Leadership
Donald W. Knutson
President
Don Knutson has over 30 years of experience designing, developing and building all types of residential real estate. He is responsible for the overall management of the Company as well as directly handling all land acquisitions and entitlements. Mr. Knutson takes great pride in his company’s commitment to meeting or exceeding each customer’s expectations from both a product and experience perspective. Building award winning homes and neighborhoods and working with our customers to ensure their happiness takes a total team effort.
Immediately prior to starting the Knutson Companies, Mr. Knutson spent 14 years as a Division and Regional President with a Top Ten Public Homebuilder where he managed the construction of more than 15,000 homes in seven states including 10,000 in the Washington DC metro area. He was named NVBIA Builder of the Year in 2001 and was inducted into the NVBIA Hall of Fame in 2017. Mr. Knutson currently serves as a Life Director on the HomeAid Northern Virginia Board, and he is an active member of the Loudoun County Housing Advisory Board. He graduated from Wake Forest University with a B.S. in Accounting.
Ollin E. Toler
Vice President Construction
Ollin Toler has over 30 years of experience in the homebuilding industry. Prior to joining the Knutson Companies, Mr. Toler spent eight years as the Vice President of Homebuilding for Gumenick Properties, a Richmond-based residential builder. Prior to that, he spent 10 years as the Vice President of Construction for EYA, a builder/developer based in Bethesda, Md.
During his career, Mr. Toler has been responsible for the design and construction of over 3,500 homes, totaling more than $1 billion in sales. He is a Certified Green Professional (CGP), Certified New Homes Sales Professional (CSP), and recently served as Vice President for the Home Builders Association of Richmond. Mr. Toler attended Northern Virginia Community College.
Lauren L. DeSomma
Vice President
Lauren DeSomma has over fifteen years working in the homebuilding and architectural services industries throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. She is currently responsible for leading the Knutson Sales and Marketing efforts, to reach our goals for each community. Lauren is known for jumping in and doing whatever it takes to get a sales center or model ready for kick-off, pulling all the levers to drive qualified traffic to a community sales manager, generating collateral and media to support the sales managers’ efforts, all the while listening carefully and responding to their feedback from the front line.
Lauren has experience overseeing the design development of wood frame and podium condominiums, clubhouses of varying sizes (1,000 – 21,000sf), single family homes and townhomes – delivering designs to meet the aesthetic and functional objectives for the community they were envisioned to create. She has contributed to the development of communities by hiring and managing design teams and collaborating with all stakeholders, internal and external; from the acquisition team to purchasing, production, sales, and trade partners, as well as consulting teams and jurisdictions. Ms. DeSomma’s strong operational background and collaborative style of working are key elements to her success. Lauren graduated from Virginia Tech with a B.S. in Engineering – focusing on structures, foundations, and construction.
Debbie K. Browning
Chief Financial Officer
Debbie Browning has over fifteen years of combined experience in the homebuilding and real estate industries. She is currently responsible for leading the financial team of the Knutson Companies. Immediately prior to joining the Knutson Companies, Debbie spent 6 years as the Vice President of Finance for a Northern Virginia residential builder. Prior to that, Debbie held the positions of Chief Financial Officer for a commercial real estate investment and management company and Chief Accounting Officer for a conglomerate of publicly traded real estate investments.
Debbie holds an active CPA license and received a BS from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She began her career in public accounting for a national firm that specialized in the real estate industry.
