At Home with Omega Landscape Construction

Written by Bill Kent | Photos by Michael Butcher

Ask Mackie Jenkins about the latest trends in landscaping and outdoor living spaces and he’ll give an immediate response: “I don’t do trendy.”

Ask him why, and he’ll direct you to the heart of Middleburg, where you’ll find the stone façades of the 1729 Red Fox Inn, the oldest restaurant in Virginia, and the King Street Oyster Bar, inside the former 1924 Middleburg Bank building.

Some people merely see two stone buildings. “What I love about Middleburg,” Jenkins says, “is that trends don’t work here. Both buildings were constructed using our indigenous stone. Though one was built 300 years ago and the other just 100 years ago, their exteriors remain timeless — and always will. Whether it’s 1729, 1924, 2024, or even 2200, our indigenous fieldstone will always be the trend.” 

Another place he’ll reference is the Middleburg Community Center, and not just because he and his family enjoy the pool. “It is one of the most important places in town, not because of who built it or who visited, but because so many different people who come to the Community Center enjoy it and have great times here.

“That’s how I want people to feel with what I make,” he adds. “It has to be enjoyable and it has to fit with the history, the heritage, and the natural surroundings. You shouldn’t know if it’s 1804 or 2024; it should be as if it’s always been there. I’ve turned down a lot of business because people want something else. What I’ve told them has become my motto: If I can’t build it right, I won’t build it.”

Mackie and his wife, Megan, are now in their second decade as “hardscapers” — builders of patios, driveways, retaining walls, pergolas, water features, and what Mackie considers his specialty: outdoor kitchens. They founded Omega Landscape Construction in Mackie’s hometown of Amissville a year after meeting and falling in love.

Mackie’s father, “Big” Mack Jenkins, had been construction superintendent of what is now FedEx Field and oversaw other buildings for the federal government. Megan comes from a family of entrepreneurs. They named the business “Omega” for the “I am the Alpha and the Omega” passage in the Biblical Book of Revelation. Marriage, three children (with the fourth, a daughter, expected in November), and a dream of living in Middleburg happened quickly thereafter.

Why Middleburg? “We were always aware of it,” says Megan, who grew up in Warrenton. “When we began to get work here, we dreamed of living here.”

The dream began when Debbie Burton called them to bid on a driveway, stone paving, and retaining wall outside Atoka Chase’s Bandits Run Farm. Megan asked Burton if she could bring her children on the visit. “The children really enjoyed meeting the animals,” Burton remembers. “Mackie explained to me precisely which kinds of stones to use for the driveway to make it beautiful. You don’t normally think of a driveway in those terms, as a thing of beauty that complements the house, but Mackie showed me how it would work.”

During that visit, one child, Leah, who was 5 years old at the time, resolved to become an equine veterinarian.

Later, when Burton sold the farm, “Mackie’s workmanship definitely added to the value.” She plans to have Omega do additional work on her current home in Middleburg.

Elton Hyder didn’t know who did the outdoor kitchen and dining area behind the 150-year-old house he and his wife, Laura Francis, bought at Stonewall and Walnut streets. “From the street, you wouldn’t think it was anything more than part of the house. It’s only when you’re in the house that you realize how it becomes a perfect extension of the home.”

When they found out Mackie and Megan had done the work, they asked them to do more improvements, and now consider them friends. “From a practical point of view, the design is intelligent and comfortable,” Hyder says.

“We sit out there as much as possible,” Francis shares. “We’ve actually met more people just sitting outside and talking to passersby than anywhere else in town.”

A year and a half ago, Megan and Mackie finally made the move to Middleburg with a Washington Street office on the second floor above Common Grounds. Realtor Laura Wright says “it was a special blessing” to help them find a house. 

“They are so honest,” she says. “They really do radiate warmth and kindness. And their desire to be here, and their appreciation of Middleburg, is genuine. A year ago last April, they came up to look at places and stayed over so they could help the next day at the annual cleanup.”

The couple brought their kids to last year’s Christmas Parade and are frequent customers at Michelle McNaughton’s PLAYroom toy store. “They are such bright lights,” McNaughton says. “They’re very good, very nice people. I feel like I’m almost family now.”

Omega does about 10 construction jobs a year, ranging in size from a small patio and firepit in front of one of James Madison University’s dining halls to larger residential projects of thousands of square feet.

“We try to turn the business off at 5:30 on weeknights, 2 o’clock on Fridays,” Megan says.

“It doesn’t always work that way,” Mackie admits, “but we still try. It’s hard when you have your own business, but we try to give ourselves as much family time as possible.”

This last summer, family time included regular visits to the Community Center pool and “sometimes, getting up super early,” Mackie says, “before most people are awake, and just walking around Middleburg and enjoying how good it feels.”

When the family passed a Middleburg house that had some of Omega Construction’s work, how did Mackie feel?

“Even better,” he says. ML

Featured photo by Michael Butcher.