+ years including owning/operating a niche construction company. A core belief that communication is critical to success when working with customers makes Darin a great fit at Discovery House Homes. When not working, Darin can be found spending time with his lovely wife of 20 years, two teenage daughters and two boxers as well as hiking, fishing and hunting.

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Camryn Brown

Lead Designer

 camryn@discoveryhousellc.com
 706-466-7075

Design Matters... A bright, energetic, reliable Georgia girl! Camryn's love of God and heart for serving others are the driving forces be...

Design Matters... A bright, energetic, reliable Georgia girl! Camryn's love of God and heart for serving others are the driving forces behind her passion for Interior Design. Camryn began her career in real estate at an early age. She has extensive knowledge regarding numerous different aspects of real estate, commercial/residential building, design, and property management. Camryn worked as a successful realtor for 2 years in South GA prior to moving up to the beautiful North GA mountains! She has always built her businesses on the platform of honesty and integrity. As a natural in design, Camryn loves guiding clients through the process of designing their dream home!

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Kevin Grishaber

Construction Technician

 kevin@discoveryhousellc.com
 706-466-7075

Details Matter... Kevin, raised in Hayesville, NC has more than 15 years of construction and remodeling experience. With an incredibly st...

Details Matter... Kevin, raised in Hayesville, NC has more than 15 years of construction and remodeling experience. With an incredibly strong work ethic and unique attention to detail, Kevin will have his hands on every home built by Discovery House. When you see Kevin, you are likely to see Dozer, his beloved dog and best friend who goes with him everywhere. In his free time, Kevin enjoys fishing and kayaking the Hiawassee River with friends and family.

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Lisa Wolfkill

Accounting Coordinator

 lisa@discoveryhousellc.com
 706-466-7075

Lisa was raised in Central Florida and has a background in purchasing as well as administrative experience. She worked as a Senior Buyer ...

Lisa was raised in Central Florida and has a background in purchasing as well as administrative experience. She worked as a Senior Buyer for the City of Leesburg, Florida, and performed highly detailed and professional work in the preparation and management of formal solicitations for everything from vehicle purchases to large construction projects. Lisa and her husband enjoy traveling and seeing new places. In 2020, they decided to sell their house in Florida and travel the US in their travel trailer. They came back to Georgia to settle down and to be closer to family and friends. When Lisa is not working, you can find her with her husband hiking, fishing, and enjoying the outdoors.

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Our Mission

Our mission is to serve God, our family, our community, our trade partners, and our valued customers. As a company and individuals, we pray daily for guidance with a strong desire to serve the greater good in all areas of our business and personal lives.

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