The Story Behind Sandmark: Chapter Two
Who Believed in Us?
When we look back at our decision to move to the Outer Banks and start Sandmark, we remember feeling excited, hopeful and not entirely sure what we were getting ourselves into.
We were leaving Northern Virginia, moving more than four hours away from our families with a 6-year-old and a 3-year-old, and starting a custom homebuilding and remodeling company in a place where we knew very few people.
There was no guarantee it would work.
And depending on which mom you ask, the news was received a little differently.
Sandy’s mom wasn’t exactly surprised. We had been talking about it for a while, and she and Bob supported us from the beginning. Mark’s mom remembers being shocked – and mostly thinking about how much they were going to miss us.
The Outer Banks was a very different place then. Northern Virginia was growing quickly, while the beach felt small, quiet and, during the winter, very quiet. Mark’s mom knew how hard we worked, but she still wondered whether there would be enough opportunity here to make a new business work.
Her biggest hope was simple: that we could make it.
Thankfully, she says, we did.
Before Sandmark, There Were Lessons
Long before Sandmark, homebuilding was already woven into our lives.
Mark had worked in heavy construction before working alongside Sandy’s dad, PD, building custom homes throughout Northern Virginia. That gave him the opportunity to learn the residential side of the business – not only how to build a house, but how to work with homeowners and everything that comes with building something so personal.
Sandy worked for her dad as well, so we both had a front-row seat to what it took to run a design-build company. We learned what worked, what didn’t and, just as importantly, some of the things we wanted to do differently someday.
PD understood how difficult starting a company could be. He worried about us striking out on our own, but he also knew how badly we wanted it and how hard we were willing to work.
And he was proud.
Years later, PD even designed one of the homes we built here on the Outer Banks.
Mark’s dad was part of those early lessons too.
One of the memories Mark’s mom still holds onto is watching him travel to North Carolina to help Mark build our first home. Thirty years later, when asked what he would notice if he could walk through one of Sandmark’s homes today, she didn’t hesitate: the craftsmanship.
She believes he would be proud of how much Mark has learned and grown in the trade, and of the care that goes into every home and renovation Sandmark builds today.
A Place to Begin
Not all of the help we received came from family.
When Sandy’s best friend, Leslie, learned that we were moving to the Outer Banks and needed somewhere to stay, her parents, Jimmy and Pat McGlue, offered us one of their beach cottages in Kill Devil Hills until Memorial Day.
For free.
While we waited for plans and permits, we helped with maintenance and painted the exteriors of their cottages. It was simply people helping people, and their generosity gave our young family somewhere to land while we figured out what came next.
There was also one particularly memorable old beach house and a hurricane headed toward the Outer Banks.
Sandy was fairly convinced the whole thing might blow away.
Both kids still remember the storm.
Thirty years later, we can laugh about that.
At the time? Not quite as funny.
They Saw the Beginning
Our parents saw all of it before Sandmark really became Sandmark.
They saw the vacant lot before there was a house. They came down to help build. They helped with Sam and Amanda while we worked. They saw the construction mess, long days and uncertainty that came with starting from scratch.
Then they watched people walk through that same house during our first Parade of Homes.
Sandy’s mom remembers visitors commenting that it didn’t feel like a staged show house.
It looked like someone actually lived there.
They were right.
We did.
There were two little kids running through it, a young couple trying to build a company and probably more than a few unfinished to-do lists hidden away before Parade weekend.
One of our favorite memories from that weekend was a little easel we placed in one of the kids’ bedrooms with paper, crayons and a message from Sam and Amanda:
“Thanks for coming to see our house.
– Sam & Amanda”
Visitors wrote back.
“Dear Sam and Amanda, we like your house.”
“Your house is beautiful.”
Some drew smiley faces. Others left little notes meant specifically for the two kids who lived there.
We also had a chalkboard where visitors could leave comments. Among them:
“Enjoyed owners as much as the house.”
“Such a welcome feeling by owners.”
“Very nice house!”
Looking at those pictures today takes us right back to that first Parade – the excitement, the nerves and the feeling of opening not only our home, but a little bit of our lives, to people who were just beginning to learn who we were.
The house was new.
But it was real.
And maybe that’s what people connected with.
When They Knew We Were Staying
Sandy’s mom says she never really doubted we would make it work.
Mark’s mom remembers it a little differently. After we had been here a few years, built friendships and started establishing the business, she realized something else:
We weren’t coming back.
We loved our life at the beach.
What had started as a leap into the unknown was becoming home.
Thirty Years Later
When we started Sandmark, we hoped to build beautiful homes and create a successful business.
We couldn’t yet understand everything else we were building along the way – a life here, a community, lasting friendships and a place our children would grow up and eventually bring their own family’s home to.
Our moms are proud of the company, but neither of them talks only about the houses.
They talk about our involvement in the community. The relationships. The way we continue showing up for family and friends.
Mark’s mom is especially proud that Mark went on to serve as President of the North Carolina Home Builders Association – something that would have been hard to imagine when we were the new family in town trying to get a business off the ground.
And both moms make sure to remind us that somewhere in the middle of all those houses, meetings, jobsites and long workdays, we also managed to raise two children they’re pretty proud of.
We’ll take that.
Our dads and Sandy’s stepdad, Bob, are no longer here to celebrate this milestone with us.
We wish they were.
We wonder what they would think walking through one of our homes today or seeing the company that once existed mostly as an idea.
Mark’s mom believes his dad would notice the craftsmanship first. She thinks he would be proud of how much Mark learned, how far the company has come and the fact that clients continue coming back to Sandmark.
Sandy’s mom knows her dad was already proud – and remembers how much it meant to him when we later asked him to design a home for us here.
We’d like to think all three of them would look at what became of that crazy idea and be pretty proud.
Starting Sandmark may have been our dream, but we were never the only ones carrying it.
Our families and friends gave us time, money, childcare, encouragement, a roof over our heads and, maybe most importantly, the confidence to keep going.
Thirty years later, we understand the value of that support more than we ever could have then.
And we’re more grateful for it than ever.
– Mark & Sandy