Focus on Custom Homebuilders: Montgomery & Rust, Inc.

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Families helping Families

As a young man, Frank Slaughter found himself on the wrong side of the law and ended up spending a few days in the Allegheny County Jail. Today he works there as a corrections officer, helping inmates learn how to turn themselves into positive contributors in society.

Frank Slaughter turned his life around by helping give people second chances. Last October, he and his family received their own personal second chance when they were selected to receive a new home by ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. This challenging project was coordinated and executed by one of Western Pennsylvania’s most respected builders –Montgomery & Rust, Inc. Mark Rust and Greg Green are Principals at Montgomery & Rust, Inc. “Being selected for this project was a true honor and a testament to the company that was built by the founders – Donald Montgomery and Murray Rust. We were very excited to be participating with them so our family can give back to the community.” said Green.

The Slaughter family knows what it means to give back. Now a deacon at his local church, Frank coordinates a program that continues to mentor men after they are released in order to help them continue down the right path. His wife Tracy, mentors single mothers and cares for children, seniors and anyone else who needs help. They do all this while raising their own five children.

This is a family that gives so much to help others, but was in desperate need of help for themselves. A few years ago, a tornado left their Pittsburgh home badly damaged. One side of the house was covered with a tarp to keep the rain out. The home had only one bathroom and two bedrooms. As a result, all five children had to share one bedroom. Despite these difficult living conditions, they managed to keep a positive attitude.

Fortunately, this all changed when the Slaughters were paid a visit from Ty Pennington and the crew from Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. As Frank and his family were whisked away to Walt Disney World for a vacation, the ABC crew, along with Montgomery & Rust and hundreds of volunteers, demolished their existing house and built them a new 3,200 square foot home that was completely furnished and landscaped.

“This is the first time that the Pittsburgh area has been chosen for this show,” said Green. “Over the past 36 years, the Pittsburgh community has been very good to our firm, and we were proud to help out a local family in need.” There are many challenges associated with building a house in less than a week, but there were also a number of obstacles specific to this particular site. The house lot was only 35 feet wide and one of the neighbor’s homes was located within five feet of the lot line. The site was on a narrow road at the end of a dead end street, which made the delivery of materials and supplies rather challenging.

Montgomery & Rust had about five weeks to design the house and recruit an army of suppliers, subcontractors and volunteers willing to donate material, equipment and their labor. Demolition started on a Sunday afternoon and by the following Thursday, the home was ready for furniture. Construction work was 24/7 with up to 100 people working concurrently on the house. “We were very impressed with the way everyone rallied around this cause to get the Slaughter family a new house,” said Rust. “Without everyone’s enthusiastic cooperation, the project would not have been possible.”

While building the Slaughter’s new home was clearly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, unique challenges are part of what makes Montgomery & Rust stand out from the crowd. The company is currently the principal single-family builder at Summerset at Frick Park where a 700 plus home community is coming to life on a former slag dump in Squirrel Hill. Prior to their work at Summerset, the company built all of the townhomes at Washington’s Landing, the island site of a former foundry and slaughterhouse.

Since its founding in 1972, Montgomery & Rust has focused on the design and construction of communities that function as an integrated whole. These communities all have a unifying theme that distinguish them from the multi-builder projects that are typical in the Greater Pittsburgh marketplace.

The Montgomery & Rust team performs architecture, project management, construction supervision, customer selection assistance, service management, and office support and is highly experienced and knowledgeable. Together with an equally experienced team of construction tradesmen, they are focused on creating a community and a home that exceeds the client’s expectations. Montgomery & Rust and its founders have received numerous awards over the years, including the 50th Anniversary Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh’s Housing Development Award, three different Builders

Association of Metropolitan Pittsburgh (BAMP) Housing Excellence Awards, Pennsylvania Builders Association Builder of the Year Award, and the BAMP Builder of the Year Award. “This was a wonderful experience and we feel fortunate to have been able to be a part of it.” said Rust. “Our building partners did an outstanding job of providing not only the materials, but their time and the time of their employees and friends. We thank all of the volunteers and local businesses that helped make this effort a true success.”

For more information on this project and those who helped make it happen, visit www.extreme.montgomeryrust.com. For more information on Montgomery & Rust, Inc., Call (412) 487-6990 or visit them online at www.montgomeryrust.com