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August 7th, 2009, 09:33 AM
Flair for Design Helped Her in 'Macho Game' of Home Building
In this undated photo, Jean A. Melkin stands in the foyer of the house in Maryland she built for actress Lynda Carter. Melkin started her home building company in the 1970s after leading the remodeling of her own home.
In this undated photo, Jean A. Melkin stands in the foyer of the house in Maryland she built for actress Lynda Carter. Melkin started her home building company in the 1970s after leading the remodeling of her own home.
In today's world, a working mom in a steel hard hat at a construction site talking to subcontractors might not be an odd sight. But in the early 1970s, when Jean Melkin founded and ran her own home building business, Jamco, she was a rarity on the scene.
Although not the only female builder in Montgomery County, Mrs. Melkin was one of only a few competing in a male-dominated business. But by carefully selecting prime locations and custom specifications for each home, she established a name for herself during a 30-plus-year career in what one reporter called "the macho game of speculative home building."
The fact that she was a woman in a man's world was not lost on her. She recalled to a Potomac Gazette reporter in 1991 that a female telephone linesman worked on one of her projects in the 1970s. When Mrs. Melkin realized it was a woman, she asked, "You're the linesman?" The woman retorted, "You're the builder?"
Jean Ann Melkin, 85, a native New Yorker who died June 19 at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda of lung cancer, did not set out for a career in construction. Earlier, she was a model who designed hats and ran a successful millinery business. It wasn't until she was married with two young children that home building even crossed her radar. While living in Louisville in the 1950s, she helped plan and supervise her own home's remodeling. She taught herself by reading Federal Housing Administration manuals, trade journals and observing workmen.
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"I watched . . . and I asked a lot of questions," she told the Potomac Almanac in 1983. "There's nothing a subcontractor likes more than someone to show an interest."
She had two more children and in the early 1960s moved to Bethesda. In the market for a new house, Mrs. Melkin took on the responsibility of building the family's spacious home from the ground up. The five-bedroom split-level located between Seven Locks Road and the Capital Beltway had cathedral ceilings, a massive volcanic stone fireplace and rosewood paneling. When she sold the home at a profit, she decided to start a business.
But it wasn't only about the money.
"She had a real creative impulse and a desire to do something that she thought was really interesting," said her youngest son, Matt. "It was more about doing work that she really loved doing and doing it as well as she possibly could."
At first, banks would not lend Mrs. Melkin money unless her husband, Gil, a retail executive, signed for the loan. But after she completed and sold several speculative houses, she was able to do it on her own.
When her husband died in 1978 of a heart attack, it was natural for her to continue her business, said Matt, who was 13 at the time.
"There was no question in her mind that she wouldn't continue to build. She was already in the business."
By the late 1970s, Mrs. Melkin was scouting and building in the Potomac area, where there was a plethora of undeveloped land. She was one of the builders responsible for building up Harrington Drive and Inglewood Drive near Congressional Country Club. She owned four lots before the area had roads or water and sewer service.
She also began to build large-scale custom homes on two or more acres.
"I guess you could say that I like to design a dwelling for a large family that has the money to live room[i]ly and graciously," she told The Washington Post in 1977.
She once said she let the land dictate the house.
By the mid-1980s, one of her first homes on Harrington Drive was complete. It was purchased by actress Lynda Carter and her husband, businessman Robert Altman. In 1986, The Post wrote that the 11,000-square-foot house included a six-car garage, an exercise room, a music room, a conservatory, tennis courts, a swimming pool and a hot tub.
One of her last homes, built in 2004, had a 22-foot-ceiling entry hall, 11 bedrooms and bathrooms, four kitchens, two steam rooms, a lap pool, a gym and sauna, a sports court, two wine cellars and a dining room for 20.
Because her projects were such huge undertakings, she built about one home a year. She avoided designing anything that was too cookie-cutter: She relied on her imagination, down to the trimmings.
Link
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/18/AR2009071801996.html
In this undated photo, Jean A. Melkin stands in the foyer of the house in Maryland she built for actress Lynda Carter. Melkin started her home building company in the 1970s after leading the remodeling of her own home.
In this undated photo, Jean A. Melkin stands in the foyer of the house in Maryland she built for actress Lynda Carter. Melkin started her home building company in the 1970s after leading the remodeling of her own home.
In today's world, a working mom in a steel hard hat at a construction site talking to subcontractors might not be an odd sight. But in the early 1970s, when Jean Melkin founded and ran her own home building business, Jamco, she was a rarity on the scene.
Although not the only female builder in Montgomery County, Mrs. Melkin was one of only a few competing in a male-dominated business. But by carefully selecting prime locations and custom specifications for each home, she established a name for herself during a 30-plus-year career in what one reporter called "the macho game of speculative home building."
The fact that she was a woman in a man's world was not lost on her. She recalled to a Potomac Gazette reporter in 1991 that a female telephone linesman worked on one of her projects in the 1970s. When Mrs. Melkin realized it was a woman, she asked, "You're the linesman?" The woman retorted, "You're the builder?"
Jean Ann Melkin, 85, a native New Yorker who died June 19 at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda of lung cancer, did not set out for a career in construction. Earlier, she was a model who designed hats and ran a successful millinery business. It wasn't until she was married with two young children that home building even crossed her radar. While living in Louisville in the 1950s, she helped plan and supervise her own home's remodeling. She taught herself by reading Federal Housing Administration manuals, trade journals and observing workmen.
ad_icon
"I watched . . . and I asked a lot of questions," she told the Potomac Almanac in 1983. "There's nothing a subcontractor likes more than someone to show an interest."
She had two more children and in the early 1960s moved to Bethesda. In the market for a new house, Mrs. Melkin took on the responsibility of building the family's spacious home from the ground up. The five-bedroom split-level located between Seven Locks Road and the Capital Beltway had cathedral ceilings, a massive volcanic stone fireplace and rosewood paneling. When she sold the home at a profit, she decided to start a business.
But it wasn't only about the money.
"She had a real creative impulse and a desire to do something that she thought was really interesting," said her youngest son, Matt. "It was more about doing work that she really loved doing and doing it as well as she possibly could."
At first, banks would not lend Mrs. Melkin money unless her husband, Gil, a retail executive, signed for the loan. But after she completed and sold several speculative houses, she was able to do it on her own.
When her husband died in 1978 of a heart attack, it was natural for her to continue her business, said Matt, who was 13 at the time.
"There was no question in her mind that she wouldn't continue to build. She was already in the business."
By the late 1970s, Mrs. Melkin was scouting and building in the Potomac area, where there was a plethora of undeveloped land. She was one of the builders responsible for building up Harrington Drive and Inglewood Drive near Congressional Country Club. She owned four lots before the area had roads or water and sewer service.
She also began to build large-scale custom homes on two or more acres.
"I guess you could say that I like to design a dwelling for a large family that has the money to live room[i]ly and graciously," she told The Washington Post in 1977.
She once said she let the land dictate the house.
By the mid-1980s, one of her first homes on Harrington Drive was complete. It was purchased by actress Lynda Carter and her husband, businessman Robert Altman. In 1986, The Post wrote that the 11,000-square-foot house included a six-car garage, an exercise room, a music room, a conservatory, tennis courts, a swimming pool and a hot tub.
One of her last homes, built in 2004, had a 22-foot-ceiling entry hall, 11 bedrooms and bathrooms, four kitchens, two steam rooms, a lap pool, a gym and sauna, a sports court, two wine cellars and a dining room for 20.
Because her projects were such huge undertakings, she built about one home a year. She avoided designing anything that was too cookie-cutter: She relied on her imagination, down to the trimmings.
Link
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/18/AR2009071801996.html