Luke Yorke-Hart (left) and Jeff Barba.
Gnu Homes, previously Emerald Builders, is a residential home building company formed in 2016 by Jeff Barba and Luke Yorke-Hart that has been especially active in the Hampden area of Baltimore City. The company focuses on providing well-designed floorplans and contemporary architecture. Gnu Homes has created a streamlined approach that simplifies the home buying process, eliminates stress and significantly reduces the amount of time needed to purchase a home and complete the interior design process.
Herbert Burgunder III, Member, Pessin Katz Law, P.A (left) and Luke Yorke-Hart, Gnu Homes at the grand opening of Redfern Row.
The company recently opened Redfern Row, a new townhome community in Hampden offering four-story residences with rooftop decks. The successful community is almost sold out with only one home left. Gnu Homes will be launching its next community in Hampden, called Falls Hill View, later this year.
Redfern Row in Hampden
Q. Explain your philosophy of simplifying the home buying process.
A. Luke Yorke-Hart (LYH): Buying a home is not only the largest investment, but also the biggest decision for the average American consumer. When buying from a national homebuilder, it is an extremely disjointed process, impersonal and not fun. Our aim is to simplify everything, make things enjoyable and approachable.
Jeff Barba (JB): We are finding that young people, especially, are not interested in assuming massive rehab projects for older homes. They have less time. They prefer a home with prepackaged interior designs that they can choose from. That home buying process is reflected in our company model.
Q. What prompted the rebranding of the company?
A. JB: Our original name was fine, but it did not mean anything to us. We are passionate about everything we do and wanted something fun, maybe even cheeky, that also communicates our relaxed and unique home buying process. We believe this accomplishes our goal.
Q. Describe the attraction to Hampden.
A. LYH: Upon moving to Baltimore more than four years ago from South Africa, I settled in Hampden and loved the neighborhood, but could not find a modern, well designed house. I ended by purchasing this piece of land where Redfern Row now sits and started the development process effectively building my dream home 15 times! Hampden is a great location with restaurants, parks, nightlife, shops, but without the traffic and parking problems of downtown. People get the best of worlds with a relaxed environment while downtown is just a quick Uber ride away.
JB: Hampden matches our brand, which is trendy and up and coming. Fun. We arrived here at just the right time.
Q. What makes your home designs so different?
A. LYH: We build boutique communities. We liken our homes to the craft brewing industry. The national homebuilders are like Coors and Budweiser – something that you can get anywhere in the country. It is all the same. We approach things differently and tailor-design homes that match the community so it appeals to the people that live there. We make great design attainable and provide a high value proposition.
We’ve also curated design packages from a professional interior designer that provides consumers with a great starting point. With a national homebuilder, people have to make hundreds of decisions from carpeting to lighting fixtures to door knobs that might take eight hours. It is very intimidating. Our process takes about two hours. These days people want things that are well put together from the start.
JB: We created thematic interior design packages such as “Park Avenue” and “Sleeky Geek.” For Hampden, we designed the “Hampden Hipster” that fits this community with an urban, industrial feel. It is sophisticated yet rough, with steel, bright funky colors, and patterned tiles in the bathrooms. It all flows and works together. The average consumer doesn’t know how to design a house and they don’t want to. Our interior design packages gives them a working starting point where they can make changes to countertops of cabinets. Consumers can now buy and live in a professionally-designed house without paying exorbitant design fees.
Q. Describe the future of your company.
A. LYH: Our next community in Hampden - Falls Hill View - will feature 16 contemporary townhomes with views of the city skyline. In Parkville, we are developing a 28-lot townhome community called The Village at Gunpowder Falls. We are taking a modern farmhouse design and applying it to townhomes. The result will be a little agricultural-inspired enclave in the middle of Parkville. Our target audience is new families with small children. Like every project, we will have a lot of fun with it.
Herbert Burgunder III is a Member in PK Law and part of the firm’s Corporate and Real Estate Group. His primary areas of practice are real estate (including commercial, residential and real estate litigation), land use and zoning (variances, conditional uses, grandfathered use, non-conforming uses, special exceptions, zoning appeals and change in use), business law, contracts and landlord/tenant issues. Throughout his years of practice, Mr. Burgunder has developed a keen eye for direct communication and smooth transactions. Simple documents and straightforward language are his hallmarks.
Pessin Katz Law, P.A. (PK Law) is the ninth largest law firm in the Baltimore area and has been serving clients for thirty years. PK Law maintains full-service offices in Towson, Columbia, and Bel Air and is comprised of more than 50 lawyers, paralegals and law clerks. Practice areas include corporate law, real estate, zoning, education law, estate planning, elder law, labor and employment, litigation, insurance law and medical malpractice defense. For additional information, visit www.PKLaw.com.Contact Herbert Burgunder at 410-664-6500 or hb3@pklaw.com.
