Our Team

Custom Dreams is a family-run business comprised of highly-reputable and talented professionals who combine their expertise, craftsmanship, and creativity on every project. Project managers, superintendents, and administrative staff all work together to ensure smooth communication at every phase of a development. We are all passionate about building quality homes and delivering exceptional client experiences.

Mark Blackman

Born and raised in Los Altos Hills, Mark is a second generation custom home builder who brings a rare combination of real estate development, finance, and technology experience to homebuilding. He is passionate about transforming the custom home business into the modern age while creating a successful and enjoyable experience for all participants through an integrated design-build process.

Mark has developed a leading-edge technology platform that drives down construction costs, shortens construction cycles, and increases construction quality. With unparalleled insight to every dollar that goes into a project from land acquisition to furniture and furnishings, Mark has developed a proprietary cost database that provides clients with the information they need to make informed decisions at every step in the process.

In addition to building a quality home, Mark committed to building true high-performance homes. He has assembled a team of recognized building science experts to deliver the most comfortable, healthy, and efficient custom homes on the market.

Mark is a licensed General Contractor, an advanced Certified Green Building Professional, and a certified EPA RRP Renovator. He is also a licensed real estate salesperson in the state of California. Mark graduated magna cum laude from San Diego State University with a degree in business and an emphasis in finance. In addition to many awards for top academic performance, he was one of only two recipients of the Outstanding Student Award from Financial Executives International. Prior to joining Custom Dreams, Mark spent 5 years at Silicon Valley Bank working in the investment banking and commercial banking practices.

Carla Blackman

Carla brings a unique blend of creative, financial, and managerial talents to the Custom Dreams team. A veteran of the real estate development and banking industries, Carla co-founded Custom Dreams over 15 years ago with the goal of creating a full-service residential design-build firm.

As an integral part of the team, Carla provides Custom Dreams' clients selection and design management services throughout all phases of a project. She is instrumental in coordinating finishes, selections, and details directly with clients or client's designers to ensure that the final product expresses their vision and meets their goals.

Beyond the selection process, Carla is very experienced in the management of the finish work on a project, working with the team of top craftsmen and artisans in the field to ensure proper execution of a client's vision. As a testament to her skill, dedication and execution, Carla was the lead designer of the Barton Court residence in Los Altos Hills, a Custom Dreams' project that was selected as the Gentry Showcase Home of the Year in 2008.

Dave Jonsen

Raised in Marin County, Dave is a second generation custom home builder with over 30 years of experience. Dave began his training in architecture and electronics at the College of Marin, has held a Real Estate Appraisal license, and obtained a California Contractor License when he was 23 years old. He has since held positions in construction from laborer through business owner, learning different techniques and building methods from true old school master builders along the way.

Dave's extensive hands-on building experience on high-end custom homes and his unique ability to create technical drawings have been valuable assets to owners, architects, structural engineers, designers, and subcontractors. With a sharp eye for both function and aesthetics, he facilitates quick resolution to design, engineering, and other construction conflicts before they become issues.

In addition to his proactive problem solving skills, Dave also brings to the team unmatched personal dedication, and incredible attention to detail, ensuring homes are built to the highest standards from foundation to finish. He has also completed the OSHA 30-hour construction safety and health training, is MS Project certified, and is proficient in several other construction-specific software tools.

Cliff Lindsey

Cliff brings to the team 35+ years of construction experience as a General Contractor/Superintendent on primarily high-end residential projects for discerning clients. His proven track record of successful collaboration on homes with challenging and innovative designs continues to provide insight for current projects. His dynamic and tactful leadership style in effectively managing onsite activities and field staff sets a positive tone of cooperation on his jobsites and earns him the respect and appreciation of many.

Cliff gained technical knowledge of construction and building codes through hands-on experience, starting with summer employment as a college athlete, then afterward as a self-employed rough and finish carpenter, honing his skills on increasingly complex jobs. Through the years he gained hands-on experience in virtually every phase of residential construction, providing a broad understanding of the construction process.

Joining the Custom Dreams team has enabled Cliff to play to his strength, bringing his expertise and depth of experience to his most personally rewarding part of construction – the daily “making it happen!” He is passionate about what he does and it shows. Cliff has also completed the OSHA 30-hour construction safety and health training, is MS Project certified, and is proficient in several other construction-specific software tools.

Brooke Blackman McClimans

Brooke brings strong project management, real estate, and marketing experience to Custom Dreams. Since joining Custom Dreams in 2010, Brooke has lead the project management efforts for new residential homes totaling approximately $50 million in construction value. Using cutting-edge construction management software and her knowledge of the construction process, Brooke is able to stay in tune with all aspects of a job and keeps everything running on time and on budget. From pre-construction planning and budget development, through the finish selection process, to final project turnover and documentation, Brooke sees the whole process through to make sure it all happens seamlessly and effortlessly for the clients.

Brooke is also instrumental in overseeing the risk management side of the business including safety, contractor insurance, and license compliance.
She is a licensed California real estate broker and has held her real estate salesperson license for over 13 years. She has coordinated and successfully closed over 1,000 escrows working with top-producing agents and developers totaling more than $500 million in inventory. Brooke also has experience in the marketing field and oversees the advertising and marketing communications for Custom Dreams.

Brooke graduated from San Diego State University with a business degree in finance with an emphasis in Real Estate.

Dominic Covello

Dominic brings strong estimating and project engineering experience to Custom Dreams. With both office and field experience across varied sectors including education, public works (vertical and horizontal), commercial, and infrastructure, Dominic has honed his abilities to dig deep into the plan details and specifications, interpret scope of work, and develop detailed quantity takeoffs . Working with project managers, subcontractors and suppliers, he's successfully developed estimates ranging from multi-million dollars to those well over hundreds of millions of dollars.

Dominic shares Custom Dreams' vision of implementing technology to provide better information to all project participants. He is an expert in Planswift, Timberline Estimating, MS Project, and several other construction-specific suites.

Dominic graduated from California State University, Chico with a BS degree in Construction Management. He has also completed the OSHA 10-hour construction safety and health training.

FOUNDER

Brad Blackman founded Custom Dreams based on thirty years of experience in the banking, investment, and real estate fields. His cross-industry knowledge combined with his wisdom, passion, and vision for residential development created the foundation of what Custom Dreams is today. His values and knowledge are instilled in every team member and his standards of excellence are continued in every Custom Dreams’ project.