Testimonials

After my sister Ann recommended the Orren Pickell Building Group, emphasizing the importance of calling the best for a job well done, I decided to reach out for a consultation. From the moment I met Anna, I knew I was in good hands. Initially planning a simple kitchen and bath remodel, I was pleasantly surprised by the team’s enthusiasm for additional ideas. With their guidance, I decided to also update my 3-season room, add a new deck, and incorporate a pergola. The transformation to my home was remarkable – it now feels like I’ve gained two extra rooms!  Jillian, the experienced project manager, ensured orders were expedited, while Kurt efficiently managed the trades on-site. Jorge, the master trim carpenter, impressed me with his talent, punctuality, and steady work ethic. The level of excellence and quality demonstrated by Pickell is truly extraordinary. I wholeheartedly recommend them to anyone seeking top-notch craftsmanship and professionalism in their home renovations.

As we are getting down to the last few weeks in our home that your family built for us almost 19 years ago to the day, it’s a bittersweet time for us as we start a new chapter.

We have loved every day in our home and when we selected Pickell to build our dream home (as Liz would say “my” dream house), we had spoken to lots of people and the common comment was, “Pickell builds a quality home but you will pay a premium compared to other builders for the quality and workmanship.”

I believed then and I do today, when you pay for quality you get back the value in spades. I was right then. Our home has been rock solid. There is no creaking wood, no water penetration, just an all around amazing quality built home.

One of the special services you offered day one was the maintenance program. This one phone call, one stop service sets your company apart from all others. A testament is, in 19 years the only appliance we have replaced has been a washer and dryer. All other appliances are working and looking brand new. I am sure if we did not have your team out twice a year to check things, we would have had to replace every appliance including the sub zero wine coolers and refrigerator. I am confident the service paid for itself multiple times.

I hope the new owners of our house continue using your team.

Please thank everyone from the bottom of our hearts for the fabulous work ethic and service we have received over these years. Above all, please thank your dad for having the vision and the input he had in building our (my) dream home.

We wish everyone all the best and you never know we may move back from the city and build another home!!.

Just wanted to let you guys know that the cabinets have started going in and OMG we love them!!

Krista, I believe you said at some point that the old cabinets would be no comparison to our new ones and honestly that is an understatement!

I mean the kitchen is still partly undone . . . and I still go in every evening and open and close all the drawers and doors!

My cat spends most of his day laying in the middle drawer of the island! Everyone loves how it’s coming together.

Thanks so much for your help along the way! We couldn’t be happier.

And after completion:

We just wanted to touch base with you to share our final thoughts on our new kitchen. It all ended so fast that it seemed like we never got a chance to express our thoughts about the project.

First of all we absolutely LOVE our kitchen! Here are our top five loves –

• the pot filler!
• the cabinets, and the soft close feature
• the range and hood! No more smoke alarm cooking!
• Kurt, and the way he managed our project
• the whole process just went so smoothly from our first meetings with Eric, cabinetry with Krista and actual construction with Kurt

If you think you’ll be in the area, give us a call to stop in and see it in the real world!

Thanks again!

Thank you for sending Terry over on short notice.

Your company’s responsiveness and customer centric attitude is why you will always be at the top of our list for construction, renovation and house maintenance matters.

I wanted to share my final product, which is amazing. I really don’t think the video does it justice. I know y’all typically work on a lot of big projects, but I was thrilled with the planning, selections, advise and execution! Well done and again thank you!

My name is Linda Larson. My husband, John and I have lived in one of the homes you built in Lake Barrington in 1994. We purchased it from David Galimore in 1997 and have lived here happily raising our family of five children. We put the house on the market two weeks ago and want to let you know that one of your fabulous homes is becoming available for someone else to fall in love with!

I so appreciated living in this dream house for 23 years. Thank you for making that possible!

Orren Pickell Building Group has repeatedly proven to me how more then 20 years ago, we made the best decision to build a house with them. Since then we purchased another house and used their company to remodel it. We have used The Orren Pickell Maintenance Program for over 20 years, and we will continue to utilize it. More importantly, it is the people we have encountered over the years and the relationships we have built that continue to impress me. Their employees responsiveness and follow through has proven to be invaluable. Often businesses only hear the negative comments and complaints, so it’s time we shared our positive experiences.

We hired the Orren Pickell Building Group to both design and build our home, starting in 2013 and completing in 2015. Susan Hamilton was our initial contact and continued as our primary contact person through the whole process. She was delightful–both professionally and personally. Orren was also significantly and surprisingly involved throughout and our lead construction superivisor was Kevin Batz. Everyone was great, the design was very creative and the finished project has met and surpassed our expectations. Customer service was exceptional.

Just wanted to drop a long overdue note about (Pickell maintenance team members) Jenn and Randy. I have been working with them for my home maintenance programs on both homes for around 10 years now. Jenn has worked so hard for me, especially in the past few months when I had a rapid home sale and had to get tradespeople out here ASAP. Professional, well-organized, and easy to reach and communicate with, Jenn makes stressful repair situations bearable. I don’t know how she does it, while maintaining a good attitude at all times. I know I can rely on her assistance for ANY type of repair or issue. My homes would both be a disaster if it were not for Jenn and the Orren Pickell Builders maintenance program.

Don’t know if you have been by the house, but it looks amazing. Finally got the front steps finished, but there is more landscaping to come. Just wanted to say thanks to all of you for a job well done. We love it.

This is a family run business with vision, dedication and complete professionalism is building your home. The Orren Pickell Building Group offers complete architectural drawings and overall management of a project.
They have a line of cabinetry to fit all homes, and if they don’t carry it in their cabinet line they will design it with you.
A true dream team.

Pickell built a custom 5 bedroom, 4.5 bath residence for us in 2007, replacing a house originally built in 1882 and renovated in 1929. Our new home was specifically designed to allow us to “age in place” insofar as we were on the cusp of retiring. Our new home won the Chicagoland Homebuilders Association’s coveted “Gold Key Award” for outstanding design and construction. It was also a finalist in the Glencoe Historical Commission’s annual contest for new construction.

It was a “joy” to work with the Pickell organization. They took care of everything, from architectural design, permitting, construction and landscaping. They even hosted a “Welcome to Your New Home” celebration for our friends and neighbors. Highly professional, open in their communication and committed to building the highest quality home, we couldn’t ask for better.

We strongly endorse Orren and his Building Group. You’ll be delighted if you decide to work with them.

Orren’s group built a new house for us in 2014.
We can say two things about Orren:
1. The workmanship and craftsmanship is flawless
2. He delivers what he promises…on time

Orren Pickell Building Group’s motto is “Live the rest of your lives in the home of your dreams.” And, since OPBG designed and built our home, that’s exactly what we have been doing. The house is beautiful inside and out. The graceful exterior design has so much drive up appeal, we regularly see people stop and take pictures of the house, probably to show their builder! Inside, the house is the most livable we’ve owned, comfortable when immediate family is home but also great for Superbowl parties or grilling in the back yard with friends. We have large dogs and OPBG offered several suggestions (such as the dog shower in the garage) that make daily life with our pets happy and easy. Our project was on time and under budget.

We went with Orren Pickell because of their reputation to build the best homes in the Northshore. My husband and I are perfectionists so it took us more than 3 years to build our dream home from planning to building completion. We are extremely satisfied with their customer service (from receptionist to architect, Tom H., CabinetWerks designer, all the way up to Orren and Lisa), the high quality of their work with attention to details, and their transparency in bids and costs involved. We had full confidence in them throughout the process because they did what they said they would do. Meetings happened as planned (and we had many meetings) and the work was done as specified in a timely manner. We wholeheartedly recommend this company for their integrity, professionalism, transparency, and outstanding design/build skills. There is a reason for their reputation.

Quite a few years ago, we toured several Orren Pickell homes in Bannockburn IL. The outstanding quality, the unique design and the attention to detail left a lasting impression on us. When we decided it was time for us to have our dream home built, we knew we had to call Orren Pickell. Our first call to their office was to inquire about getting their advice on two different parcels of land we were interested in buying. Orren and his team went to both of the lots and performed a thorough analysis on both lots then invited us to their office for a comprehensive presentation showing us the pros and cons of each lot. Their knowledge and advice was key to us selecting the proper lot. We are now almost ready to being excavation. As the other reviewers have said, the entire process for us has been truly wonderful. Every single staff member is extremely competent, creative, fun, helpful and their teamwork is very impressive. The Pickell group is excellent at listening to what we want and incorporating our particular (and sometimes quirky!) wants and needs into our design. We are so excited to begin the stage where we watch our dream house transform from blueprint to a final product.

They basically gutted our house, outside and inside, and did a phenomenal job at keeping it in character with the original home style which is Tudor. Their attention to detail was top-notch and completed the job on time.

Hi Orren, Remember me? You built a beautiful ranch home for my then-husband Jim and I in Thorngate 19 years ago. I moved to Arizona 11 years ago, but was back in Chicago last week and had the chance to tour our old house. It is on it’s third owner now. I have to tell you, it still looks as good as the day we built it! It is lovely inside and out. The subsequent owners have changed almost nothing (updated some countertops and added a bar in the lower level). It is really a testament to the quality with which you build. The home has really endured the test of time. The current owners are crazy about it. Just thought you would enjoy hearing about it. Take care!

I was speaking with our daughter last night & she was telling me about her Maintenance Day. It seems Carl found a big fat frog in the window well. He let our 4 year old grandson hold it & then showed our George how to carefully put it back in the garden & cover it with moist dirt. Our daughter said Carl absolutely made George’s day & the boy is still telling everyone about the experience. I’m sharing this with you because I wanted The Group to know how much this small act of kindness meant to all of us. Now not only are we singing your praises but our 4 year old grandson is also telling everyone about the Maintenance Division too!

My husband and I became familiar with the work of Orren Pickell about ten years ago when we began attending open houses in homes that had been built or remodeled by Orren Pickell. In 2005 we purchased a home that had been built in 1907, and the following year we chose Orren Pickell to remodel our kitchen.

It was a very exciting process for us, and we enjoyed working with everyone on the Orren Pickell team. We knew what we did not like about our old kitchen and we had some ideas about what we wanted in a new kitchen, but the Orren Pickell kitchen that we have now is far superior to anything that we could have imagined at the time. The Orren Pickell team presented us with three detailed plans for the space, and after a brainstorming session with architects, designers, and our salesman, we came up with a fourth plan that was perfect for us.

The work was carried out on schedule and we were just as impressed with the subcontractors as we were with the Orren Pickell employees. We met carpenters, plumbers, electricians, and a wood repair specialist who were experienced professionals with a passion for their work. They also had a lot of respect for Orren Pickell and were proud to be working on an Orren Pickell project.

After our project was completed, we called Orren Pickell several times, mainly with problems relating to appliances. They always sent people to our home promptly and resolved our problems.

In 2011 we returned to Orren Pickell to design and build our new garage. Jeff Eichorn, the architect who had worked on our kitchen, came up with an amazing design that was a perfect expression of what we wanted. It is a highly functional structure which complements the house beautifully. Once again, the Orren Pickell team gave us great advice on how we could make the project more budget-friendly without sacrificing the charm and character we wanted.

We love our kitchen and our garage. The end result of both projects exceeded our expectations, and we look forward to future projects with Orren Pickell.