We build homes the way we’d want someone to build for our own families.
Zen Dev Homes exists because Bernard Oostra spent 25 years inside the construction industry watching good people get sold homes that quietly failed them. He estimated and delivered thousands of production homes for some of the largest builders in the country. He knew the tricks. He knew where the corners got cut. He knew that “meets code” was the starting line most builders crossed at a sprint and never ran past.
ZenDev Homes is committed to
- Building homes to a standard—VitalSecure™—that protects the people living in them.
- Building communities that reward stewardship.
- Building a company your family would trust.
Before he returned to building, Bernard ran a health and wellness company – working with families on air quality, food, movement, stress, and the everyday choices that compound into long-term health outcomes.
That chapter changed how he thought about homes. A home built the right way is one of the most significant health decisions a family makes. Almost nobody builds them that way.
Staff architect Chris Hellman brings a completed portfolio and the kind of design discipline that’s genuinely rare in a builder who also does production work.
The combination – architect‑led design, production‑disciplined delivery, performance engineering – is what makes a ZenDev home last a lifetime.
Three qualities of a home you’ll build for a lifetime.
Performance Engineered
Health-Focused Design
Disciplined Production
One Mission
Build homes to a standard—VitalSecure™—that protects the people living in them.
- To be the most giving and highest‑quality homebuilder – in Georgia first – and then as far as our discipline can take us.
- To help as many families as we can.
- To build homes that take care of the people inside them for decades, not just until the warranty expires.
ZenDev Home Builders Leadership Team
Three Industry veterans with a bold vision for a different future of home building
Bernard Oostra
Founder & CEO
25 years in commercial and residential construction estimating
- Prior roles: Chief Estimator at Simac Construction; Senior Estimator at PWI Construction and Catamount Constructors; Estimating Manager at Trilogy Investment Company (REV3 Homes)
- Prior chapter: Founder and CEO of a health and wellness company (2017–2021)—the origin story of VitalSecure™
- Education: San Diego State University
- Georgia GC License holder (#GCCO009810)
Armando Ortega
Co‑Founder, VP Investor Relations
Co-Founder and executive leader handling strategic capital raising, business development, and partnership building for Zero Energy Developments.
- Background combining traditional real estate acquisition with green construction asset strategies.
- Expertise spans investor relations, sustainable residential community zoning, green construction technologies, and public speaking on sustainable housing integration.
Chris Hellman
Staff Architect
Chris brings a completed portfolio of homes designed and built under his own architectural practice, now merged into ZenDev Homes.
His work is characterized by efficient footprints, thoughtful daylighting, and details that feel good to live with day after day.
What We Believe a Better Home Should Be
A home should make your family healthier, not sicker. It should promote well-being through superior indoor air quality and thoughtful design.
A home should make you more independent, not more dependent on systems you can’t control. Our builds prioritize user-friendly, reliable features.
A home should cost less to operate every year, not more. We focus on energy efficiency to reduce ongoing expenses.
A home should be built to the standard the builder would want for their own family. That’s the only standard worth holding.
