Testimonials

I had the best homebuilding experience of my life with Corey Van Trease! In my world, fine details make all the difference between the average and the excellent. I discovered that Corey lives in that same world as it applies to his craft.

Besides being innovative and creative, he is a terrific listener! My wife and I always felt like we were at the top of his priority list.

I could not recommend Corey and his talents enough. I consider him a family friend.

Hank & Suzanne Haney
Vaquero Design/Build

My wife, Vicki, and I had searched for the perfect builder to partner with us on our home build. We interviewed numerous builders in the DFW area and none reached our bar for quality, craftsmanship, professionalism, ability to articulate and understand our vision, and overall excellence, except one, and that was Corey VanTrease.

His work and leadership is second to none and his reputation for standing behind his customers is unparalleled. We are proud to call Corey our builder, but even more proud of our friendship post completion.

I definitely would recommend Corey for any future project.

John and Vicki Adams
Founder of Mucinex

We have had the opportunity to build several houses in our lifetime. Our current home is one of the finest, and it is the result of the excellent builder and craftsman, Corey Van Trease.

Corey has an incredible attention to detail and the ability to create, design and build that goes way beyond the definition of a custom home. He was always professional to deal with and solved and worked through any challenges that came up during the process. He is not one who shies away from a challenge, but loves to solve and do what it takes to build a quality, unique and wonderful home.

I highly recommend Corey. He stands behind his work and I would not hesitate to use him again.

Alan & Cheri Stock

Writing a letter of endorsement is not something we normally do. When relocating to Texas in 1998 from our beautiful home in Southern California, our hopes were high to create something even better in the Dallas/Forth Worth area. Our only apprehension was the difficulty in finding the right builder. Honesty, integrity, efficiency, professional competency, and an ability to translate our vision into reality were our criteria.

By chance, we came upon a new Tour 18 model home that you had built in Flower Mound, Texas. The quality workmanship and visionary touches spoke to our latter two criteria. Checking your references verified the first three. And so, our relationship began. The result was a home better and more beautiful than we had dreamed. We had expected that, even with the best possible builder, the going would still be tough.

Your ability to translate our special needs and cultural adaptations into reality was superb. Your ability to work ‘with us‘ as opposed to ‘for us’ was an unexpected bonus. We could go on and on but will pay you the highest compliment of encouraging you to give our private number to your clients at your discretion. Thanks ever so much for what you have done for us.

Shabnum & Mohamed Moledina
Flower Mound Design/Build

Corey Van Trease is the contractor who originally built our home. Knowing he would have insight into how best to tie in new construction with the original, we hired him to convert our unfinished attic into a game room, media room, kitchen and bath. The result was spectacular – beyond our expectations – and Corey managed to pulled it off without going over budget. We would strongly recommend his firm to anyone that is contemplating a construction project.

The Burns Family
Vaquero Large Scale Remodel

After I purchased what I thought was a great golf course lot in Vaquero, I soon realized that I was going to struggle finding a builder.

I spoke to several candidates, none of which had the foggiest idea of how to maximize the lot. I was having to lead the charge on the vision, which frustrated me tremendously!

Then, I met Corey Van Trease and my faith was restored. He instantly captured the essence of my hopes and dreams for the property, and he forged and enhanced my original vision into a stunning work of art! The work simply speaks for itself. Everyone who sets foot in the home is simply blown away by what they see, but more importantly, they always comment how warm and comfortable the home feels.

I’m looking forward to the next home Corey and I collaborate on!

Paul Sorensen
Vaquero Design/Build

My wife and I contracted Corey to build our family home and couldn’t have been more pleased with the experience. Building a home from the ground up is stressful and exhausting, but Corey gave us an experience we will never forget.

We built our dream home, and Corey guided us through it every step of the way. His design mastery and ability to give us the house we wanted was spot on. 

Many times during the process we were not sure on certain details, and he kept us on point to achieve our ultimate goal of a warm, modern house. I’d recommend him and his team to anyone building a custom home.

Ryan & Lauren Letz
Vaquero Design/Build

Choosing the right builder is the most important and critical part of building a custom home. When selecting mine, I didn’t just look for a home builder who had a good reputation and could build custom homes, but also eliminated anyone who quoted me a price per square foot.  I wanted someone who has vision, talent, creativity, a passion for building and a true perfectionist, someone who listens well and has the ability to think outside the box, and thrives on challenges, and that’s exactly what Corey Van Trease from Van Trease Constructors did.

He captured my ideas, enhanced them and made them a reality – a beautiful home that I enjoy everyday. He is totally committed to his customers and made my home building journey truly fun and enjoyable. Corey’s portfolio and work speaks for itself, and my experience with him and his staff was outstanding!

Hicham Abdessamad
Vaquero Design/Build

We were very fortunate to have had Corey build our home. Our dream was to build a contemporary home with the best of materials and workmanship on a tight budget. That dream would not have been realized without Corey’s hard work, helpful suggestions and ethical approach.

The whole experience was fun and the work was completed promptly. His appreciation of the details of construction in concert with the design intent proved to be the key to building the house we wanted within our means. Not only is Corey a great builder, he is a trusted friend.

Larry & Karen Hallman
Vaquero Design/Build

We set out to build our dream home ten years ago and researched area builders to find whom we believed, could build the very best quality and effectively priced home. Since our goal was a 10,000 square foot home on a five acre piece of property, we saw this as a great opportunity to do something special. We chose Corey to build the initial home and avoided all of the horror stories we had heard about when constructing a home of this magnitude. We truly could not have been more pleased with his professionalism, timeliness, quality of sub-contractors, design insight, foresight in future problems, closeness to budget, etc. There is simply nothing that we could critique in our construction process.

Seven years later, we decided to do a rather significant addition, more than doubling the size of the main house and adding some significant external structures, such as gazebos, a tennis court, a river, along with other specialty landscape designs and structures. It was not difficult for us to pick someone to do this extensive remodel and we quickly went to Corey and hired him to put the project together. It was an extremely difficult and challenging project to add that many square feet to an already large existing home and make it not look like an addition. Corey did a tremendous job in coordinating sub-contractors, material flow and all, for what was a very difficult engineering challenge to complete. He did it on time and very close to budget while we lived in a portion of the house.

At the end of the construction project, we had the unfortunate encounter of experiencing an arsonist charged fire that destroyed much of our new addition, as well as a substantial portion of our existing house. Again, we had no thoughts of hiring anyone other than Corey, to come and “Save the Day.” He did a tremendous job working with the insurance agents, architects and engineers, putting our home back together in a timely, efficient and minimally disruptive manner. We were actually able to live in a portion of our home during this entire process as well.

Because of Corey’s professionalism, talent, creativity and quality associations as it relates to sub-contractors, we simply cannot imagine attempting to do what we have done or to build another house without Corey’s assistance. Working with him has been a pleasure. We had no financial disputes; it simply has been a joy that actually caused us to want to build again. I could not recommend Corey and his team more highly, for this most precious and trusted encounter of building a home.

Randy & Terri Keene
Southlake Design/Build

Our experience with Corey has been wonderful.  He is more a home artist than a home builder.  His ideas and suggestions for our home have exceeded our expectations.  He and his team deliver a quality product with great communication and in a timely manner.  We could not be happier with our experience with Corey.  We have had him and his team do additional remodeling for us as well, because we have such confidence in the product that he produces.

Jim & Ginny Panoff
Vaquero Spec Home Purchase

We love our new house and appreciate the quality of the construction that Corey provided.

His vendors offered the selections that we wanted for the look at a fair price.  His suggestion for our floating staircase with trusses and unique wood species was brilliant!

Corey took our sketched-out floor plan and transformed it into a wonderful family home for us to enjoy for many years.

Dr. Jeff & Gail Krieger
Westlake Vaquero Design/Build

My family and I started looking for a new home in the DFW area to relocate from out of state.

We knew that we wanted to pursue a custom build to suit and we knew we may face a challenge given our high quality standards.

Our due diligence included driving through neighborhoods, talking with various homeowners in those neighborhoods and pursuing some of the more upscale architectural publications in the Metroplex.

In doing so, one name continued to rise above the crowd. Every time we asked who built a particular house we liked…it was Corey Van Trease. Every time we saw an exquisite house in an upscale publication that we liked…it was a Van Trease home. When we asked Realtors or long time residents of the area, “who builds the finest homes”… the answer came back…”Van Trease of course”!

Needless to say, we had a wonderful experience in the design/build of our home. That’s why years later, we love our home as much or more than when it was completed.

We could not recommend Corey more highly to anyone who is serious about building a home that will stand the test of time!

Martin & Shelley White
Chateau Du Lac Design/Build

For most people, choosing a builder is a once in a life time event. In our case we have been down the road several times, so have had experience with both good and bad. Choosing Van Trease Design was a good decision for us. Corey Van Trease is very easy to work with and a source of good ideas during the build process. His level of quality is excellent, and any warranty work was handled quickly, and without question.

Succinctly said, Corey is very efficient, handles his work in a business-like manner, and understands who the customer is. We consider Corey and his family friends, even after the home was completed which is often not the case with custom home builders and their clients. We recommend Van Trease Architectural Design and would welcome a call if a reference is desired.

Bob & Linda Buttrill
Vaquero Design/Build

Kathy and I have had Corey build us TWO homes. This has truly been a blessing for us. We met Corey in two decades ago as he was completing a home in Flower Mound. We loved Corey’s design features, so we had him build our dream home in Wichita Creek Estates.

Corey is an excellent listener and was able to execute our wishes. The construction budgets he developed met the finish out we were expecting. Corey also worked directly with the architect as they developed the design that would become our home.

“When we moved out of the area,we sold our home to a couple that appreciates Corey’s work as much as we do. When were able to return to the area, Corey was the only builder we would consider. This time, Corey built our retirement home, as we are now empty nesters. Our home has unique design features for its size. Corey was able to build our home on a lot that other builders had passed up. We have a beautiful view of McKamy Creek from our deck that sits in the tops of the trees growing along the creek bed below. If you drive down our street, you will be able to pick out our home. If you have Corey build your home, I am certain it will be a wonderful experience.

Warren & Kathy Jones
Repeat Flower Mound Design/Build

Having worked with Corey for a year on a major renovation, I can tell you that he’s a true professional from start to finish. I’ve done another large scale remodel prior to our current home, and I know firsthand that the wrong contractor will make your life a hell.

My good friend, Michele Haberman, insisted that I call Corey before I chose a contractor. He built a house for her, over ten years ago, but she still remembered how competently he managed the construction of her new home.

Though he was the last contractor I met with, he was the first to get me his bid. I can’t remember a single time where he failed to correct something in the workmanship or help me solve a tough design issue. Corey is very collaborative and a great communicator.

Dianna Barker
Flower Mound Large Scale Remodel

When we decided to build our high-end custom home, we searched the Fort Worth area for a builder that could imagine our desires and deliver them. Corey Van Trease demonstrated the vision that we required for us to feel that our investment would lead to a structure that was visibly pleasing and structurally strong yet impressive.

Corey’s vast experience led us in correct directions, as there are many choices but only a few that meld together to form a house that is a blend of one’s dream and personality. We are extremely pleased with the final result. To complete the experience, Corey’s after-sales support team, led by Shawn Ulrich, and customer satisfaction system is of the highest level. Our experience was exceptional. Our next home will be constructed by Van Trease Architectural Designs.

Tom & Kathy Plimpton
Vaquero Design/Build