The 21st Annual Build A House…Build A Dream Contest was held on March 2nd at the Church Farm School in Exton, PA.

The event invites students from across the region to build and submit their own three dimensional, model dream home to the competition for judging based on originality and creativity, use of materials, appearance and design, and independent effort. In addition to raising funds and awareness of Habitat for Humanity, the contest introduces students to Habitat’s mission and showcases the importance of affordable housing and what students can do in the future to help their community thrive.

88 students submitted “dream homes” for the judges consideration along with 17 area schools: Agnes Irwin, Avon Grove Charter School, Bethel Springs Elementary, Brandwine Wallace, Charleston Elementary School, East Bradford Elementary School, Garnet Valley Elementary, Greystone elementary school, Homeschool, KD Markley, New Garden Elementary, Octorara intermediate school, PennWood elementary, Pickering Valley, Shamona Creek Elementary School, Souderton Charter School and Westtown-Thornbury.

First place was Joel Seaman from Penn Wood Elementary, second place was Fiona Brown from Homeschool, third place was Xavier Hanket from Garnet Valley Elementary. The St. Gobain sustainability award was to Brooks Midkiff and the fan favorite award was Jase Rewkowski from Homeschool.

This year’s event netted $15,320 for Habitat for Humanity of Chester County. In the past 21 years, we have raised almost $750,000 for Habitat of Humanity.

Katy Zachry, Reporter and Fill-In Anchor for NBC10 News Today was the emcee of the 2024 event and brightened up the event with her talent and smile.

In addition to Fox & Roach/Trident Charities, additional sponsors included EADEH Enterprises, Saint-Gobain, Signature, RKL, Martin Architectural, Gardner/Fox, McMahon, Daniel T. Campbell AIA architect, Kitty and Gary Knox, NBC 10, Home Depot, Church Farm School, and Giant Martins.

“I look forward to judging the Build a House event each year,” said Joanne Forsyth of Saint Gobain. “It’s an amazing opportunity to see the creativity and excitement of our local students. Saint-Gobain and CertainTeed are proud to work with Habitat in many ways, but I feel like the luckiest employee getting to be involved in this annual event. It’s so well organized and everyone has such a great day. These students should be so proud of their efforts. They are a great representation of Chester County, their schools, and their families.”

Photos of this year’s Build A House…Build A Dream event —

Fox & Roach/Trident Charities is proud to be the founding partner of the Build A House…Build A Dream contest which raises funds for the home-building efforts of Habitat for Humanity in Chester County and the greater Delaware Valley. In the 21 years the contest has been held, more than 6,400 5th-grade students from 750 area schools have participated, and roughly $750,000 has been raised through sponsorships in support of Habitat. In addition, hundreds of volunteer hours by BHHS Fox & Roach/Trident sales professionals and employees have made each event run smoothly.