Every one of Paul Magleby’s clients is also his friend, and that’s the way he wants it. The home building experience that Magleby creates for his clients, as CEO of Magleby Companies Inc. in Lindon, Utah, is one of the reasons the National Association of Home Builders chose him as the 2006 NAHB Custom Home Builder of the Year.

“I want a client to be remembered as one of our good friends, not just a client,” Magleby says. “We have a relationship with them for 18 months, and after all that time if they’re not our friend, then no money is worth the experience. I’d just as soon not have done the project.”

To be recognized as the 2006 Custom Home Builder of the Year from a little state in the West called Utah is a big deal, he insists. “That’s pretty significant. And certainly to be honored by those of your own kind is significant as well. It’s an honor to be recognized by one’s peers,” he says.

Magleby is the first recipient of the new NAHB award, sponsored by Dryvit Systems, which was presented to a surprised Magleby during the Custom Builders Symposium in Lake Las Vegas in October 2006. A fellow NAHB member and friend nominated Magleby for the award to “… recognize this humble, spectacular example of a custom home builder,” the nomination form states. The nomination was kept secret from Magleby for fear that if he knew of the honor, he would duck out to avoid the spotlight.

A humble man, Magleby worked for a local developer, did subcontract work, concrete, framing, finish and exterior work in production housing until about 22 years ago. He built his first custom home for a software developer which took him out of production and into a different realm.