Middleburg Design Company & CEI Create Your Dream Retreats

By Elaine Anne Watt  |  Photos courtesy of MDC & CEI

Gretchen Yahn came to realize that she didn’t want to go to medical school as originally planned, be an engineer or an architect or any one thing. But she was drawn to building and making things, and so she majored in Building Construction at the University of Florida and began to work for respected builders. She immediately recognized that having many compartmentalized parties with separate tasks was not the most efficient or client friendly way of doing business.

“It was very disjointed,” Yahn remembers. She wanted something much more for her
clients and herself.

“Understanding what the client needs and assimilating it into the details and implementation is intrinsic to me,” says Yahn. “Out here in horse country, you may be creating a village between the main home, the barns, the carriage houses and outdoor living and work spaces. You have to be able to conceptualize and often phase the projects over time to complete the owner’s vision.”

Initially, Yahn might appear all business, but her warmth and passion for what she does becomes apparent within minutes. She’s established two thriving companies that work together to deliver everything from a modest remodeling project to a full-scale design/build estate encompassing 50-100acres or more.

Middleburg Design Company and CEI are two branches of a whole: the design
company that develops the plans, sources the materials and components, and creates the aesthetic for a project, and the construction group made up of subcontractors and suppliers who have been carefully curated over many years  that make up Yahn’s core teams.

Yahn approaches each project with the same care and enthusiasm as every one that has come before.

“Almost every client I’ve built for never thought they wanted to build,” she says. “They couldn’t find what they wanted. I’ve spent a lot of time looking at land and discussing the possibilities. My job is to listen to my clients and give them realistic insight into what it will take to get the job done.”

When asked how to pick a builder, Yahn says, “Pick a builder who will implement your taste.” After all, this is your haven.

“I have many repeat clients who I’ve worked on multiple projects with; typically they want to have that multigenerational home for family gatherings and entertaining. That means that there’s a lot of site implementation and optimizing the functionality of space so that all the amenities are there for their kids and future generations. I have to think about incorporating all the elements for ease of personal use, catering and entertaining, pools and guest houses, and maybe even an ongoing horse farm operation,” she says.

“That means planning for all the gathering spots, hardscapes and landscapes, and those places apart to enjoy the peace and quiet of the country.”

Though when she first fell in love with construction, Yahn felt she “had no understanding of the creativity in me.” Ask her devoted clients, and they declare that she is unquestionably a master at design and organization.

Bill Ballhaus raved about the work Yahn has done for him which includes multiple projects locally and one recently in Florida where Yahn had to come down and take over a project, integrating with the local contractors available to her there.

“With every job, she has totally exceeded our expectations in terms of quality and performance,” Ballhaus says. “Gretchen is fantastic, a true professional, whom we absolutely trust to deliver our vision, with a unique ability to partner with us and execute on schedule. The creative process is so collaborative, with Yahn willing to listen and take our ideas and then bring in some of her own so that we actually end up with something better than we envisioned in the first place.”

Tracey Liberson used remarkably similar adjectives to describe her and her husband Dennis’ experience while building a house in Delaplane and currently renovating a home in Great Falls with Yahn. “I’ve worked with three other builders in the past that treated the little details that mattered to me as if they were unimportant. We’ve had such a different experience with Gretchen. She answers all our questions and brings the whole interior design eye as well for planning for furniture placement, fabrics, window treatments and just everything,” says Liberson.

Even more importantly, she says, is that, “I can rely on her opinion and choices, because she’ll show you different things that spice up what you like but just give you so much more variety than imagined.”

Both Ballhaus and Liberson emphasized that Yahn is always there when they need her, whether or not the project is done or even much later if a maintenance or other issue arises. “She never forgets you; it’s a level of personalization that I’ve never experienced anywhere else,” says Liberson.

Perhaps a bit of a surprise is the predictability with which Yahn works.

“It’s all like a bit of a puzzle, and my brain loves puzzles. I have to put all the pieces together in such a way that everyone knows what to expect. Timelines from the beginning of design until project completion,” says Yahn. “Women are used to juggling a lot of balls up in the air, and I never ask someone to do something I wouldn’t do. And, for my clients, a lot of what they are buying is my experience.”

Relishing the creative process keeps Yahn and her teams engaged. “We accomplish so much in the typical six weeks of pre-construction planning on a project. We probably shorten the construction timeframe by about six months because of the level of detail we go into ensuring that we have the materials selected, ordered and staged for the build to go smoothly,” she says. “And, it doesn’t hurt that I absolutely love the entire process right down to the choice of tile.”

“We’ve never experienced any delays,” says Liberson. What a testament to anyone who has faced the challenges of remodeling or building!

If you love what you do, and Yahn clearly does, the work is never done, and the ties that you’ve built with your customers last forever. ML

Middleburg Design Company and CEI are located at 103A West Federal Street, Middleburg, Virginia and can be reached at 540-687-3660.