Fieldstone Co Inc

By the time he was 9, Peter M. Ochs could be found on hisfather's construction sites collecting stray nails in a tin can--the sixth generation of his family to show a passion for building. The nails eventually formed a kingdom of houses, as Ochs grew up to create the largest privately owned home builder in Southern California.

An Irvine attorney campaigning against builders and contractors who allegedly used improperly mixed concrete in housing foundations in the late 1980s has filed three new lawsuits in Orange County Superior Court. The suits seek class-action status to represent owners of almost 400 homes in the South County and Yorba Linda. The most recent suit was filed Monday.

The late W. Edwards Deming's theories of quality control and management technique are followed most closely by industrial companies. But the teachings of the theorist, who died Monday at age 93, had a profound impact on at least one Orange County home building company. In an industry where the most prevalent leadership style is, "Hey! It's my company and I can run it any way I want," Deming's approach made sense to Peter Ochs and Keith Johnson, co-founders of Fieldstone Co.

When Peter Ochs was graduated from Princeton University with a degree in finance, he wasn't sure what he wanted to do. So, he headed to California and Stanford University's graduate school of business, where he earned an MBA in finance and a job in the mergers and acquisitions department of American Standard Corp.

Luxury Lots: Fieldstone Communities Inc., the Newport Beach home builder, is purchasing 46 acres to build 152 luxury homes in the Irvine community of Turtle Rock. Fieldstone is buying the property from the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod for an undisclosed amount. The property was part of Concordia University in Irvine, once known as Christ College. The new luxury development, called Concordia, will feature homes ranging from 2,400 to 3,100 square feet.

The embattled charity Share Our Selves has been offered a $200,000 challenge grant from the Fieldstone Co., a Newport Beach home-builder, and the Irvine-based Fieldstead & Co. to help buy a new home for the organization, the charity's directors announced Tuesday. Donations for the purchase that are received by SOS before July 1 will be matched dollar for dollar by the two firms, up to a total of $200,000. "This gives us a big boost," SOS founder and Executive Director Jean Forbath said.

Builder James M. Peters said in late 1988 that the luxury homes his company built would always be an important part of the Orange County housing market. Other builders listened to him closely--perhaps too closely. Because by mid-1989, with dozens of other builders jumping on the big-house bandwagon, prospective buyers looked at a market saturated with homes carrying hefty price tags of $400,000 and more, and put their checkbooks away.

In the biggest land sale in Mission Viejo in more than a year, a trio of Southland builders has acquired 103 acres of residential property in the Pacific Hills area of the city. The builders are Kaufman & Broad Homes' South Coast division in Newport Beach, Lewis Homes of Upland and Fieldstone Co., also in Newport Beach.

In the past 13 years, Peter M. Ochs has constructed Southern California's largest privately owned home building firm--the Fieldstone Group of Cos. Since its formation, the Newport Beach home builder has sold more than 12,500 homes throughout California, generating a total of nearly $2.5 billion in revenue. But Southern California real estate watchers say the building concern is at a turning point.

As a child, Peter M. Ochs used to spend his after-school hours at his father's construction sites, where he recalls collecting nails in a tin can. Young Ochs was the fifth generation of his family to show a passion for building things, and he grew up to found Fieldstone Co., Southern California's largest privately owned home-building company.

By the time he was 9, Peter M. Ochs could be found on hisfather's construction sites collecting stray nails in a tin can--the sixth generation of his family to show a passion for building. The nails eventually formed a kingdom of houses, as Ochs grew up to create the largest privately owned home builder in Southern California.

In an industry where its leaders often envision themselves as mavericks and independent risk takers--sort of the last American cowboys--the home builders at the Fieldstone Group of Cos. are an exception. Fieldstone co-founders Peter Ochs and Keith Johnson, both with master's degrees from Stanford Business School, have always been attracted to academic sounding management concepts, encouraging new techniques and even sending executives off for courses at the London School of Economics.

Newport Beach home builder Fieldstone Co. said Friday that it has obtained $140 million in bank loans to build more than 800 homes in Rancho Santa Margarita during the next five years. "Banks are getting a lot more interested in doing business with home builders these days," said Frank Foster, Fieldstone's regional manager. "This financing is unique because it's pretty large, and it's for projects we plan to do down the road."

Luxury Lots: Fieldstone Communities Inc., the Newport Beach home builder, is purchasing 46 acres to build 152 luxury homes in the Irvine community of Turtle Rock. Fieldstone is buying the property from the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod for an undisclosed amount. The property was part of Concordia University in Irvine, once known as Christ College. The new luxury development, called Concordia, will feature homes ranging from 2,400 to 3,100 square feet.

The late W. Edwards Deming's theories of quality control and management technique are followed most closely by industrial companies. But the teachings of the theorist, who died Monday at age 93, had a profound impact on at least one Orange County home building company. In an industry where the most prevalent leadership style is, "Hey! It's my company and I can run it any way I want," Deming's approach made sense to Peter Ochs and Keith Johnson, co-founders of Fieldstone Co.

Fieldstone Co., the second-largest home builder in Southern California, is noted for a lot of strengths as a developer, but custom design is not among them. Co-founder and Chairman Peter Ochs, a former president of William Lyon Co., has said that he leaves experimentation to others and concentrates on delivering customers a well-built home at a competitive price. So far, the strategy has worked.