The success of your adventure depends a lot on who you take along on the journey. It’s important that we are a good fit for you. So let us tell you a little bit about ourselves and where we come from.

We’ve walked in different shoes but the common thread among our team members is that we have always lived our lives by following our hearts first, and our careers just fell into place from there. We’ve studied political science and business and geology and engineering and architecture, and all of these things give us perspective. But our passion really comes back to getting our hands dirty and feeling the satisfaction that comes out of building things that matter, so that’s where each of us has ended up.

Gary Gallagher - President

Gary Gallagher founded the company in 1988 after several years with a developer constructing residential condominiums in Cambridge. Gary realized that he was more interested in building custom homes for people he had gotten to know rather than speculative condominium projects.

Gary describes his most interesting project as a 1,800-square-foot, two bedroom house designed and built like a music box. “We worked from fifty sheets of drawings and another 200 detail drawings provided as we went along. Every part of the house was finely detailed by architect Michael Kirchmayer. The homeowners were avidly interested in all that was being done. It was fun and spectacular.”

In his early years, Gary coached the cross-country ski team and managed the ski program for Northern Michigan University while completing his undergraduate degree in political science and physical geography. He constructed his first house in 1971. Says Gary, “It was the only home I ever built from the ground up without subcontractors or machinery. My brother and I dug the foundation hole, mixed the mortar, laid the foundation block and pounded the well, all by hand. It was a very gratifying summer.”

Later, Gary teamed up with an architect to build a custom, energy efficient, double-envelope house. This experience spurred him on to attend the Boston Architectural Center in 1980. He studied architecture part-time while working as a draftsman for Developmental Resources in Cambridge.

Greg Childs - Project Manager

As Project Manager, Greg Childs serves as the steward of quality on a project, from beginning to end. He manages all phases of the project life cycle including planning, estimating, client communication management, documentation and construction management. He also addresses concerns of the neighborhood that may arise during construction, and coordinates issues including but not limited to utilities, surveys, permits, and environmental questions.

A former designer with Built Environments of Tyngsboro, MA, and Chris Walsh and Company, Architects, of Framingham, MA, Greg brings with him to Gallagher Home Builders a strong appreciation for aesthetics and keen understanding of the architectural process. He has also worked as a carpenter with a Metrowest firm, framing new homes and modifying existing structures.

Greg honed his project management skills as a business consultant with Fidelity Investments in Boston and DA Consulting Group in Quincy. He holds a Bachelor of Design Science degree from Boston Architectural College and a Bachelor of Science in Business Management from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Andy Hall - Site Supervisor

Andy comes to Gallagher Home Builders from the design consultancy, Ove Arup and Partners, of Cambridge, MA where he was responsible for project management and contract administration.

Andy brings more than 15 years of structural engineering experience to the firm, where he is working with homeowners on renovations requiring complex structural solutions. He is a chartered member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, and received his Masters degree in engineering from the University of Leeds, in the United Kingdom. In his spare time, he enjoys orienteering, competitive white water racing, marathon racing recreational hiking, skiing and cycling.

Hardest thing to control on a job site:

Believe it or not, it’s often the family’s pets. We tend to do a lot of jobs for families who have dogs. At one recent home, there was a big, white standard poodle named Fidelio (like Beethoven’s opera). Fidelio was always stealing our gloves and he wanted to play whenever he could break away from his owner’s grasp. I can’t tell you how many times I chased him through the neighborhood. And one time, he snuck onto the job site and wagged his tail up against a freshly painted wall. The paint was blood red. What a sight! It keeps things interesting for sure.”

Bruce Friedman - Site Supervisor

Bruce has been in construction since the early 80’s. He started his own construction and development firm soon after graduating from a small college in Maine with a degree in environmental design. Bruce had an avid interest in alternative energies before the rest of the world caught up.

Bruce’s most recent favorite job: “A smaller house we did a complete first-floor renovation on last year in Concord. The homeowners lived in a temporary apartment we built for them in the basement throughout the job, and every morning, the homeowner would wander upstairs in her pajamas, ask great questions about everything that was happening, and we’d talk for a while about life, our kids, and then of cour, the construction. She had really cool ideas – nothing crazy, but not your everyday New England traditional style. The job is now finished, and both the home and the memories we all have of working on it are a perfect reflection of that homeowner – friendly, casual, welcoming and just really fun.”

“Having the responsibility for my own firm was great until my daughter was born. At that point, I was happy to leave the 24/7 management responsibilities to someone else and just manage the job site – which in itself, is like running a small business of sort.”

Cliff Backman - Lead Carpenter

Cliff touches just about every project Gallagher Home Builder builds in some way. He came to Gallagher in 2004 from a cabinet shop in Norwood when his wife took a job as a librarian in a nearby town. A retired Air Force officer, Cliff brings a very disciplined service orientation to the team. Affable and gregarious, there is nothing he won’t do for the firm’s clients he has grown to love.

“I have coffee with my clients just about every morning and shoot the breeze. But I always clean up the dishes they’ve left in the sink afterwards.”

Tom Tracey - Lead Carpenter

When Tom Tracey was ready to turn in his frosting tips as a cake decorator for some of the area’s finest bakeries for drill bits on a job site, Gary told him he would have to learn the business, starting from scratch. Of course Tom jumped right into his work.

“As any respectable baker could tell you, doing things from scratch it’s the only way I know how,” says Tom. Impressed by his eagerness and willingness to learn, Gary gave him a job.

“When you’re making a wedding cake for someone, you go to great lengths to achieve perfection. Because it’s your client’s most special day, and so that means it has to be special to you. It has to be perfect. At Gallagher Home Builders, each job is set up with someone leading the construction, but another staff member is assigned to pay attention to the finesse that we deliver the job with – all the little things that make our presence in our clients’ homes livable. The way we care for their belongings, the way we treat their kids. But beyond that, every client has a different personality, and Gary has a great knack for putting successful teams together, matching the right staff to a given client. I can see why he was a winning coach. In the end, the success of every type of business relies on one’s ability to make people happy.”

Helen Demakes

Helen and Gary met in 1980 through the Charles River Community Boating program in Beacon Hill. They had both recently moved to Boston and loved sailing. At that time, Gary was a construction supervisor for a Cambridge developer and, a few years after they were married, Gary started his own firm in 1988. They work together: Gary managing the construction and Helen managing the financial side of the business.

“Every construction project carries with it a lot of financial management: checking estimates, obtaining quotes on materials and labor, processing a heap of payable invoices, separating out change order costs, job costing time sheets, processing payroll, and, of course, the financial reporting. This information is put to good use as our philosophy is to be completely forthcoming to clients about the project costs. We provide a detailed report with each bill that shows exactly where their construction dollars are going, an accounting of how much has been spent to date and how much remains in their budget. Knowing exactly where their project stands financially is reassuring to our clients, who are making a significant investment in their home.”

Elayne Hill

Years ago, Elayne and her husband built a custom home in Bolton, so when she applied for the job of office/financial assistant, it was clear she understood all about the details that go into managing the projects we do. A former business support analyst for such high tech behemoths as Digital, Compaq, Hewlett Packard, and later Ascential, now part of IBM, she brings heavy-hitting corporate discipline to Gallagher’s humble little operation.

Says Elayne, “Despite what people say about how much of a nightmare it is to have a custom home built, we had a surprisingly positive experience. I guess that made me believe that with the right people on the job, the home building business could be a great environment to work in.”