Mark Blore (left) and John O’Brien (right) presenting Rear Admiral Garry Bonelli, Chairman of the Navy SEAL Foundation.
Mark Blore has found a life in Coronado the suits him well, and keeps him out of business suits. A former Navy SEAL and a resident of Coronado, Mark has lived and worked in Coronado on and off for the past 20 years – he is now COO of Flagg, Inc. I met with Mark at Panera Bread early in the morning and he has the look of a ‘local guy’ – tan, lean, drinking a smoothie in a t-shirt and board shorts. Mark, an ultra-triathlete and self-taught builder recalled his early days in the SEAL Teams and his first introduction to Coronado through BUDS. His service in the ‘teams’ eventually led to meeting his wife – Lorrie of 20 years. Mark and Lorrie have two children, both attending Coronado public schools – one who has graduated and one currently enrolled in COSA as a freshman.
When Mark left the teams after six years of service to pursue his passion for skiing and obtain his bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice – Coronado Island eventually called him back. A self taught builder, Mark grew up working with his hands and fixing things himself – from car engines to houses. He owned his first property in Imperial Beach at the age of 19 and when he returned to Coronado, he got his real estate license and eventually his general contracting license.
Like most folks living in small towns, Mark’s path to his work with Flagg, Inc. was through a series of good friends, timing and hard work. Mark had taken on remodeling homes and was in the process of building a reputation for himself when he was introduced through local resident – Kara Zylstra to John O’Brien, CEO and Owner of Flagship Properties and Flagg, Inc. At that time, 2001 – it was in the early days of the well known company that it is today. Over the years, John and Mark built a professional relationship, building more than 40 homes together – Mark primarily contributing his building and general contracting expertise to the business.
Today, Mark is a partner in the Flagg enterprise. I talked to Mark about what he enjoys about working in Coronado – aside from the commute and the casual dress (Mark lives between 1st and 2nd Street). “For me” he stated “the small town feel is what makes my life and work easy”. Mark spoke about how working with the City of Coronado has been fairly efficient – particularly knowing all the people at the City and having established a professional relationship over years of working here. Mark shared with me the ‘building the brand’ philosophy of Flagg and I agreed with him that ‘the look’ of a Flagg Home is a distinct style that is very apparent on the island.
The Flagg ‘look’ is not hard to miss – not only does the tradition of ‘naming’ the home with a placard above the front door indicate the company’s presence, but the ‘traditional coastal’ style that Flagg has developed over the years has branded their approach to design (think: 100 Ocean Drive – Coastal Living magazine 2014 Showhouse (above)). The look of this ‘brand’ has grown so much in popularity, that it has inspired a wave of similar styled homes throughout town. Mark and I recalled the days of the stucco ‘billy-box’ that went up any time an older home was torn down on a long, narrow lot. Today, the shift in building styles has moved from stucco to traditional style homes with front porches, picket fences, multi-paned windows and clapboard or shingled wood siding. Mark’s talked about his vision of working to develop a more diverse ‘stylistic’ array of quality built homes. He admitted to his love of the smaller scale ‘craftsman’ style home.
I asked Mark about his feeling regarding the current wave of new construction and how the look of ‘residential’ Coronado is evolving. He shared his optimism with me, “Right now the future of homebuilding and the economy looks bright. Hopefully, that means as we slowly try to build our business and brand of homes that we will be able to reach more people and subsequently have more opportunities.” He added, “The one thing I hope to change is the perception that we can only build one style of house. Although we want to maintain our signature look. We also like the challenge of putting our design/build company to work. Most people probably don’t know that a third of our work is historic renovations, another third is smaller “Flagg Light” remodels, and lastly our new home division.” I asked Mark about the “Flagg Light” portion of the business and he explained the sense of loyalty “Flagg” feels to clients and their willingness to continue to work with folks who they’ve had as customers or referrals from the past – regardless of size.
When discussing the essence of what he enjoyed most about his work at Flagg, Mark shared, “The most gratifying aspect of working at Flagg is the personal attention I can put into each job we do. Since we are a small company and do not work on volume – I can spend a lot of time with each client. I’m crazy about the details of a house, especially when it comes to all the finishing touches. That is when a home changes from a box to a Flagg signature look.”
The ability to live and work in Coronado is a great combination anyone would be lucky to have. Raising a family, developing a career doing something you love, and enjoying an ‘island’ community is the essence of building a great life in Coronado.
