The story

A family-built legacy

For decades, Classic Communities built homes and neighborhoods across Central Pennsylvania — quietly, carefully, and as a family.

Cover of Builder/Architect magazine, Central Pennsylvania Edition, April 2004, with James Halbert, Virginia Halbert, and Douglas Halbert standing in front of a stone-front Classic Communities home, headlined Classic Communities Building and Development — Style and Value in Great Locations

Jim, Virginia, and Doug on the cover of Builder/Architect, April 2004.

It started with Virginia

Classic Communities began in the mid-1980s with Virginia Halbert, who started out buying and renovating homes around Lebanon, Pennsylvania. Over time that work grew into new construction and whole neighborhoods, and Classic Communities Corporation was born — built on a simple philosophy: build homes the way you'd want to live in them, and treat every family like a neighbor.

A second generation

Classic Communities business card for James A. Halbert, President, 103 Farmstead Circle, Lebanon, PA — Jim's business card — the original office, 103 Farmstead Circle, Lebanon.

Jim studied law at the University of Miami and graduated in 1993. The next year, he came home to Pennsylvania to work with his mom.

He started in 1994 in the field — framing houses, building decks, hanging drywall. Two years on the job site, doing the same work as the framers and masons and finishers. That's where he learned how a house actually goes together, and it's where he earned the trust of the trades Classic kept working with for the next twenty years.

In 1996 he moved into Director of Development, and in 2004 he became CEO. Doug joined around the same time as President. Together the brothers pushed Classic out of Lebanon into the greater Harrisburg area, got into multi-family, and acquired Fogarty Homes — without losing the family feel of the place.

Jim Halbert and Doug Halbert standing together at the foot of a curved staircase — Brothers Jim and Doug Halbert.

Jim Halbert, Virginia Halbert, and Doug Halbert standing together in front of a stone-and-siding Classic home — Jim, Virginia, and Doug — years on, in front of another Classic home.

The Classic Communities team assembled in front of a finished Classic home — The Classic Communities team.

Thousands of homes, one at a time

Over its three decades, Classic grew to a team of 57, developed over 70 communities across Central Pennsylvania, and built an in-house rental portfolio of over 300 units. Each community had its own character, but the approach never changed — careful craftsmanship, honest work, and a long-term commitment to the place it was in.

Jim Halbert and three others on site in front of a Habitat for Humanity home, two in Classic Communities fleeces — On site with the Classic team.

The end of a chapter

Classic Communities wound down in 2015, after more than twenty years of building across Central Pennsylvania. What it left behind is the homes themselves, the neighborhoods they sit in, and the families still living in them — which was always the point.

Where it started

The Villages of Creekside

Creekside, in Lebanon, was one of Virginia's first communities — and the original Classic Communities office sat right inside the neighborhood, steps from the homes the team was building.

The Daily News covered the opening of the model home in the early 1990s. A scan of the clipping is preserved here, a small record of the start of a much longer story.

Jim laid out the neighborhood on the original site plan himself — his handwriting still sits at the top of the page: Classic Communities Corp — Creekside — Lebanon, Pa.

Visit Creekside

Newspaper feature headlined “Villages of Creekside — Make-believe family dwells in model home,” by Pat Seaman, with photos by Earl Brightbill — Daily News feature on the opening of The Villages of Creekside model home.

Original hand-annotated site plan for The Villages of Creekside in Lebanon, PA, labeled at the top in Jim Halbert's handwriting: Classic Communities Corp — Creekside — Lebanon, Pa — The original Creekside site plan, labeled in Jim's hand.

Giving back

Habitat for Humanity

Building homes has always been more than a business for the Halbert family. Over the years, Classic Communities has partnered with Habitat for Humanity to help put families into homes of their own — volunteering crews, donating materials, and standing on the porch at dedication day alongside the new homeowners.

In 2006, Classic joined the national Home Builders Blitz — 1,000 professional builders framing, finishing, and handing over the keys to more than 400 Habitat homes in a single week. It's one chapter in a long-running commitment to the communities we build in.

Doug Halbert and his son in front of a Home Builders Blitz 2006 banner at a Habitat for Humanity build — Home Builders Blitz, 2006 — 1,000 builders, 400+ homes in one week.

Ribbon cutting for a Habitat for Humanity home built with Classic Communities Corporation — Ribbon-cutting day, handing the keys to a new Habitat homeowner.

Recognition

In the trade

A few of the years Classic and the family showed up in the industry record.

2004

Classic was the cover story of the April 2004 Central Pennsylvania edition of Builder/Architect, with Jim, Virginia, and Doug photographed together in front of a Classic home.

2010

Jim appears on the cover of The Home Builder, the magazine of the Home Builders Association of Metropolitan Harrisburg, in the group photo from the association's Economic Impact Study — a study showing what home building contributes to the Harrisburg-area economy.

2014

Classic Communities debuted on Professional Builder's annual Housing Giants list — an industry ranking of the largest home builders in the U.S. — at #171, on the strength of 252 closings and $60.9M in 2013 revenue.

The same year, the Home Builders Association of Metropolitan Harrisburg recognized Classic with a Pyramid Award for Best Multi-Family Community in the $150,001–$300,000 category.

Professional Builder magazine's Housing Giants 2014 ranking, showing Classic Communities at rank 171 with $60,856,508 in 2013 housing revenue and 252 closings — *Professional Builder*, Housing Giants 2014.

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