Doing things The Robuck Way, Robuck Homes builds luxury homes guided by Christian values and top-quality craftsmanship
Established in 1926, the journey of Robuck Homes has been nothing short of an American success story, one guided by Jesus’ teachings and a passion to share the beauty of God’s Kingdom through construction craftsmanship. Founded by Frank and Linda Robuck, the company has been family owned and operated since day one, championing its core philosophy of doing things ‘The Robuck Way’ – by treating each other how we’d wish to be treated.
Today, Robuck Homes boasts an incredible 100-year legacy, having grown into one of North Carolina’s most loved homebuilders. Its name remains synonymous with timeless architecture, with each home celebrating the history and personality of its local community.
Timeless designs
To commemorate a century of Robuck Homes, Modern Home Builders sits down with Ryan Clarke, Director of Operations, who shares insight into the company’s background, as well as what it truly means to do things ‘The Robuck Way’.
“The Robuck family were – and still are – a part of a church that is spread across the Southern USA. They didn’t have paid pastors or preachers, so the way that many of the church members put food on their table was through construction. The Robuck family leaned towards homebuilding,” Ryan begins. “They would travel to a city, open a church as their primary mission, but would build to grow their family. When they did that here in Raleigh, North Carolina, after World War Two, Frank Robuck Sr. formally started the company, and it was at that point that the family really established themselves as professional builders.
“As the years have gone, we’ve expanded into other markets outside of Raleigh. Our specialty is our focus on spending our customers’ dollars wisely, crafting exteriors that make their homes impactful, ensuring that you have a community that ages well and lasts a long time. Rather than following one specific architectural style we focus on creating homes with timeless architectural design, a hallmark of Robuck Homes.”
A century later, Robuck Homes continues to maintain its mission through its passion for homebuilding. In the homes and communities it has constructed across Raleigh and coastal Carolina, Robuck Homes’ has always delivered exceptional customer service. This value extends from the quality of its homes to the longstanding relationships it holds with its clients – all circling back to its company philosophy. Ryan elaborates on the meaning of ‘The Robuck Way’ and the impact it has on its culture in driving excellence.
“Given our background, we very much take a Christian approach to business, and one core principle or Golden Rule for us is ‘treat others the way you want to be treated’. We’re not beholden to a shareholder as a publicly traded builder might be, so spirituality and our business motivation is much easier to align, especially in a tense situation. It permeates throughout our culture in how we treat our customers, suppliers, trade partners, real estate partners, and employees,” he explains. “That Golden Rule really is our motivator because, ultimately, we want to share God’s love through a positive experience, allowing people to form families, and create memories in a community of significance.
“In addition, we consider ourselves a process-oriented portfolio builder,” Ryan continues. “Being process-oriented allows us to be more consistent, and that
consistency creates credibility amongst our customers. One thing that we feel firm about is that we use a portfolio; we have a curated set of home plans with varying architectural styles that our customers can choose from. Each home plan has been prototyped, refined, and optimized to ensure we provide our customers with the ability to personalize, not customize. We stick to that process because the minute we break it, we get into uncharted territory, which can cause a lot of unnecessary stress and anxiety. We believe that, through our planning and preparation we deliver the most value to our customers and ensure a positive experience.”
Seeking excellence
This set process has proven highly successful for both Robuck Homes and its customers over the decades, resulting in a multitude of beautiful homes and stunning communities. Ryan is thrilled to share some of the company’s upcoming projects. “We have lots of projects that we’re very excited about. After a long hiatus, we’re finally going to be right back in Raleigh as opposed to just on the suburbs, and so we have a new community coming up called Stonehenge Place. It’s a bit of an infill project, surrounded by more established homes in the well-known Stonehenge area of North Raleigh; the homes are very much catered towards our traditional customers who are buying their second home, and they’ll be priced around the $1 million mark,” he shares.
“We’re also getting started on another fun project in the very downtown center of Wilmington. There are several vacant homesites where we’re going to be building new family homes at very affordable prices – around the $400,000 mark – which will be located a few blocks from the Riverwalk, Soda Pop District, and Brooklyn Arts Social District. We want to build homes that fit into the historic Wilmington aesthetic, which works well alongside the celebration of our 100-year anniversary.”
In 2025 – amidst the anniversary celebrations – Robuck Homes is bigger and greater than ever before, growing steadily as it continues to make dreams come true for more customers every year. Though an esteemed luxury homebuilder, the company builds more than just homes: it builds families, communities, and lifelong memories. When Modern Home Builders asks Ryan about Robuck Homes’ secret to longevity and success, his response homes in on an important lesson for, not merely business, but life itself.
“It all comes back to seeking excellence and not perfection,” Ryan reveals. “We don’t believe that you can arrive at perfection in this life, but we have a mentality where we’re always trying to improve and do better, not resting in complacency. It’s not particularly complicated, you just wake up each day consciously striving to do better than the prior day; soon the days become weeks, the weeks become months, and months become years.
“Over the next five to ten years, I’d love to see us continue to build on the strong foundation that has been laid by previous generations from a commitment to excellence as well as financially,” Ryan concludes, optimistic for the future ahead. “What’s most important to me, however, is that we see the company transition from one generation of the family to the next, remaining true to our core values and Christian principles of treating others how we want to be treated. If we can do that and are still building homes 100 years from now, that will be a true mark of excellence.”