Smart Building
VP and co-owner leads in building industry
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, women accounted for 10.9% of the U.S. construction workforce in 2022. Included in that statistic is HOLLY OVERTON, the vice-president and co-owner of Charter Building Group, a custom homebuilder that’s had Wilmington roots for more than twenty-five years. It typically builds twenty-five houses a year that range from $600,000 to $1 million, mostly in New Hanover County.
Overton also fills another leadership role, but this time on the national level. She’s currently the president of the Wilmington-Cape Fear Home Builders Association, which is the fifth largest in the nation.
Overton has been with Charter Building Group since she graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2008. Her father is the president and co-owner of the group, making her the second generation in her family to lead the company. When she first started out, Overton did mostly sales and marketing. Today, it’s evolved into more management, home design, quality control, and developer relations.
As for Charter Building Group’s specialty, it’s a portfolio homebuilder, which means it typically builds its own floor plans and is involved in the custom home-building process from the get-go. Its portfolio recently caught the attention of the HGTV team for an opportunity to construct a smart home. After a brief meeting, Overton and her team were chosen for the opportunity, and they got to planning.
“How it works is they let us build the house and we use all of our own local trades to put in the products,” she says. “But they do have their own interior designer. They bring in a celebrity builder or carpenter that essentially looks like they’re managing the build. However, behind the scenes, Charter Building Group is actually building the home.”
The home was then given away by HGTV as part of a sweepstake.
The project took place in 2021 and bled into 2022, which meant the group had to keep COVID-19 in mind as they built. The pandemic also made it hard to nail down an exact day the house would be done, which is what HGTV needed so they could have a film crew ready.
As for what a smart home is, it’s a home that boasts features that promote a smart lifestyle. Elements they incorporated included heated and cooled drop zones for grocery or package deliveries. The way it works is there’s an alcove off the garage that has a keypad entry code for delivery drivers to securely place the package without getting into the house.
Others included a skylight for natural light, an in-ground pool, and an outside kitchen and TV.
“So, incorporating smart living means you can entertain and stay at your home and not have to leave the comfort of your home to get those amenities,” Overton says. “There was the share of technology, too. They have a smart toilet which will do everything, wash you and heat your seat, those types of things. And a security system and voice-activated lighting and TVs and so forth.”
To view more of photographer Terah Hoobler’s work, go to terahhoobler.com.
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