Feature | By Jocklyn Mundy | Photos by Michael Kleinfelt • Windermere Photography
Reputations are built project by project, referral by referral, through the steady accumulation of trust. Building a family home is an intimate undertaking. You’re invited into how people live, what they value, and the spaces where their lives will unfold. It's a responsibility the Sorensons value and treat with care. For Bob and Jody Sorenson, that rhythm has shaped a life: a marriage that began in the familiar orbit of hometown friendships, a business that grew from a side hobby into a calling, and a family story now entering its next chapter as their son, Bobby, helps carry the name forward.
The Sorensons are the first to say that while the seasons of their lives and business have evolved, the heart of their work has not. They still show up. They still solve problems. They care about the details that make a home feel right, and the relationships that have earned trust.
A Southwest Orange Beginning
Bob and Jody share Central Florida roots; they met as young adults and were married in 1988. Bob grew up in Ocoee, where construction was woven into the family story. His grandfathers were both builders, one a master plumber during the early Disney buildout, the other an architect, while Bob’s father worked as an estimator for Walt Disney World.
Bob himself entered the trade through hard routes: pipe fitting, union work, and the kind of physical labor that teaches discipline early. When that season took a toll on his back, he pivoted toward estimating and the office side of the business.
Bob earned his contractor’s license when the company he worked for needed another licensed professional and asked him to step forward. Soon after, friends decided to build a home, and they didn’t want just anyone. They wanted Bob. He had never built a house from the ground up, but they placed their confidence in his integrity and judgment, and it proved well placed. One home led to another. Those early custom projects were often for friends, marked by deep responsibility and uncommon care, because when friendships are involved, the stakes matter.
A Season of Change
For years, the Sorenson household reflected two demanding callings. Bob worked full-time while taking on custom home projects on the side. Jody, at the same time, remained committed to a career she loved, at Orlando Utilities Commission, working in roles from power systems and planning to the practical realities of neighborhoods coming to life. She worked alongside engineers, reviewed plans, and developed a sharp understanding of how infrastructure and development intersect. She also served in industry-adjacent roles, including involvement with the Home Builders Association and energy-efficient housing initiatives tied to certified homes and utility-led development programs.
What she didn’t know at the time was how perfectly that experience would translate to the business she and Bob would ultimately grow into.
For a long time, that balance held. But as word spread and referrals multiplied, the work began to overlap. What had started as a side endeavor slowly demanded more of Bob’s time until he found himself juggling multiple builds at once. It wasn’t a moment of ambition that changed things; it was volume. The operation had grown beyond what could be managed part-time.
As the demands increased, Bob asked Jody to help oversee operations, initially while she continued in her full-time role. Over time, it became clear that the business required more than part-time attention. With prayer and intention, Jody stepped away from her position and joined the family business full-time.
Raising children while building a business under the same roof was hard. In those early years, when Sorenson Construction operated out of their home, and Bobby and Kailey were still small, Jody remembers a daily choreography that rarely paused. Conference calls took place in the home office while young children raced through hallways, voices raised, toys scattered underfoot, doors opening and closing. The everyday sounds of a busy household didn’t always lend themselves to a professional office atmosphere. On more than one occasion, she admits to tossing a highlighter out the door in frustration, an instinctive attempt to restore order and sound professional on a business call. It’s a memory Bobby and Kailey still laugh about.
Jody says it now with a laugh, but the reality at the time was heavy: “I quit about every other month.” With no real clock-out, days blurred into a constant juggle of schedules, school pickups, and family needs layered over a business that rarely paused.
With time, the business demanded boundaries. Sorenson Construction moved out of the family home and into dedicated office space. Roles became clearer, responsibilities more defined, and team members were added to support the growing operation. What once felt like survival began to feel sustainable.
The Foundation
Long before the Sorenson name became associated with custom homes, it carried weight in Ocoee for a different reason, but based on the same values. Bob and his two brothers grew up on the local baseball fields that served as a gathering place for the community. Their father was a longtime coach and Little League president, spending evenings and weekends teaching teamwork and discipline and investing deeply in the lives of local children. When he passed away at a young age after battling cancer, the City of Ocoee honored his legacy by naming the baseball fields after him.
The Bob Sorenson Fields have since become more than a marker of the past. Four generations of Sorensons have stood there together, a quiet reminder of what the name represents: showing up, staying involved, and carrying responsibility beyond yourself. That legacy continues, steady and unchanged.
Growth, Built on Relationship
Ask the Sorensons when the business “took off,” and you won’t hear about a single defining moment. What they describe instead is a steady progression with good people joining the team, systems strengthening, and increasingly complex builds.
From the beginning, their business has been relational at its core. Jody, in particular, values the collaborative side of the process. She enjoys guiding clients through finishes and design decisions, considering how families grow, how needs change, and how homes are lived in over time.
For the Sorensons, a completed home was never a handoff point; they viewed it as the beginning of a relationship. That perspective explains why so much of their business continues to come through referrals. Sorenson Construction’s reputation has grown over the years as a benchmark for custom homebuilding in Central Florida, particularly within the Butler Chain and Windermere communities, where discernment is high, and expectations are exacting. They are known for exceptional craftsmanship, execution, and integrity. That reputation has led to projects defined not just by scale, but by complexity.
Versailles
Some projects test that discernment in uncommon ways. One of those moments came when Bob was asked to walk through and assess a 90,000-square-foot Butler Chain estate widely known through the documentary The Queen of Versailles, which chronicled David and Jackie Siegel’s decades-long effort to build one of the largest homes in the United States.
Previously, the home’s design had been approached through a commercial or hospitality lens. The family was seeking something different, a custom home builder’s perspective that would bring warmth and livability to a residence meant, above all, to be lived in.
The decision to take on the project was not immediate. Jody recalls questioning whether an undertaking of that magnitude made sense for them to accept. In the end, they moved forward with intention, structuring the Versailles effort so it would run alongside, but not overtake, their core business. That balance proved essential. Bob devoted much of his time to Versailles, while Jody oversaw day-to-day operations and other custom builds. Trusted team members were central, Bobby joined the company as well, providing continuity and support.
At that scale, the operation demanded careful judgment, knowing when to approach decisions commercially and when to hold firmly to the sensibilities of a home. That balance was not incidental; it was the very reason the Sorensons had been asked to step in. Creating something that truly felt livable required intention and restraint.
Jody is quick to note the importance of the working relationship itself. The Siegel family remained engaged throughout, thoughtful and present in the decision-making. Jackie worked closely with the teams, while the Siegel children became part of the daily rhythm, fostering collaboration, trust, and mutual respect.
The process reinforced the role the Sorensons are known for: custom home builders trusted to bring integrity, quality, and a deep sense of livability to the homes they create.
Returning with Purpose
Bobby had built a life of his own long before returning to Central Florida. He attended Florida Atlantic University, earning a degree in communications, and built a career across sales, recruiting, and leadership roles with fast-paced environments where performance mattered and results were earned. He wasn’t waiting in the wings of a family business; he was fully invested elsewhere.
He met Allison while they were both in college; she attended Palm Beach Atlantic University. They married and began their life together in South Florida, grounded in independence and ambition. Early in their marriage, Bobby accepted a position in Philadelphia working in professional sports, handling group ticket sales for an NBA franchise. The move was formative. They worked long hours and learned quickly what mattered most.
After a year, the pull of family brought them back to South Florida, where both continued building their careers. Bobby transitioned into insurance and recruiting, while Allison followed a long-held calling into marketing and church communications. They built friendships, found professional success, and welcomed their first child, daughter Stella. By most measures, they already had the life that many people their age were still working toward.
The idea of returning to Central Florida wasn’t on their radar…until it was.
In 2020, the company was taking on a significant new challenge, and Bob knew they would need help. He recognized in Bobby a steady temperament, strong work ethic, and an ease with complexity, qualities that matched the values Sorenson Construction was already known for, and what the moment required.
Bobby and Allison didn’t rush the decision. They prayed and weighed what it would mean personally as much as professionally. Leaving South Florida meant stepping away from a life they loved.
When the decision was made, what followed felt unexpectedly aligned. Allison’s employer allowed her to continue working remotely. Bobby’s company supported his transition. Their home sold easily, and another appeared almost immediately, an offer accepted before it ever officially reached the market. Even the distance from Allison’s parents softened in ways neither had anticipated. One by one, the obstacles dissolved.
When Bobby joined the company, he did so with humility, not to take over. His background proved valuable, but it was his willingness to listen, observe, and earn trust that mattered most. For Bob and Jody, his return was transformative. Professionally, it brought continuity at a critical moment. Personally, it restored something deeper: family proximity, shared seasons, and daily presence that can’t be replicated from afar.
What began as a business decision became something far more lasting. Bobby’s return reshaped the family’s future, anchoring the next chapter in the same place where the story began.
Kailey: Grounded and Going Forward
While Bobby’s path curved back toward the family business, Kailey’s course is still being defined. She graduated from the University of South Florida with a degree in civil engineering and went on to complete four years of experience required for professional licensure. Kailey has since passed the Professional Engineer (PE) exam on her first try, earning an impressive designation. Building a professional identity rooted in problem-solving, precision, and critical thinking suits her well. For Bob and Jody, watching Kailey grow into her own has been a source of pride.
Alongside her professional growth, a new personal chapter is unfolding. She recently got engaged to Kody Keller, who also grew up in the West Orange area. Kody works in the construction field with a large firm and is currently pursuing his general contractor’s license. Bob and Jody speak warmly of him, noting not only his strong work ethic but also how naturally he fits within the family.
There is a hope that one day, both siblings may work together within Sorenson Construction, each bringing something distinct. Bobby brings leadership and relational instincts; Kailey brings an engineering mind and a steady, analytical approach. In different ways, their strengths echo what Bob and Jody have long brought to their work together. Bobby’s people-first leadership reflects the steadiness that shaped the business through his father. Kailey’s thoughtful precision mirrors Jody’s planning sensibility and Bob’s respect for doing things the right way, shared foundations carried forward in different forms.
Bob and Jody have never believed in prescribing paths; whatever Kailey chooses, they trust and support her.
Kailey and Kody
Photo by Aisles & Ivy
The Gift of Grandchildren
For all the milestones the Sorensons have experienced, nothing has reshaped the rhythm of their life quite like becoming grandparents.
There is deep gratitude in the way Bob and Jody speak about this chapter, not only for the joy of grandchildren, but for the unexpected gift of proximity. Stella, in second grade, and Cade, in PK3 at Foundation Academy, have gently reshaped the rhythm of everyday life, softening its pace and clarifying what matters most.
With the grandchildren, life is shared in ways that feel both comfortable and meaningful. Some of the sweetest moments arrive unannounced: a quick stop in after school, spontaneous dinners together. Routines overlap, and everyday moments become memories without effort. Because of that closeness, being able to show up for school events, milestones, and ordinary moments has reframed everything that came before, a blessing they do not take for granted.
What Endures
Faith has long been a steady presence in the Sorenson family, shaping how Bob and Jody have built their lives, raised their children, and approached the responsibilities entrusted to them. It is a conviction practiced with humility, rooted in daily choices, service, and an understanding that leadership begins at home.
That grounding has carried through every season of their lives and work, shaping how they lead, relate to others, and measure success. It is reflected in their children as well. Those values are evident in the family Bobby and Allison are building and in the shared faith that shapes Kailey and Kody’s life together. That same foundation is also taking root in the next generation, beginning with Stella and Cade.
In Windermere, along the waters of the Butler Chain, and throughout Central Florida, the Sorensons are known for building custom quality homes with care, beautiful homes where families gather, grow, and mark the passage of time for many generations. But long after the last nail is set, what will endure most is not measured in square footage or craftsmanship, but in a family culture grounded in faith, marked by integrity, strengthened through relationship, and carried forward from one generation to the next.
