Spot Darby: What are you most proud of about being a builder?
Darby:

I am extremely proud of Lippincott Construction, Inc, and each and every home that I have built. For years I have endured in an extremely challenging career for a woman. I built it on honesty and integrity, and I put more money into finishes than necessary, but I smile when I think about all those people who love their homes that I built. Even though the economy hasn’t been kind as of late, I am proud of who I am and what I built, and nobody can take that away.

Above all, because I am not a “big, bad, evil, rich builder”. My homes are beautiful homes, built with love, and priced fairly. www.newhometrends.com analyzes every inch of data that they can find, and they predict that many homes in Seattle will DOUBLE in value by 2012-2013. These last few homes, I built your for free - everyone got paid except me.

Christian is an amazing person. He is a horse Veterinarian - it was perfect! The kids are so very dear and for the most part happy, but they had a sad story. Their Mom fell to her death while climbing in 2006. They were still grieving when I met them. We fell in love, and although I did not wish to move from Seattle to Centralia, the choice was easier because I love my new family so much.

Emme is 10. She is incredibly smart, so we want to put her into a private school. She loves to play softball and soccer, and wants to become a Doctor when she grows up.

Truman is 6, loves art, and is amazingly artistic. He loves cats so much he says he wants to be a cat only Veterinarian when he grows up - just like Mommy and Daddy!

I started Lippincott Construction Inc in 1997, and knew nothing about building. I am a Veterinarian, and still practice part time. I bought a fixer upper in Wallingford in 1997, learned to fix it all up myself, then loved it so much I sold it and bought another. And so it went until I bought a house with an empty lot. I would live in my fixer uppers, with just a bed, a microwave and a refrigerator. I look back and wonder how I did all that! I was 27, ambitious, and just really loved construction. I read a book about how to be a builder, and on that lot I built a house. That house sold immediately, so I approached a bank and begged them to loan me money to build another one. I was tired of moving to fixers, and wanted to stay put and try my hand at building. It was an incredible journey for the next 10 years! I built single family homes, and many town homes. I was very good at it, and I loved working with subs. For many years I just called building my “hobby” because I never ever did it for the money - it was for the love of it.