Zweig Aims to Redefine Renovations

Mark Zweig doesn’t mind working with guts. Indeed, he prefers it.

Zweig, a Fayetteville businessman perhaps best known as the founder of the firm that bears his name, has drawn attention lately for his work in renovating rundown homes in historic areas of the city. In 2010 alone, for example, Zweig turned $834,500 worth of purchases into more than $3 million in upscale residential sales.

Zweig is quick to balance the eye-popping sales figures with the fact he sinks significant amounts of money into his projects. Most of them involve stripping a property to its original core, then producing a final product that mixes period history with modern luxuries.

“When people say, ‘Oh, you flip houses,’ that really makes me bristle because it’s hardly a flip,” Zweig said. “It’s starting with a pile of crap and completely reconfiguring it. It’s a big job.

“For every cosmetic overhaul we do, we do probably five gut-to-the-studs houses. It’s just the best way to do one.”

 

Building Blocks

Zweig’s interest in architecture and design dates to his childhood. So does, however, his business sense.

“I’m a businessperson, but I’m a designer,” he said. “I should’ve gone to architectural school. When I was a little kid, I used to design houses all day long. Then I sort of got seduced away by the business world.”

Only after overseeing the construction of a new home in 1982 — “Such a nightmare,” Zweig recalled — did he begin dabbling in renovations. That was in the Boston area, where Zweig worked at the time, and by the time he moved to Fayetteville in 2004, he was confident he could breathe new life into a home at 59 E. Prospect, near Wilson Park.

Zweig bought the 3,166-SF home for $307,500. By the time he sold it last year, the total of renovated space — including additions — was 5,576. The sale price was $900,000, according to information provided by Carlton Realty Inc.

Company owner Dale Carlton first met Zweig when he was making the move from Boston to Fayetteville. Zweig said he sent an e-mail to Lindsey & Associates “because they were the biggest around here.”

The e-mail explained Zweig’s desire to work with the company’s best broker, and it eventually was forwarded to Carlton, who still has it. Thus began the pair’s personal and professional relationships that continue to thrive today.

Carlton handles all of the real estate-related work associated with Zweig’s projects. That allows Zweig to focus on the design and construction.

“I pick out everything,” Zweig said, “every color, every doorknob, lights, everything.”

Complete Control

The first thing a potential client needs to know about a Mark Zweig Inc. home is that it will be designed and constructed to Zweig’s specifications. There is little, if any, wiggle room.

That style has ruffled a potential buyer or two, but Zweig is supremely confident in his vision and the implementation of it. He said most of his clients come from word-of-mouth referrals, and generally trust him based on what they see in past projects.

Zweig’s autonomous approach likely comes from the same place that spurred him to become a business owner rather than an employee. In addition to his renovation projects, he’s an owner in ZweigWhite, a Fayetteville-headquartered firm that offers consulting, publishing and other business services primarily for architecture, engineering and environmental firms.

There’s another reason Zweig demands complete control, too.

“It’s just more fun for me that way,” he said.

Zweig’s first step, typically, is to reduce a home to its original frame. Any necessary repairs are addressed at that point, and Zweig then goes about designing what the house will become in its final form.

“Something that looks like it could’ve been built around an appropriate time period for the house,” Zweig said. “I’m not going to take it back to the original two-room shack with an outhouse, which is what it might have been.

“I’m going to try to incorporate everything that’s been done into a cohesive whole. We’re trying to create a reliable house.”

That includes flourishes like all copper plumbing, heated floors in bathrooms, and full-house sound systems. Zweig sometimes will furnish a home, too, once going so far as to buy dishes for a client.

The results are homes Carlton described as “period-sensitive, but modernized.”

“People don’t always understand it,” he added with a laugh, “but they like it.”

 

413 N. Willow

A renovated property at 413 N. Willow, in Fayetteville’s historic district, is a good example of Zweig’s work. The home, which is about 2,000 SF, is believed to have been built around 1895.

Under Zweig’s direction, white vinyl siding was removed and replaced with red cedar shingles. The home is fenced and Zweig added fescue sod.

A solid mahogany front door opens into an expansive living room that features custom-built cabinets and bookcases. It also has a stone fireplace, and a similar fireplace separates an adjacent library from the dining area.

The home additionally features three bedrooms and a new master bath addition. The kitchen also has custom-made cabinetry, as well as a full range of modern appliances, and a small island.

All of it together reflects the feel of Zweig’s work. This is true despite the fact he reconfigured the floor plan.

“We put the windows, doors and walls where we want them,” Zweig said, alluding not just to the house on Willow, but all of his projects.

 

‘Crazy Good’

Zweig’s overall vision and attention to detail make him fun to work for, several subcontractors said. While Zweig uses a crew of four full-time carpenters for much of his work, he also relies on a tight-knit group of subs.

“There are very few things I get hard-dollar bids on,” Zweig said.

Instead, he gives his subs a design plan and asks for a bill when they’re finished.

“You think the cheapest plumber does the best work?” Zweig said.

The end result, it seems, is a crew that doesn’t mind working side-by-side at times. Knowing they have the time and latitude to do their work as they see fit is an appealing option.

“He lets me do what I want to do because he has trust in my skills,” plumber Mike Carfagno said of Zweig. “Some builders will stand over your shoulder like a babysitter, but he’s never done that — not once.”

Stonemason Curt Richardson agreed.

“Once we get past the design part, he trusts us,” Richardson said. “He trusts our skill and judgment.”

Zweig also apparently delivers prompt payment. Carfagno laughed while recalling a time when Zweig called him, wondering why he hadn’t received a bill for a particular project.

“He was basically reprimanding me for not billing him fast enough,” Carfagno said. “That’s just crazy good.”

Some might categorize Zweig’s negotiating techniques in the same manner. It’s not uncommon for him to take a trade-in when selling a house, operating essentially like an auto dealer.

Zweig said he once even offered to throw a convertible Ford Mustang into a deal in an effort to close it.

“Why not?” he said, recalling his pitch to the potential buyer. “You’ve got a nice four-car garage with a bay over there you’ll probably never use. Why not put a Mustang in it?”

In regard to his general negotiating policy, Zweig added, “There’s nothing we won’t consider.”