Our Story
THREE GENERATIONS OF CUSTOM HOME BUILDING EXCELLENCE IN SAN ANTONIO AND THE HILL COUNTRY
The Hollaway Legacy
My passion for the real estate industry began early—I became a licensed Texas real estate agent in October of my senior year of high school. For 13 years, I sold homes and managed large teams of salespeople, learning the most valuable skill in our business: how to truly listen to people.
“I started on the sales end, not in construction,” I explain to clients. I learned how to listen to people, find out what they wanted, and what their needs were. I learned design development, financing, contracts—capabilities that most of my competitors don’t have.
In 1992, I founded Mike Hollaway Custom Homes with a simple philosophy: deliver a product to everyone, no matter what price point, with quality in mind and a finish that meets my high expectations. What started as one person doing everything—estimating, supervising, paying bills—has grown into a family business where my sons Matt and Patrick now work alongside me, continuing that tradition of personal involvement in every project.
Mike Hollaway - Founder & President
PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND
48 Years of Real Estate Excellence
- Licensed Texas real estate agent since 1977
- 13 years in new home sales before founding company
- Past President, Greater San Antonio Builders Association
- Voting Director, Texas Association of Builders and NAHB
INDUSTRY RECOGNITION
Leadership and Credentials
- NAHB Graduate Master Builder designation
- Certified Green Professional (first in Texas)
- James I. Campbell Lifetime Achievement Award recipient
- Distinguished Single Family Builder of the Year
- Top 10 Spikes worldwide with NAHB (1,400+ spikes earned)
Mike's Philosophy
“‘I want it done like you’d do for your mother,’ I tell our crews. We really take a lot of effort to please and make the customer happy with their end product. I work personally with all the clients in the development stage and on the job. I’m very available to my customers throughout the process.”
Personal Commitment
“My philosophy is there’s never too much work, never too many awards. I’ll probably never retire. They’ll roll me out of here one day. I like what I do.”
Matthew Hollaway - Principal
Role and Expertise
Client Relations and Operations Leadership
“I think the best thing that we do at Mike Hollaway Custom Homes is to guide people,” explains Matt. “It’s a very complex process and idea of building a house. So it does take a lot of guiding and leading to make it a smooth process because it can get overwhelming in a hurry.”
Professional Development
Learning Every Aspect of the Business
- Field experience in construction from young age
- Comprehensive training in sales, estimating, and project management
- Direct mentorship under Mike Hollaway
- Focus on client relationship management and quality oversight
Matt's Approach
“I started at a young age out in the field, working around other trades to learn different types of the construction process and what’s behind the walls and the bricks and sticks, and what it took to make a great house. I took time in each field briefly and went back to shadowing my dad to work with clients and see how he worked and what he used as tools to do that.”
Quality Focus
“All of our guys that are out building these houses and running the jobs are very seasoned and they’re not in it for a paycheck really anymore. They’re in it because they love it. They want to do it. They just can’t stop. They’re proud of it when they’re done.”
Patrick Hollaway - Principal, Highland Lakes Region
Specialized Market Focus
Highland Lakes and Hill Country Expertise
“I’ve been building up in Highland Lakes area, the Horseshoe Bay, Kingsland, Sunrise Beach, Granite Shoals, just surrounding areas around Lake LBJ for the last 5 years,” Patrick explains. “For me that’s been really fun. It’s gotten me out of San Antonio and up here most all the time now and I really enjoy the area up here.”
Market Transformation Experience
Understanding Changing Communities
“It used to be a lot of vacation or secondary homes and now after the whole COVID situation it’s turned into more primary residence of people moving out of Austin and San Antonio, Houston, Midland, Odessa and they’re all moving into and around the lake area now.”
Market Transformation Experience
Unique Problem-Solving Ability
“I think the thing that would set us apart is just our years of experience in the building industry. Being able to just walk into an existing home and the clients saying they hate the low ceilings and then us being able to figure out all right we can tear this beam out and these beams out and raise these walls up and then give them the ceiling heights that they’re looking for.”
Award-Winning Excellence
Record-Breaking Recognition
More Parade of Homes Than Any San Antonio Builder
- 26-27 Parade of Homes entries (most in San Antonio history)
- 100+ Parade of Homes Awards including People's Choice
- 70+ Summit Awards (local recognition)
- Multiple Texas Star Awards (state level)
- Several NAHB National Awards
- Grand Spike Award from NAHB
What These Awards Mean
“Winning an award is not me, it’s the company. It takes the whole team,” Mike emphasizes. “The awards we’re always most proud of are Quality Craftsmanship and People’s Choice—when 8,000 to 15,000 people tour all the homes and choose ours as their favorite.”
Community Involvement & Philanthropy
St. Jude Children's Hospital Partnership
$2.7 Million Raised Through Dream Homes “We built three St. Jude Dream Homes, donating a little over $2.7 million back to St. Jude,” Mike shares. “Once we got to go up there the first time to Memphis and see the hospital, that just drove it home. The kids are smiling, they’re riding around in wagons in the hallway, coming up to you wanting to talk or play.”
Disaster Relief Efforts
Serving Communities in Crisis Matt describes their barbecue team’s response to Hurricane Harvey: “We cooked for a week straight. We cooked 15,000 meals. We were set up with the National Guard, feeding them and then another 5,000 meals just to the community.”
Patrick adds: “During the July 4th, 2025 floods, we went down to Kerrville and dug through debris looking for people’s belongings. We’ve been bringing in donations to the Marble Falls and Bulverde areas and every time we get a phone call from one of the fire departments, we’ll take a load of generators or chainsaws or paper goods and water.”
Professional Industry Leadership
Professional Industry Leadership
- Active in multiple builders associations
- Advocacy work on regulations and construction costs
- Educational programs and scholarships
- Mentoring next generation builders
Our Team of Professionals
Seasoned Construction Professionals
“Our field professionals aren’t in it for just a paycheck—they’re seasoned craftsmen who take pride in every detail,” Matt explains. “Most of them are at an age where they’re in it because they love it. They want to do it. They just can’t stop.”
Long-Standing Partnerships
“We use a lot of our same subcontractors that we’ve used for years,” Patrick notes. “I call on them and have them there with us and we can all come up with a game plan right away versus some of our competitors who would have to go in and call in all these other people to come help figure it out.”
Interior Design Partnership
Hollaway Interiors Integration Complete interior design services through established partnership, ensuring seamless coordination between construction and finish selections.
Professional Network
- Licensed architects and engineers
- Established subcontractor relationships
- Financing and insurance partnerships
- Local supplier relationships built over decades
Our Process: A True Partnership
Personal Involvement at Every Stage
“What sets us apart is probably that I work personally with all the clients in the development stage and on the job,” Mike explains. “Another difference is that I started on the sales end. I learned how to listen to people, find out what they wanted, and what their needs were.”
Collaborative Design Approach
“Custom homebuilding is an art, a creative process. It’s a collaboration between you and me—you tell me about your goals for your new home and I use my experience and expertise to turn your dream into reality.”
Why Clients Return
“We get a tremendous amount of repeat and referral business from existing clients,” Mike notes. “I’d say number one is my honesty and the time I give them. The knowledge I extend helps them feel comfortable and understand the process—what to expect.”