Bobby Nakamura is the owner and president of Big Island Homebuilders. He is a "Big Island boy," born and raised in Hilo, on the East side of the Island and now living in Kona with his wife and two teenage children. Bobby has done a variety of work over the years, working for awhile as a cook (for Peter Merriman, of Hawaii Regional Cuisine fame) and also as a personal chef for some of the celebrities and luminaries who own luxury homes and retreats in the expensive enclaves on the Kona-Kohala Coast. As a chef, Bobby was creative, worked quickly, paid attention to detail and turned out dishes that were enjoyed by some of the most discerning and veteran restaurant patrons.

Today he might be a talked-about chef, had he not decided to oversee the building of a spec home back in 1990. That got him started and he quickly gained experience in the field working on-the-job for other contractors. And though he did not have extensive home building background in his family or by training, he found he liked it and was good at it. So, about 15 years ago Bobby started building homes himself. It was a natural, and something in which, like cooking, he could take tremendous pride in the final product.

Some Home Building Thoughts from Bobby Nakamura:

"For a home builder, there is no better place to be building homes than the place where you were born and raised. We like to point this out to our potential clients because that's exactly how we think. And there are important reasons to back this up.
• First, because of living on the Big Island all my life I feel I have a special connection to the land and the lifestyle and the reason people enjoy living here. I know that they want this home to be more than just another house in Mainland suburbia.
• Second, I know a lot of people here, lots of friends, lots of business acquaintances. This means I have resources I can draw from when I need something when I am working on a home building project. A builder from out of town or somebody new here, probably is not going to know the best places to source certain materials and how to save the client money.
• Third, I know the process, the rules, regulations, and codes that you need to fulfill in a certain order to get a home built correctly and on time.
• Finally, every home I build I want to be able to point to and say that I built that. For those of us who were born here, it's not so much about the money but more about the pride when we do something. So, I think my roots, my local ties, make all the difference in my work. Plus, I bring the same personal qualities that I developed as a chef to building a home - attention to detail, quality control, creativity, working quickly - plus my perseverance to get a job done right. And I like to work with people. "

"The people on my team who work with me on the building are all professionals and they all feel just like I do. Most are from here like me or have been here awhile, so they understand what we are trying to do when we begin a project. I really control the whole building process, but it takes a skilled team to make it come together. And that's what I have."

"I think my testimonials are really the place to look to bear out what I am saying. Of course, check out our Big Island Home Builders portfolio, the photos of homes on this website and look at the FAQ's or the questions most people ask when they are considering having a home built for them here or having me do it for them. And then there are the links to websites for the many vendors, suppliers, subcontractors and others we have good relationships with to get the materials and help we need to build your home. It's an Island, so having good relationships with everyone will enable us to work more smoothly and get you into your home faster and at the price you expected to pay."