When the old Merritt Real Estate building on Theodore Fremd Avenue became available in 2011, Robert Georgio of the eponymous Custom Builders grabbed it.

By Robin Jovanovich

When the old Merritt Real Estate building on Theodore Fremd Avenue became available in 2011, Robert Georgio of the eponymous Custom Builders grabbed it.

He gutted the space and was in the process of creating a custom-built showroom to the stars when the floods hit. “That set us back three months,” he acknowledged, “but not enough to slow us down too much. In fact, the only thing that kept us from completing the showroom and office space upstairs earlier was that we were overwhelmed with work.”

Georgio’s started off doing spec homes ten years ago, but then was asked to do custom-built kitchens and baths and many other rooms, and has branched out and is doing renovations, more than 20 a year, most through word-of-mouth.

“We’ve had a nice balance of work in the last five years, and done 12 spec homes in Rye, Harrison, and Purchase,” he said.”

Rob loves the frenzy of growth, the building of buildings. “Wood is my new media; I’m now designing my own cabinet line.” His wife Patty is the designer. She started off doing architectural finishes for Rob, but now has her own clients who commission her for full interior design, from apartments in Miami to houses near and far.

“We’re a design group, philosophically rooted in taste of a certain high level, from all the traveling we did together to Italy and France when I was in the shoe business and we didn’t have children yet,” explained Rob. Their twin daughters are now in college.

They make all their own millwork, and Rob points out that because doors carry through a whole house, “When you walk in one of ours, you know it’s a Georgio home.”

He adds, “We’re not cookie cutter. Patty and I never do the same kitchen or bath twice. Every one of our homes is unique.”

Their road to home building and design is a pretty unique story, too. He was a pre-Med student when he met Patty. They jumped into the retail shoe business. “It was an incredible time,” said Patty.

What kind of house do they live in? A country farmhouse in Purchase, which Rob describes as “grossly understated.”

The Georgios may have more business than they could have imagined, but gazing around his new showroom in Rye, he said he’s already dreaming about opening multiple showrooms. “I guess that’s my retail roots showing,” he said with a grin.