Doug McSpadden grew up in Gastonia, North Carolina, the third of four children in a home where Christian faith and family came first. Those values, sharpened by the character lessons of his years as an Eagle Scout, shaped the man he became and the company he would build. He attended the University of Tennessee School of Architecture and graduated with honors in 1983. In the years that followed, he set out to gather every credential needed to design, build, and sell his own homes and in 1987, he incorporated McSpadden Development. He wrote the McSpadden Homes mission statement, and it remained the company’s compass for the rest of his life: “We shall be servants to all, we cannot excel alone; and Honesty, Diligence, and Excellence shall be our cornerstones, Wisdom our guide, and Longevity our Goal.” For Doug, servanthood meant putting the client and the trade contractor above himself — not as a marketing line, but as a way of doing business.