Mountain Living at its Finest
by Cassidy Mantor
Welcome to Park City! You’re making a great choice!” Craig Mogel, founder of Germania Construction, warmly says whenever he welcomes newcomers to town. He adds, “When you come, make sure you play.”
Germania works hard in the mountains so their clients can play in them. The Park City, Utah-based custom home builder believes that assembling the right team is critical to their success. They’ve developed lasting relationships with clients, architects, subcontractors, and suppliers and are deeply passionate about mountainside living, not to mention delivering transparent and high-touch customer service.
“We bring relation-ship-building to the team. We have an in-depth under-standing of each person’s role and responsibility, and how it integrates within the team.”
–Craig Mogel, Founder, Germania Construction
Germania’s homes are works of art that help their owners experience mountain life at its best. Their builds have large decks with great views, wine rooms, serene spas, stylish bunkrooms, inviting textures, thoughtful landscaping, and beautiful lighting. The company operates on a foundation of five core values of building friendship, quality, a commitment to providing an amazing customer experience, making the impossible possible, and value engineering. That unique belief system as well as a love for the mountains puts Germania homes in a class of their own.
The story begins in 1990 when founder Craig Mogel moved to Park City after college to race mountain and road bikes in the summer and ski in the winter. “I fell in love with this place the first time I came out here,” he says. Halfway through his first summer season, he knew he was going to become a permanent resident, and with that came the realization that he needed a job. Craig began working construction every spring, summer, and fall when he wasn’t skiing, which led him to develop an interest in the artistry behind crafting unique, efficient, and timeless custom luxury homes. Craig’s boss at the time took him under his wing. While he enjoyed having Craig on the team, every year he would tell him that it was time for him to grow up. Finally, one year Craig listened and got his general contractor license. He started out building fences, decks, and interior remodels in the late ‘90s. Craig’s honesty and work ethic as well as technical skills led his boss to hire him to build a house with him, effectively launching Craig’s career as a custom home builder.
In 1999, Craig founded Germania Construction, named after his favorite chairlift at Alta Ski Resort. Over the past two decades, Germania has grown with an uncompromising commitment to craftsmanship, while developing, refining, and mastering the art of custom luxury home building. Craig strives to help people realize their dreams of mountain living, just as he did more than 30 years ago. “On some level, I always knew someone would want to live in a place like this because they were drawn to what our community has to offer and all of Park City’s outdoor jazz,” he says. Craig’s enthusiasm for fly fishing, bike riding, skiing, and climbing burns bright today and fuels his leadership of a business that builds homes for others to celebrate that lifestyle too.
Along with an appreciation for outdoor recreation in the mountains, one of Germania’s core values is delivering a premium consumer experience. They do that with the help of their trade partners, an array of architects and interior design firms carefully selected for their creative abilities as well as their shared love of the terrain. “We bring relationship-building to the team,” Craig says. “We have an in-depth understanding of each person’s role and responsibility, and how it integrates within the team.”
The custom home building process has frequently been likened to a roller coaster. Schedules and emotions run wild because there are many moving parts and key players. Another strength Germania brings to each project is its ability to keep things on track and lead projects through efficient operations and steadfast systems. They also bring an eye for the aesthetics. People hire Germania because they can implement anything a client dreams. “Our singular vision is to create that place where our clients will bring their families and live in the mountains,” Craig says.
Whether a client is interested in clean lines and contemporary aesthetics or wants a mountain home that pays homage to traditional rustic touches, or something altogether different, Germania has the experience and uncompromising commitment to craftsmanship to make dreams a luxurious reality. “Early in my career, I learned how satisfying it is to bring an artistic vision to life through the creative process,” Craig reflects. As Germania grew, Craig found he was very interested in perfecting the systems needed to successfully build a house. The company is very systems-oriented, which means the client enjoys a fluid experience as they watch their investment take shape. He adds, “Once we smell dirt – that’s when the fun begins. There may be challenges along the way, but we’re creating and building someone’s dream. It’d better be fun, or at least enjoyable on some level.”
“I’m a stickler for precision. It’s important to me that it gets done correctly.”
–Craig Mogel, Founder, Germania Construction
High-end custom homes are about feel, fit, and finish. The feel is achieved in the house’s construction and the way it’s built. Fit and finish are addressed in the details. Germania offers an expert understanding of how materials come together long before they’re built.
“I’m a stickler for precision,” Craig confesses. “It’s important to me that it gets done correctly.” He recalls a recent job where he was not satisfied with the ceiling but wanted the client to understand why. When the owner arrived, he thought it looked fine, but Craig encouraged him to look closer. “I want you to pretend you’re sitting down having a cocktail and looking at your ceiling,” he said. The client looked again more carefully and then saw the imperfection, so they redid it. “I’m not afraid to speak my mind. I’d say that 95% of our clients love that and look to me for my opinion. I’m also not offended if my opinion is not taken,” Craig adds.
It’s not surprising that Germania is a top custom home builder in Park City. In addition to offering beautiful designs and custom finishes, they work alongside their clients to make sure their needs are heard, understood, and met. They work so closely with their clients that many of them have become friends who have kept in touch long after the construction is done. Germania’s team is trained and qualified. And each member cares about making the experience and the final product the best it can be. If their name is on it, it’s going to reflect superior quality.
As a young man, Craig built his life in Park City around things that he loved. That passion continues to fuel him today as he uses his expertise to help others realize their dreams of living in Park City. He meets with clients at all points in the process – from looking at the lots they’re considering purchasing to envisioning the details of their dream home. “When you get me talking about what we do and how we do it, I go down the rabbit hole pretty quickly,” he admits. “We take a team approach and are willing to bounce things off each other, from our creative project managers to our superintendents who have been working with me for a long time.” Germania’s clients can trust that they’re getting a team devoted to building them the best house possible.
Craig likens his team’s process to that of an artist working with a canvas. Germania builds the canvas, and then along with the designer and client, they work on the entire painting until it becomes a masterpiece – including landscape, artwork, and lighting – turning clients’ dreams into reality.
