Meet The Custom Home Builder Team

Andy Backus

I have been designing and building new homes my entire life. As the son of a successful builder, I grew up on job sites where I collected scrap lumber and straightened bent nails to build my first new homes 24 years ago in the branches of an Oshkosh oak trees.

I rode my bike to my first summer carpentry jobs in Oshkosh because I wasn't old enough for a drivers license yet. In those early years I learned the great feeling of accomplishment that comes from building a new home. There's no feeling like walking away from a completed house, knowing that I put my heart and soul into it and have created a new home that will serve its owners well for generations.

I've always been interested in home design. Some of my favorite family vacation memories include house design research trips with my father around the country. I used to bring a sketchpad with me on those long driving trips to practice drawing the houses we'd seen. I began college at the University of Minnesota in their Architecture program. After a year and a half, it became obvious to me that what I really wanted to do was design and build custom homes. Most architects spend their early years in a cubicle, drafting the designs of others and very few specialize in homes. I wanted to be outside, on site, in the mud. I changed majors and schools transferring into the Construction Administration program at UW Madison where I learned more about custom home design. I also learned about accounting, marketing, business management, engineering, and many different construction methods.

After school, I worked for a custom home builder in the Milwaukee area as a Construction Superintendent while I decided whether to stay in Wisconsin or move out West and become a skiing, fly-fishing, builder in the Rocky Mountains. I enjoyed my job so much, and enjoyed living and working in Wisconsin more than I expected, so one day I asked my father if he had any room for me on his staff in the Fox Valley. He was thrilled to hire me on the spot. (I try to vacation in the mountains every couple years.)

I spent the next nine years designing and building more high-end, custom homes than any other builder in the Oshkosh, Appleton, Fox Valley and Green Bay area as my father and I grew his company together. I gained incredible experience at a relatively young age. My homes became known for intelligent, cost-effective, dramatic design, excellent craftsmanship and beautiful use of materials. I feel that I've perfected the management of my customers' experience, ensuring that they enjoy the entire process, from design to completion and service after move-in. Many happy customers tell me that I will build their next new custom home or that of their friend or family member. My father is now in semi-retirement but he will be lending over 23 years of builder experience to Fine Home by Andrew, LLC. Together we truly enjoy bringing our customer's dreams to reality every day!

Len Backus

I have built over 500 new homes in the Appleton, Fox Valley, Oshkosh, Fond du Lac area ranging in size from 2,000 to 14,000 square feet. While much of the passion is still there, at age 61 I felt it was time to let the next generation carry the load. So I retired from owning and operating a big company, Andrew Homes, Inc. Andy could have continued with Andrew Homes but he expressed a desire to operate at a much smaller level of organizational complexity. He will build only a few new homes per year and as such he wanted to start over to establish a marketing image of an even more custom, hands-on, personal service home builder. I am pleased that I will be able to stay active at a reduced level in the building industry for quite a few more years with my son in his new company.

Kaye Breister

Since I was a young girl, I always loved architecture, color and fabrics. This passion led me to complete Fox Valley Technical College's Interior Design program. After working for a local furniture store for 7 years, I felt that I wanted to be able to assist my clients with the full scope of their project. In the fall of 1997, I took the giant leap and founded Accent Interior Design. Soon after, I started staging showcase homes for Andrew Homes which quickly grew into selecting exterior and interior colors for their model homes. Over the years, I have become more involved in assisting clients with selections for their dream homes. I have grown to love the construction process (even though I have ruined some of my favorite shoes on construction sites). I take pride in helping clients select even the minutest details. My goal is to create a look that is as unique as my client and a finished product that is everything they dreamed it could be. It is a pleasure to continue my relationship with Andy, now in his own company, and to be a part of such a creative and dedicated team.