Originally from a small town in Kansas. Matthew moved to Chattanooga in 2012 after teaching English in China and has been in the custom home building industry ever since. In 2014, he married his wife, Alexis, whom he has known since kindergarten. He is a proud father to Chloe and Everett. When he can find time, he enjoys golf, watching anything related to football, and Kansas basketball. When deciding to start this company, he wanted to make sure it was more than just building homes and wanted it to be centered around his core values. He is so proud of the progress his team has already made and is excited to continue bringing beautiful custom homes to this community.

Meet The Leadership Team

Director of Sales/Marketing

LaNita Cates

was born and raised in Illinois in a small rural country town where she enjoyed hunting, fishing, taking care of their pigs, cows, horses and chickens and the country life. She eventually moved to the Chicagoland area and pursued marketing and advertising and eventually started her own company. Meeting her husband through her future mother-in-law led her to life as a suburban mom with a son and a daughter. LaNita's husband served in the USMC and eventually became a Chief of Police. LaNita got involved in real estate and was always ranked in the top 1% of realtors and built a successful business. LaNita's son is a 1st Lieutenant in the Marine Corps and met his Navy nurse wife in college. LaNita’s daughter attends Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA. LaNita and her husband moved to Ooltewah 2 years ago after having their home built. LaNita enjoys travel, shopping, her 2 black cats (Rooster and Monkey) and talking endlessly with clients.

Our dedicated team is committed to upholding our principles, understanding the importance of maintaining a sterling reputation.

Lead Project Manager

Tracy Lee

embarked on his journey in carpentry over forty years ago in Boise, Idaho, where he grew up. Beginning as an apprentice under his father, a master carpenter, where he learned finish carpentry, cabinetry and custom woodworking. After graduating high school, Tracy joined the United States Air Force, working in reconnaissance followed by the Idaho Air National Guard, where he worked in munitions. In 2011 Tracy met the love of his life. He and Shelly married one year later. After ten years of living in their custom home, built by Tracy, they decided to embark on a new adventure and moved to Tennessee! On any given day off, Tracy can be found in his shop, working on one of his classic Chevy C/10s doing a little fine tuning, or a frame-off-restoration.

Assistant Project Manager

Damon Beckhusen

,his journey began in the small, quiet, cold town of Coldwater, Michigan with his parents and 2 older brothers. After his senior year of high school was cut short by COVID, he and his high school sweetheart, Cheyenne, along with their new puppy Sailor, ventured out to Utah, where they enjoyed all the outdoor activities of hiking, skiing, and camping. After their marriage and honeymoon in 2022, they decided to settle down in Chattanooga for a while where they purchased their first home, met some great new friends, and welcomed a stray puppy, Hank into their family. In addition to serving in the navy reserves as a Seabee, Damon's passion for patriotism, hard work, construction and woodworking was created through experiences with his dad and papa. His hobbies include being in the woods hunting, on the water fishing, and venturing to new places with Cheyenne and their cherished dogs, Sailor and Hank. At only 22 years old he has the experience, dedication, and drive to help Matt Cole’s company prosper while also offering so much room to grow.

With our authentic approach, we aim to serve our clients, vendors, subcontractors, and coworkers effectively for years to come.

Director of Operations

Marisa Johnson

was born and raised in the small town of Cohutta, GA. Two short years after graduating high school she married her high school sweetheart, Michael. In 2007 they started their family with the birth of what they intended on being their only child, Madi, but 9 even shorter years later, they were surprised with their son, Mason. While getting her criminal justice degree, Marisa also spent time learning the ways to develop structure and organization within a startup company, and decided that was truly her passion so she began assisting startups that were in need of administrative support. She has been involved with companies within the tech industry, brokerages, and ultimately in custom home building. When she has free time you can find her designing tattoos, painting canvases, and playing her acoustic guitar.

What Else Does MDC Homes Do?

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