All About Us
EcoBuilders, Inc. History
Craig Simmons, Founder and President of Ecobuilders, Inc. grew up in the small town of Union City, Tennessee. He learned basic carpentry skills at a very young age from his father, Mike, and grandfather, Guy. He adopted an honest, diligent work ethic in Boy Scouts with his dad as Scoutmaster. Craig applied some of these skills to build the largest and most elaborate tree house in his neighborhood. The tree house grew and evolved as old discarded lumber and nails were discovered and hauled by bicycle to the site. When there weren’t enough rusty, bent nails to straighten and recycle, Craig used his allowance money to buy new nails: a rare luxury for the ongoing tree house project. This was the first eco-friendly house built by Craig.
In 1977 at seventeen, Craig began working for Barkley Construction where he learned concrete form and foundation skills and built metal grain bins during summer breaks, through high school and college.
While attending college at Ole Miss, Craig met his future wife, Michelle. Her parents had an affinity for buying and remodeling old houses. They had lived in, remodeled, and sold 20 different houses by the time Michelle was seventeen. The whole family would pitch in remodeling while her mom sold real estate full time and her dad finished his master’s and doctoral degrees. This remodeling family was very intriguing to Craig.
Craig and Michelle married in 1983. They bought a 40’s vintage bungalow in Birmingham in 1986, remodeled it, and sold it. In 1989 they moved into a turn-of-the-century Craftsman-style house that they meticulously restored. In 1993 they moved into and began remodeling a 100-year-old farmhouse while Michelle taught elementary school and Craig worked as the construction manager for Habitat for Humanity of Greater Memphis. While at Habitat, Craig directed volunteers and prospective homeowners in the building of over 100 houses in the Memphis area.
In 1994 Craig and Michelle visited New Mexico for the first time and fell in love with Taos. While on vacation in Taos, they assisted in the construction of some close friends’ earthship. On their next few summer vacations they helped in completing that off-grid home.
In 1999 Craig and Michelle moved to Taos permanently. Craig is inspired by the natural beauty of New Mexico and paints plein air landscapes with his four-year-old daughter. His paintings have been featured in galleries in Taos and Scottsdale. He founded EcoBuilders, Inc. and has since crafted a number of eco-friendly, passive solar homes in the Taos area. EcoBuilders has recrafted and upgraded homes great and small for many satisfied homeowners. EcoBuilders buys locally, uses environmentally conscious building practices, uses sustainably produced materials, and uses local craftsmen to create most beautiful, sturdy, well engineered new homes and remodeled homes in Taos county . EcoBuilders employs only the most skilled, conscientious, genteel craftspeople and apprentices on its crews.
