Classic Homes of Maryland custom home builder, Prem Puri, was honored with the prestigious President’s Award at the Xi Sigma Omega Chapter’s 30th Anniversary celebration on Saturday June 8th at the Gaithersburg Marriott in Washingtonian Center.

The event brought together 300 guests to honor the service achievements of this local branch of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sisterhood and Service Sorority. Classic Homes’ Prem Puri was among nine members of the community, selected for demonstrating “an overwhelming commitment and dedication to helping and serving others.”

This month marks the 5 year anniversary of one of Mr. Puri’s proudest moments of community service, building a home for Ms. Felicia Jackson, a mother of four, who had recently agreed to take on the task of raising her dying sister’s ten children. When approached by ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”, Prem was so deeply moved by Ms. Jackson’s story, he agreed to take on the seemingly insurmountable task of building an entire home in only one week, a project that would normally take the family owned business a minimum of six months.

Classic Homes covered the cost of construction, and with help from the entire company staff, hundreds of volunteers, and donations from various contractors, the home was completed on schedule. Today Classic Homes continues to maintain its relationship with Ms Jackson and her family. After over 5 years of wear and tear by 14 children, Classic Homes recently replaced all of the hardwood flooring in the home. Several of Ms Jackson’s children attended the award ceremony to express their appreciation of Prem and Classic Homes of Maryland.

Prem’s charitable work extends beyond Montgomery County, MD. He is also the founder of the DD Puri Foundation, a non-profit organization that he created in 1998 to provide essential medical care to those in need in his home country of India, as well as East Africa, South Asia and the Pacific. Today the DD Puri Foundation is involved in projects ranging from scholarships for war survivors from East Africa, to building a new facility for the invaluable Patiala School for the Deaf and Blind in Pujab, India.

Classic Homes of Maryland has been consistently recognized as one of the fastest growing companies in the DC metro area. Having done well for himself and his family, Prem says “I would now like the fruits of my labor to benefit others.”

When the DIY Network decided to contact home builders in search of new model homes in the DC metro area to film in, they turned to Classic Homes. After a day of shooting at our Windsor Model in Potomac, MD, the producers were so impressed, they requested a second day of filming. With its granite circular staircase, gourmet kitchen, numerous sitting areas, and two-story foyer, living and family rooms, this custom home provided an almost endless selection of impressive backgrounds. The DIY Network even sent two film crews to make the most out of their second day of filming at our Montgomery County home.

The DIY Network is a national cable channel owned by Scripps Networks Interactive, parent company of HGTV, Food Network, Cooking Channel, Travel Channel and Great American Country. The network describes “I Want That” as “a fast-paced tour through the latest and greatest building products. Every half-hour episode is packed with in-depth profiles and highlights of a dozen of the hottest “must haves” for every home.”

Product demonstrations filmed at our Windsor model home range from interesting kitchen items, like the Grill Comb and Sphere Ice Mold, to fun items like DIY Headphones and a Cocktail Layer Tool.So keep an eye out for Classic Homes’ Windsor model throughout the upcoming third season of the “I Want That” show. Stay tuned for specific episodes to watch for, and video clips from the filming at our model home in the coming months.

The “I Want That” show airs on the DIY Network Wednesday nights at 10 pm, locally on Comcast Xfinity – channel 121, Verizion FiOS – channel 267, Dish Network – channel 111 and DirectTV – channel 230. Full episodes are also available streaming on the network’s website.

The Rockville Mayor and Council, in coordination with the Rockville Economic Development, Inc. (REDI), gave a proclamation on March 5, 2012 declaring the week of March 12-16 as Rockville Business Appreciation Week. Each year, the City of Rockville and REDI celebrates Rockville’s businesses during a special Business Appreciation Week to highlight the importance of the business community to Rockville’s health and prosperity.

On March 15th, Classic Homes was visited by one of REDI’s “ambassador teams” to discuss home building as well as collecting economic information about potential job gains or losses, talent recruitment needs, business expansions and space requirements. The principals of Classic Homes, Prem Puri, Dinesh Jain and Amita Jain were awarded a Certificate of Appreciation for their contributions to Rockville’s economy. This event was filmed to be aired on the local cable “Rockville channel 11.” REDI visited approximately 50 diverse companies through out the Rockville Business Appreciation week.

More than 5,700 businesses, ranging from small family-owned establishments to major corporations, are located in Rockville. They employ more than 92,000 people. The greater Rockville business area includes nearly 23 million square feet of commercial office space, which is more than 40% of the total office space in Montgomery County. The Rockville business sector contributes $34.4 million, about 40%, of the property taxes collected in Rockville.

The REDI ambassador team that visited Classic Homes were:

• Henry Bernstein, Rockville Economic Development, Inc. Board of Directors
• Sophie Lee, Rockville Economic Development, Inc. Board of Directors
• Mark Pierzchala, Rockville City Council and Rockville Economic Development, Inc. Board of Directors
• Amanda Wilson, Rockville Economic Development, Inc.
• Staff News Team from Rockville Channel 11

January 4th, 2011‐ Classic Homes of Maryland was named one of the D.C. area’s fastest growing companies of 2010 by SmartCEO Magazine. Accolades included the company’s growth in both revenue and employees over a 3 year span. Classic’s start can be traced back just 4 years, to builders Dinesh Jain (President) and Prem Puri who now employ 15 to assist with the company’s growing demands and clientele in the past 3 years.

In Classic’s first year they were producing 5 to 6 homes. Now with the resources of a company behind them and the ability to produce custom homes, 2010 closed with 22 completed single‐ family homes. When asked what the most important growth decision has been, Dinesh Jain responded, “The most important growth decision has been to hire and retain honest, hard‐working, and passionate people. In the last four years, that has been my focus, and today I attribute the success of my company to my staff. They all have the same principles and service‐driven attitude as I do, and it reflects to our customers.”

Classic Homes has specialized in new construction in Maryland, building mostly on privately owned land, with sister companies building in Virginia. While the economy has waned, Classic Homes has grown each year and now has sales offices in Rockville, Columbia and Baltimore. A unique program called ‘Site Services’ recently implemented aims to help prospective buyers find suitable land for their dream home, whether standard or custom.

In 2008, Classic Homes of Maryland completed a home as the featured builder for popular tv show “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”; they completed a house in 5 days for a homeless single mother raising 14 children. A year later, Classic Homes and builder Prem Puri were awarded ‘Builder of the Year’ for 2009 by Montgomery County and continue to be a leader in the building community. Classic is committed to innovative and inspiring design, while focusing on the needs of the household and surrounding community. From townhomes to luxury estates, Classic is always striving to deliver the best in new construction, with high quality materials, at affordable prices.