Vpen Door I Creative Brick

A plein-air-oriented Bloomfield
Hills company keeps on growing
to suit the varied needs of clients.

Lynne Konstantin

The

Contributing Writer

uring a period when it is often difficult
for local companies to stay afloat,
Creative Brick Paving & Landscaping is
flourishing, even expanding. Why?
"We will do anything for our clients," says
Alex Ketty. "And we think they know that."
Plus, though the owners are skilled
builders, they also pride themselves on being
creative-minded artisans.
Along with his brother, John, Ketty
launched Creative Brick Paving & Landscaping
in 1996, built on a lifetime of experience,
thanks to learning the business of
construction, remodeling and renovation as
kids under the tutelage of their late father,
who owned Ketty Construction.
"John and I love being outdoors, so we
wanted to bring all of our knowledge and
interests together," Ketty says.
Based in Bloomfield Hills, with a second
location recently opened in Milford, Creative
Brick is a year-round landscape design and
installation company. Under the leadership of
John, who specializes in landscape design and
offers a talent for enhancing each individual
site's specific natural surroundings, and Alex,
an expert in landscape construction with an
affinity for detail and using simple, natural
materials to create exquisite spaces, the
company's staff of more than 40 employees
includes three in-house landscape architects.

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16 OPEN DOOR Magazine • May 2013

Specializing in getting to know their
clients to help them bring to life the home
of their dreams, often even helping the
client to express exactly what that dream
is, Creative Brick brings the skill, technology
(using a combination of hand-rendered and
computer-generated compositions, drawn to
scale to be easily deciphered by the client)
and understanding of all aspects of landscape
design to offer a focus on elegant artistry and
craftsmanship and out-of-the-box creativity.
"Our goal is to eliminate the boundaries
between interior and exterior spaces," Ketty
says. Where a client has a wooden deck,
Creative Brick's designers envision heated
stone flooring and custom-glass casing; an
isolated wall may be transformed into an
enchanting waterfall; an unused dormant
space can blossom into an exotic Asian
garden. The brothers are always pushing the
envelope, both because they want to thrill
their clients, but also because they take great
pride in what they do — they love to thrill
even themselves. "We really love what we
do," says Alex Ketty. "I love waking up in the
morning and going to work."
In addition to landscape architecture
from trellises and pergolas to retaining
walls and bluestone pavers, masonry decks,
driveways, pathways and steps, outdoor
kitchens and living rooms, fireplaces and

fire pits and more, Creative Brick houses its
own brickyard, building everything in-house,
plus a 6,000-square-foot showroom, making
it easy for the company to work within a
client's budget.
Based on the success of the company,
Creative Brick has also made recent
expansions to further assist clients as well
as reach out to a broader geographical area.
Creative Brick's adjacent Coastal Outdoor
Living Space, a retail space within the
showroom, lets customers enhance their
outdoor design with patio furniture, garden
furniture, benches, bars, bridges, statues,
outdoor TVs and more.
And just opened in January, Creative Brick
has added a second location in Milford to
meet the demands of clients based in the
Ann Arbor area, which also includes a garden
center, so that customers can browse and
purchase exactly what they need, from top
soil and mulch to trees, shrubs and other
plantings.
"We are working on a lot of development
there," says Ketty of the 30-acre property,
where a greenhouse is in the works. They
hope to open a third location in the next year
closer to the east side.
Also new this year, Creative Brick now
installs its own outdoor granite swimming
pools, replete with diving boards and water