'HOUSE OF HUGS'

Silliman Homes CitySide, a leading builder of luxury homes, may need to change its name to Silliman Hugs CitySide. The company has recently built and sold a “House of Hugs,” and donated 100 percent of the profits to three area nonprofit organizations.

“We always tried to build one home a year to benefit charity,” says company founder and longtime industry leader Bill Silliman, who recently semi-retired and sold his highly successful operation to Jeff Schnellmann, another veteran local builder who had been Silliman’s chief operating officer since 2012.

 The home, located on Ayrshire Street in Orlando’s Orwin Manor neighborhood, is a four-bedroom, 2,594-square-foot charmer that sold for $750,000. About $100,000 of that was donated to the project’s beneficiaries, according to Schnellmann.

That’s because many of Silliman Homes CitySide’s suppliers donated materials or offered them at a deep discount. United Legacy Bank provided very favorable financing terms, which added more to the bottom line.

The organizations receiving funds are Florida Hospital for Children, Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida and the Greater Orlando Builders Association (GOBA) Foundation. Silliman is a past GOBA president and Schnellmann is the current vice president and chairman of the foundation.

Marla Silliman, senior executive officer at Florida Hospital for Children, happens to be married to Silliman. And Russ Salerno, an executive vice president at United Legacy Bank, has been involved in GOBA for decades and is a supporter of the Boys & Girls Clubs.

“I really wanted to do this for Russ, too,” says Silliman. “It was kind of in his honor. Somebody needs to stand up and say, ‘Russ Salerno is just a great guy.’”

Florida Hospital for Children serves almost one in every two children that need care in Central Florida, says Marla Silliman. ”We rely heavily on philanthropy to accomplish our goals and services,” she adds. “We’re thankful for generous donations like this one, which allow us to remain one of the premier hospitals for children in the nation.”

Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida has been giving hope and opportunity to at-risk children since 1944. Each year the organization provides services to more than 13,000 children, especially those from disadvantaged circumstances, between the ages of 6 and 18. 

The GOBA Foundation is the charitable arm of the builders’ association. Chartered in 1985, it’s dedicated to supporting children’s charities in Orange, Seminole and Osceola counties. The foundation also endows scholarships at the University of Central Florida and Valencia College.

Buyers Nivaldo and Maritza Diaz say they fell in love with the home and the concept behind it. “The craftsmanship and the neighborhoods are fantastic,” says Nivaldo Diaz, who works in research and development for a medical device company. “But when we read about the project and what it was all about, we loved it even more.”

Says Schnellmann: “It was a great team-building effort within our company and outside it, building better relationships with our trade partners to do some good in the community.

For more information about Silliman Homes CitySide, visit sillimanhomes.com.