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with a macro perspective of the project." In Chris' eyes, the efficacy of the entire building process is dependent upon the per for mance of the foreman , which in t u r n has a n enor mous bea r ing on h is company 's reputation. "A big part of our philosophy is for the client to have not only a better home, but a better home- building experience," he says. "Too often I h av e he a r d p e ople s ay a b out o t he r quality builders that they liked the final product but it was a hassle getting it done. A good foreman goes a long way in alle- viating that concern." Mecha n ica l s y stem s have a specia l place in Chr is' homebuilding hear t. " I believe that interior mechanical systems not only need to be state-of-the art, as far a s t h e c o m p o n e n t s a n d i n s t a l l a t i o n techniques, but they also need to be laid out correctly from the start. That enables easy maintenance for the homeowner and enhanced longevity for the components. And, aesthetically speaking, we strive to ma ke the mechanica l systems look as good as our millwork. Not a lot of builders will make that claim." Chris, whose grandfather once ran the operations of an entire shipyard, comes f r om a me c h a n ic a l ly-i nc l i ne d fa m i ly, v ir tua l ly a lways in close prox imit y of tools and "guys who could fix things." Even while attaining his college educa- t i o n a t K e a n e S t a t e C o l l e g e i n N e w Hampshire, he worked in t he school's carpentr y department. "I still love work- ing with my hands and focusing on the mechanica l side of homebuilding, but we've grown so much in the past š› years or so, I had to make time to interact with the clients and architects," he explains. " We are one third of the three -legged stool of the homebuilding process — the c l ie nt , t he a r c h ite c t a nd t he bu i ld e r. W it hout c on s en s u s , t r u s t a nd u nder- standing among the three, no project can be the best it was meant to be." A s i n a l l homebu i lder s ' s aga s , t he proof is in the por tfolio, and does CM Ragusa Builders have one for you! Take the dramatic šŽ,›››-square-foot home and —,›››-square-foot guesthouse ( pic- tured ) on š™ acres situated along the New Hampshire coast. Designed to make the COVER FEATURE PHOTOS © MIKE RIXON š Ž | Greater Boston Builder+Architect BOSTON.BUILDERARCHITECT.COM

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