D. L. Miner Construction Inc.: Distinctive Homes in a Beautiful Location

New Jersey gets a bad rap sometimes in the national media, but its residents and visitors who live and play along the state’s coastline know that it’s an area like no other in the Continental U.S. Small beachfront cottages and multimillion dollar mansions line its 1,792 miles of shoreline, and in southern New Jersey one home builder has made a name for himself with the jet set thanks to the quality of his company’s work providing custom homes and condominiums.

Donald L. Miner Jr. had been doing business in the construction industry since the mid-’80s in Cape May County, N.J., where he decided to found D.L. Miner Construction Inc. (DLM) in 1984. With the invaluable assistance of Brian J. Stuart, DLM partner and senior project manager, the company has flourished over the past three-plus decades and has now grown from a venture started in Miner’s garage to a staff of 24 employees with annual sales in the $15 million range.

Miner has established a reptuation as one of the region’s premier builders and is best known for his attention to detail and ingenuity for custom applications. The company has completed over 200 projects locally, ranging from condos to renovations and new construction, but DLM is known primarily for its stunning custom-designed beachfront homes. Partnering with over a half-dozen trusted architectural firms, DLM can walk a client through the entire process to bring a beautifully crafted luxury home smoothly from design to completion.

Not Just High-end Residential

Miner stresses that, even though his company has established a niche for itself building high-end custom-designed vacation homes, DLM offers its clients a full-range of services. He explains, “We have the capability to build anything, and we’ll work on projects from thousands of dollars up to the multimillion range.”

DLM’s team of professionals is typically found working on projects throughout Cape May County, but the company’s crews will travel farther for the right client and project. “One of our clients loved the vacation home that we built them so much that they had us build their primary residence in Pennsylvania,” reveals Miner.

Becky Avila, who started as Miner’s office manager and eventually became a partner in DLM, adds that typically the company will build six to eight homes a year. “We have a fairly short window to complete our projects. People usually want us to build their homes from September to June,” she says, adding, however, that DLM has and will coordinate larger, more-demanding projects with such lavish, custom finishing it that can take up to two years for a project to complete. The company’s dedication to customer service and its ingenuity in making dreams into reality has contributed to its ongoing success, even through the economic slowdown.

Avila says that the repeat and referral business is what drives the company’s growth. She explains, “We’re one of the top four builders in this area. The architects all enjoy working with us and they steer clients our way, and our clients themselves drive in a lot of business. Their friends come to stay with them at their vacation home, and eventually they contact us if they want to build a home here.”

Eye-catching Homes

Obviously, to ensure the privacy of the company’s clients, Avila was unable to provide identifiable details on the company’s recent projects, but she did reveal that DLM is currently working on what will be the largest home in the county when it’s completed. The company’s carpenters recently completed a 14,900-square foot home, which is the size of two typical homes’ entire lots.

DLM’s crew also built a home that received a lot of local press: The Marble House. The three-story mansion was recently on the market for $9.8 million and has five bedrooms, five-and-a-half bathrooms, a floating circular staircase, a great room, gourmet kitchen, three decks and a swimming pool with spa and slide. The house received a lot of attention, because it is one of a few private marble-sided homes in the United States.

“We’ll work with our clients to help them realize their dream home,” continues Avila. “People who are putting a big beautiful house on the beach don’t skimp when it comes to building materials. You can spend $25,000 on a pool or $100,000; it depends on the client.”

In addition to building high-quality custom homes, DLM further separates itself from its competition with the level of customer service that it provides to clients. Avila says that they often check on their clients’ homes after a major weather event so that the homeowners can rest assured that their vacation home made it through the storm undamaged.

Because of ongoing uncertainty on Wall Street, Miner recognizes a trend towards more high-end renovations versus new construction. “The stock market is one of the best indicators that we have to let us know how much business we’re going to be bringing in,” says Miner. However, DLM has seen its business remain steady in recent years because the company offers far more than the average homebuilder.

DLM offers more attention to detail, more peace of mind, more of everything that adds positively to New Jersey’s reputation as a sophisticated vacation destination. Donald L. Miner Jr. and D.L. Miner Construction Inc. will continue to transform the state’s southern shoreline, building by beautiful building, adding a distinctive style and iconic homes to New Jersey’s legacy.