Bespoke Builder
PHOTOS: SERAP DERIRCA AND ANDREA CERASO
Jason Drake doesn’t do ordinary. Just bespoke. He builds dreams. Whether it’s taking a new-build residence from start to move-in, or doing an interior renovation, Jason’s work is, quite simply, superior. And when it comes to executing on a client’s vision, he’s known for fulfilling fantasies.
Jason’s family moved from Long Island to South Salem when he was in 9th Grade and Jason went to John Jay before heading off to Roanoke College. He started out as working as a laborer, then worked as a framer, and has been doing custom general contracting - and nothing but custom general contracting - for two decades now. He started Drake Builders six years ago, and as a measure of his professionalism and ability to deliver quality, a majority of Drake Builders’ work in Westchester and Fairfield Counties is performed as the selected general contractor for a few top architects and construction management firms, rather than for end-users. He lives in Bedford, with his wife Grace, who grew up in Ridgefield, and their three daughters, 6 year old Poppy, 4 year old Georgia, and 2 year old Roma.
Jason says, “...but if you want to know who I am, it’s the dad already totally involved in coaching his daughter’s Fox Lane Youth Lacrosse kindergarten team. I majored in Physical Education and Health and played on the Top-20 Lacrosse Team at Roanoke…and getting to see my little girls get started in sports is just pure joy! I’m 52, and didn’t get married until I was 42, so everything about my family seems just that much more extra-special to me!”
Before moving to Bedford, Jason and Grace gut-renovated the house they had in South Salem, where Jason also served for five years as an EMT with the Lewisboro Ambulance Corp. “I was inspired by the way people responded in 9/11, and really wanted to do service in my community,” Jason explains. “I felt like if something happened to me or my family…well I would want a guy like me to show up! I’m a little OCD, when I say I’m going to get it done I get it done…and I don’t give up!”
“My mom was an interior decorator, and I think that kind of informs the way I go about working as a general contractor with my residential building clients - I’m working on making my client’s dream come true. That means the way the room or the house looks, and feels, and functions when the job is complete, not just putting in components to meet the specifications,” Jason describes. “I really love the process of working with my residential clients. When I’m done in a house, I like to boast about what a great job the client has done!”
Chad Weiss is Jason’s right-hand-man at Drake Builders. He handles the company’s contracting, administration and marketing. He grew up in Bedford, and went to Fox Lane before going to University of Massachusetts for a degree in Communications. More recently, while working for Drake, Chad graduated from Pace Law School and is now admitted to the Bar of the State of New York. “I’m just the numbers guy - it’s Jason that makes the magic happen! He’s thrilled by a challenge, and we build some pretty insane things! He has hands-on quality control of every single detail on every job, every single day a job is in progress. And he treats every project as if it’s his only project.”
The top-end architect/developer Rich Granoff, who is the CEO of Granoff Architects in Greenwich, Connecticut, which is one of Drake Builders’ biggest clients, says about Drake: “They’re not just quality builders, they’re quality guys. I’ve been working with Jason long enough that he’s built houses for me where we’ve now been called back together - more than a decade later, by new owners - to do additions or renovations…and built another house for the original owners! Jason only works with the best subcontractors and can accomplish as high a standard of finish as anyone around.”
“Plain and simple,”