December 13-2013
A pair of brothers who left Iran for college in Oklahoma and stayed when the revolution erupted have been honored for their humanitarian endeavors in the state.
Jalal and Mohammad Farzaneh were recipients of the 2013 humanitarian award from the Oklahoma Center for Community and Justice.
The two architects are the owners of Home Creations in the city of Moore. They were honored for their efforts to promote understanding among peoples of various cultures, while building 500 homes in Oklahoma this year, including aiding with tornado rebuilds.
Jalal and Mohammad were recognized for their leadership in creating Oklahoma City University’s Endowed Chair in Islamic Studies and their efforts in bringing Iranian music and culture to the Oklahoma City area through concerts, films and other community programs.
“Jalal and Mohammed are great Oklahomans and great Americans who are working passionately and relentlessly for greater understanding, cooperation, peace, and justice among persons of all faiths,” said Dr. Mark Davies, dean, Petree College of Arts and Sciences. “I am so thankful for their deepening connection to Oklahoma City University and for all of the opportunities they make possible for our students and the community.
The Farzaneh family and Home Creations have provided funding for educational speakers and events at universities and civic gatherings. Their generosity also has included building homes for Habitat for Humanity.
“We were born and raised in Iran and, growing up in Iran, we had limited exposure to people of different faiths. In 1978, we first came to Oklahoma as college students, and the experience of life in Oklahoma has changed us profoundly as human beings,” Jalal said in his acceptance speech. “We strongly believe that all faiths have something to say to each other and that those conversations between faiths are some of the most important we as citizens can have. For this reason, we have supported numerous events promoting interfaith dialogue.”
Mohammad added, “We are so fortunate to live in a state like Oklahoma and a country like the United States where freedom is guaranteed to all citizens, regardless of their race, religion or ethnic origin.”
Earlier, Mohammad, now 56, told how they set out for Norman, Oklahoma, in 1978 to study architecture at the University of Oklahoma.
“It was a temporary situation,” he said. “We thought we’d come here, get an education and go back. We never said goodbye and said, ‘We’re going to go away for 30 years.’”
But with the revolution, their father, Jafar Farzaneh, lost his construction business of almost 50 years.
“He said, ‘Boys just stay,’” recalled Jalal Farzaneh, now 54.
The pair established their homebuilding business in Norman in 1981, practically before the ink was dry on their diplomas. They started out as M&J Home Builders, but they folded it and other enterprises and partnerships under the Home Creations umbrella in 1996.
The houses they build now are very different from the houses they built then. Houses then required more lights to make up for smaller windows, Jalal said.
“The windows weren’t energy efficient, so they had to be smaller,” he said.
The brothers ticked off a myriad other differences: Ceilings are higher now and the living space more open. Engineering has improved the quality of materials. Granite, once reserved for luxury kitchens and often imported, has almost become standard.
“I built my personal home about 12 years ago, and I had a hard time finding white granite,” Mohammad said. “Now it’s so available.”
But the biggest changes are the ones not necessarily obvious to the naked eye, he said, like energy efficiency, which is “unbelievable compared to 30 years ago, even five years ago.”
The road along the way, though, hasn’t always been a smooth one.
“I could see a number of things we could’ve done — wrong decisions — and our business could’ve gone totally under as it almost did back in the 1980s,” he recalled.
The oil bust of the 1980s hit Oklahoma hard, putting its petroleum-dependent economy into free fall. The Farzaneh brothers saw business dry up, and though they continued building a handful of houses, it didn’t generate much income. They took on extra work during those years to keep food on the table — for one, overhauling foreclosed houses so Fannie Mae could sell them off.
They wouldn’t breathe easy again until 1987, “the turning point,” Jalal Farzaneh said.
But the mortgage crisis that clamped down on builders in most parts of the country in 2008-2009 passed them by. The company closed on about 375 houses a year up until 2009 — and then the number jumped up to 475, Jalal Farzaneh said. They closed on 475 in 2010 as well.
“We were blessed because we were at the right place at the right time with the right product,” he said.
Anita Wagoner, Home Creations’ director of sales and marketing, said the brothers have changed their approach.
“Even in a downturn, people still have to buy homes, so we seek out those people,” she said, for example, marketing at bridal shows. They also hold seminars for prospective homeowners to help them get their credit up to the more stringent lending standards that are now the norm.
Another key to their success working together is their wives, Mohammad said — his wife, Shokoh, as well as Jalal Farzaneh’s wife, Azan. Both worked as accountants in the business in the early days.
“They did understand that inside the business, they would act as another staff in their position and their capacity,” Jalal Farzaneh said with a smile. “Outside the office, they act as boss. So they know who the bosses are, and we know who the bosses are outside the office.”
“They make the ultimate decisions in our lives except for business decisions,” Mohammad Farzaneh added.
Their wives came to United States with them in 1978, and their children were all born here. Other relatives, including their father and two brothers, have also immigrated to the US, but the family travels back to Iran once every year or two.
And both brothers have become citizens, Mohammad Farzaneh in the mid-1990s and Jalal Farzaneh in 2000. “In the back of your mind you’re kind of thinking, ‘Well, things are going to improve, and one day I’m going to go back,’” he said.
He recalled a conversation someone had with his son.
“They asked, ‘Where are you from?’ And he said, ‘Norman’s my home.’ So that’s when I knew Norman is my home, too. I decided that’s it — Norman’s my home.”
