Local luxury home builder Ash Creek Homes is doing two things simultaneously that may seem at odds with each other, yet it makes perfect sense — building and breaking. While Ash Creek Homes is (and has been) building luxury communities in the Lake Travis area, they’re breaking the glass ceiling when it comes to women in leadership roles in a predominantly male industry.
Ash Creek Homes announced last week the promotion of Jenna Edge who replaces the company’s founder and owner, Scott Morledge. After 37 years of managing the company as the president and CEO, he is stepping back from the business and handing the reigns over to Jenna who has worked at the company as Project Manager for the past seven years.
With a vision firmly in place, the 32-year-old president is forging ahead. And let’s be honest, Jenna knows her stuff.
That winning edge
She can tell you everything you’d ever want to know about developing a community, building a house and more. Whether it’s how to build homes into existing topography as to not disturb the natural footprint of the land or choosing the perfect interior selections or a frank discussion about the ins and outs of grinder pumps, Jenna’s eyes light up on just about every topic related to home construction. Yep, even grinder pumps.
If her name sounds familiar, that’s because, in 2017, Jenna won the Home Builder of Austin (HBA) Award for “Best Project Manager for a Developer” at age 30. While she has a BA in Marketing from Texas State University, real estate, and residential development has always been her passion. She decided to get her real estate license years ago just because she wanted the knowledge.
It helps that Jenna loves the outdoors, so when it’s time to explore vast tracts of land and create plans for new communities, she feels right at home.
Female intuition makes sense
According to literally thousands of articles, women make decisions about which home a family ultimately buys. Female homebuyers are not the only decision makers when it comes to purchasing a home, but they do play a significant role in choosing the type of home. That’s because women think about how the house will function for the family as a whole.
A women-centric view of building makes sense. Women know how a home functions, so adding things like “drop zones” with built-in storage and hooks, designing a functional bathroom layout with the appropriate lighting and creating a floor plan with no wasted space. A smaller, more efficient home means less mess, less clutter, less vacuuming. Everything has its place. This also means you can lock the door and leave your home without worrying about it since there’s less to maintain. Hence the term “lock & leave” homes.
Building in the boomburbs
If you’re familiar with the Lake Travis area, you know the communities Jenna has already helped build like Canyonside at Falconhead West, Wildwood in Falconhead, The Grove at Falconhead and Spillman Ridge. These earlier communities were her “babies,” but she can still recall the tiniest architectural elements and those “ah-ha” engineering moments every builder needs.
Jenna’s currently traveling between Los Senderos in Serene Hills and Honey Creek across from Lake Travis High School because she’s overseeing the build-out of these two new communities. She’s been in Lake Travis daily for years, and the direction of the residential growth means a lot to her.
“Ash Creek has been building in the Lake Travis area for eight years now, and in the Austin area for over 35 years,” Jenna explains. “While building in this area is incredibly challenging due to topography and municipal approvals, it is our favorite part of Austin to build in! These challenges create the beauty that is the Lake Travis community. I’m incredibly happy to have the opportunity to be a part of this community and creating homes that will be a part of this landscape for a lifetime.”
What’s next for Jenna? She’s busting at the seams to chat about Ash Creek Homes’ next project in the Lake Travis area, but the details are still being finalized, so it’s a bit hush-hush at the moment. What we do know is it will be a unique community in the Four Points area.
