How Patrick Joseph Designer Homes blends tradition and innovation under the guidance of new President, Quinn Van-Niekerk
On a mission to craft homes of extraordinary style, quality, and livability, Patrick Joseph Designer Homes (PJDH) is wholeheartedly committed to its customers. When building custom homes, the company takes into account each homeowner’s hopes, family dynamics, and lifestyle to create a residence suited to all their needs. Quinn Van-Niekerk, President, shares more about PJDH and how the team is guiding the company into its next era.
“In 22 years we’ve built roughly 170 homes, almost all of them within sight of Lake Norman’s water,” Quinn begins. “Mike Shalvoy started the company alone, the
way most true builders do: one job, one client, one reputation at a time. For the first decade it was just him, a truck, and an unrelenting standard. In 2013 he brought his brother in to help grow the business; together they ran it until his brother stepped away around 2022. Mike kept the helm until he decided, in his seventies, that the company he’d poured a lifetime into deserved fresh energy.
“That’s where I came in. An acquaintance made the introduction, a conversation followed, and by early 2024 I was spending time on job sites and in the office, learning the rhythm of a company that already felt like it had a soul. We closed the sale in March 2025. I brought more than 20 years of commercial and residential construction experience from South Africa, and came here to protect what Mike built, not to change it. I came to widen the lens just enough to let new light in, and to make sure the next 170 homes carry the same quiet authority the first ones did. The core values aren’t negotiable; they’re the reason any of this works.”
For Quinn, stewardship means evolving without ever erasing what came before. “One of my first moves was to reach back and re-engage craftsmen and suppliers we hadn’t seen in years, people whose work is woven into the DNA of this company, while quietly bringing in a new generation of talent that grew up on different tools and bolder ideas,” he shares. “It’s a deliberate dance: honoring relationships that have stood the test of time and welcoming voices that challenge us to stay restless. We’re still chasing that timeless Nantucket spirit, still borrowing the salt-bleached soul of coastal Maine, but now we’re free to weave in materials no one was using a decade ago – natural or engineered, whatever serves the vision best. The constant is the finish: nothing leaves our hands unless it looks and feels like it belongs to a family for the next hundred years. We keep the circle small, just two or three architects who truly understand the language we speak, because at this level the ambition isn’t volume, but rather to deliver homes that quietly redefine what ‘high-end’ can mean in the Carolinas.”
The change in ownership never meant a change in philosophy, only in refinement. Quinn sees the entire build as one long conversation that must end with the client feeling heard, the vendors feeling respected, and the finished home feeling inevitable. “Great custom work lives or dies on trust,” he says. “We protect that trust by treating our trades like partners, not order-takers. Some of them have been with us for two decades; their pride is in every joint and finish. At the same time, we know today’s clients arrive with phones full of perfectly filtered dreams. Those images are powerful, but they rarely tell the whole story about maintenance, climate, or engineering.
“So we do something simple but rare: we give clients real choice, offering three or four outstanding options for every major selection, yet we never leave them alone in the decision. Our role is to translate inspiration into something that will age as beautifully in 20 years as it looks on move-in day. Some clients want us to steer firmly; others want to explore every tributary. Either way, we stay in the boat with them until everyone is excited about the same destination. By the time we pour the first footing, the vision is no longer a mood board, but a plan we all believe in.”
Quinn goes on to provide concrete examples of recent work PJDH has successfully undertaken. “Custom homes are our primary business, but we also build speculative (spec) homes,” he reveals. “Currently, spec homes account for about 30 percent of our business and are mostly created for clients we’ve previously worked with. Our spec homes mainly serve as investment projects. It’s worth noting that we work within a ten-mile radius of our office, as venturing further would make projects harder to manage. On the custom side, we’re currently undertaking a 16,000-square-foot Nantucket-style home in Davidson, North Carolina. In my eyes, it’s a masterpiece – not just because we’re the builders, but because of the renowned architect we’ve brought on board. His homes command the highest price per square foot around Lake Norman, and he now limits himself to just one truly custom project per year, with this current home marking the third year of our ongoing collaboration. He continues to partner exclusively with us because of the seamless process and high caliber of execution we deliver.
“Additionally, about three years ago we completed a project known as Bethelwood – a home we remain especially proud of,” Quinn concludes. “It is frequently referenced in the community and has become a benchmark for what we can achieve. The clients have been incredibly gracious; whenever we ask to bring prospective clients through for a tour, they are always happy to accommodate. Being able to showcase a finished project of this caliber has helped us secure numerous new opportunities.”