John Long is president of J.A. Long Inc., a custom home building/design company located in Orange Park. He started the company 26 years ago.
WHAT DOES HE SPECIALIZE IN?
Building custom homes from scratch. “The core of this is trying to be a value builder because we are on the Westside. We think what we are really good at is getting as good a workmanship that you can get in the whole city for a smaller buck out here in Orange Park. We have some $1 million homes for sale now, but our average sale price is $450,000 and our average home size is 3,000 square feet.” He also builds commercial buildings occasionally, most notably is two-story green glass office building on Wells Road where his company is located.
GROWING THE BUSINESS?
“We are trying to grow the business so that we are in more subdivisions, maybe repeating some of our homes instead of everything being from scratch. I’ve had a lot of repeats in the last year or two. I’m trying to grow the business so we can absorb more lots and stay in business.” He currently builds about 30 homes a year. “I’m afraid that If I don’t grow, I will be a dinosaur soon, but I don’t want to be a production builder.”
WHERE
DOES HE BUILD?
He recently joined the builder program at The Neighborhoods of World Golf Village and will be building in a new community, Paradise Mooring, being developed on SR 220 in Clay County.
WHERE ELSE?
Pace Island, Eagle Harbor, Magnolia Golf & Country Club, Hibernia Plantation, Orange Park Country Club and Jacksonville Golf & Country Club.
GEOTECHNICAL TESTING?
He is the only builder who brings a geotechnical testing lab to the home site to test the concrete used to pour the slab. “If they get too much water in the concrete, we will send the truck back. It ensures that we are putting on the ground what we are supposed to.”
DOES HE DESIGN HIS OWN HOUSES?
“I will buy some plans from out of town, but we design most of them ourselves.”
DOES THE CUSTOMER USUALLY COME TO YOU WITH PLANS?
“They usually come with some idea they have seen somewhere from a magazine or from someone’s handout. We are sensitive not to run over other builders and usually we can design a house that is very similar, but still from scratch. I’ve had two from God, where the people said that God showed them my plans and I’ve had a few where they said they dreamed plans. They drew it on a napkin and brought it to me.”
SPEC HOMES?
They build about 12 a year.
BEFORE BUILDING?
He was Navy carrier pilot for seven years. After college, he went to back to Pennsylvania and he was a stockbroker for two or three years. He had met his wife (who was from Green Cove Springs) while in the Navy and they moved to Clay County after his stint as a stockbroker and he worked in a fireplace and mantle shop and did home improvements. He then went to Montgomery Ward where he was a subcontractor and also installed fireplaces and mantles.
HOW DID HE
GET INTO BUILDING?
“I was always interested in the design side and about that time Clay County started requiring licensing. I had to have a residential building license to do home improvements. So, I decided to get serious about it. I became a certified builder for commercial and residential structures and now I am a certified general contractor.”
WHO DO YOU COMPETE WITH?
Primarily with Rosewood Homes Inc. and Sid Higginbotham Builder Inc. because build in the same areas.
FAVORITE THING ABOUT BEING A BUILDER?
“Planning, designing, listening to people and trying to convert that into a lifestyle.”
LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT BEING A BUILDER?
“Change orders. Having to do the bookwork involved and number crunching.”
COLLEGE
He has a bachelor’s degree in humanity from Muhlenberg College.
BIRTHPLACE
Lansford, Pa.
FAMILY
He has been married to Linda, who is his office manager, for 31 years. They have two children, Randy, 24 and Ryan, 18. “This is a family run business. Randy works here too.”
HOBBIES
Primarily working out, boating and ballroom dancing. “We are Latin specialists. I just enjoy it.”
RESIDES
On Doctor’s Lake in Clay County in a 3,600 square foot Mediterranean style two-story house.
WEBSITE
www.jalonginc.com
—by Michele Newbern Gillis