As it builds on its success, the captivating custom home designs of Barrington Homes continues to attract buyers throughout Pittsburgh’s North Hills region. Specializing in homes of $550,000 and up, the company oversees every aspect to the design-build process, from scratch design of each distinctive home to the operation of the key in the home‘s entry door.At the helm of Barrington Homes is company president Mark Heinauer, who has logged more than a third of a century of residential building experience. Joining Mark Heinauer in the business is son Grant Heinauer, whose degree in technology and real estate from Penn State University has helped him take the company’s custom design process to new levels. Another son, Brock Heinauer, a product of the Pittsburgh’s Duquesne University School of Business and Entrepreneurship, brings a well-honed aesthetic to home design.Barrington Homes has crafted a reputation for distinctive, award-winning designs, responsive customer service, quality home construction and attention to detail. It’s only fitting that when it comes to shutters, Barrington Homes chooses Mid-America. With Mid-America’s unmatched portfolio of styles and colors, Barrington Homes and its home buyers find important qualities ranging from character and durability to installation ease and freedom from maintenance.Choosing Mid-AmericaThese decorative elements impart sophistication, dimension and handsome color to the windows they grace. Louvered shutters offer a timeless elegance, while raised panel shutters add dimension and good looks. Of course, board-n-batten shutters bring richness and ambience to a home’s exterior.Among the favorites of Barrington Homes’ buyers are Mid-America’s distinctive Quarter Round Arch Top and six-inch Elliptical Arch Top. Both deliver distinguished, eye-catching enhancement to the exteriors of the company’s homes.Ensuring the most extensive product offering in the industry, Mid-America Shutters are offered in a variety of styles that match nearly any available color. Standard shutters come in popular sizes and colors, without requiring any custom ordering. Specialty shutters are available in customized styles, widths and lengths, so they are ideal for special applications.“Barrington Homes exclusively uses Mid-America shutters for all of our homes, because they look beautiful, and add character and charm to the exteriors of our homes,” says the company’s Brock Heinauer. “They are easy to work with and install, and are very low maintenance for our customers.”Working with CustomersIt’s been said great custom design-builders often need to be a mix of designer, contractor, Realtor and psychologist. Heinauer’s experience in both the real estate and production building worlds helped him combine those talents, and turn customer desires into finished homes.One of Heinauer’s most talked-about traits is his attention to giving Barrington Homes’ customers everything needed to make informed decisions.“Mark is amazing with the amount of information he brings to the first meeting,” says Bill Dietrich, a residential sales manager for Coldwell Banker Real Estate. “He brings floor plans, samples of materials and carpentry, photos and catalogs. That’s very respectful of people’s time. He’s very attentive, and all that information lets him be very responsive to what the customer is saying, regardless of the price point.”From there on, custom home customers are highly involved in every step of the process. After all, building a custom home is like working with a blank slate, and creating a domicile that is exactly what you want in every detail.Customers are given log-in accounts and introduced to the company’s Customer Website, a 24/7 portal that allows them to begin the selection process. They can view features, touch base with vendors, schedule appointments and complete the selection worksheet. They are also put in touch with the company’s own interior design/ selection consultants, who can guide them in scheduling vendor appointments, help them with design and finish selections and offer insights and expertise at every step of the process. Given their experience, the consultants can serve as a sounding board or simply provide ideas.More assistance can be provided by the vendors and subcontractors with which Barrington Homes partners, who can provide fast, accurate answers. On the back end, the completion of the home is supervised by Barrington Homes’ Quality Control Manager, who ensures every last detail is monitored.…custom home customers are highly involved in every step of the process. After all, building a custom home is like working with a blank slate, and creating a domicile that is exactly what you want in every detail.Addressing Lifestyle NeedsBarrington Homes’ reputation for long-term customer satisfaction rests on its ability to match its homes to its customers’ particular lifestyle needs.To achieve that end, it’s necessary to focus not just on key rooms of the home, like the kitchen and bath, but on a long list of details that make homes special. Heinauer believes builders can glean the details most important to buyers if they listen closely enough. And many of these are small but important.“We like to make a splash. But we get as much or more pleasure and pride from doing the little nuanced things that build long-term satisfaction,” says Heinauer.Color-coordinated window shutters, oversized crown moldings, custom paneled openings graced by architectural columns and stone, ornate custom fireplaces with handcrafted woodwork, attractive hardware finishes, open areas filled with abundant natural light, gourmet cook centers and much more are among those nuanced details.Since its launch in 1991, Barrington Homes has defined quality, durability and customer service in Pittsburgh-area developments. Its homes have distinguished some of the most exclusive communities in the area, including a few enclaves limited to million-dollar homes.Barrington Homes’ success since day one has rested on what Mark Heinauer calls the “Foodland Factor,” a reference to one of the major chains of Pittsburgh-area supermarkets. “Within the town where I lived, there was a Foodland,” Heinauer recalls. “I started my company with the thought that honesty and integrity would underpin everything we did.“That way, if I ran into one of my customers headed down an aisle at Foodland, there’d be no reason I couldn‘t look them in the eye.” Barrington Homes prides itself on 100 percent on-time completion and customer service satisfaction rates. “Our reputation for quality craftsmanship, tremendous value, detailed specifications, standard features and customer service before and after move-in is what sells our homes,” says Heinauer.