John Howard “Jay” Scheurenbrand is a life-long resident of Louisa County. He has worked in the forest products industry since childhood. Starting at the age of ten, he planted trees for the Department of Forestry and to date has planted more than 800,000 loblolly pine trees in Louisa County. Throughout high school he worked as the foreman of the Louisa Boys Forestry Crew planting trees, marking timber, mapping, and prescribe burning. This experience, together with the teachings of his father, a Louisa County Forester for 31 years, provided him with an extensive knowledge of proper forest management.

Shortly after high school, Jay worked for Thacker and Thacker, framing houses, and soon progressed to the trim crew where he was taught by a master carpenter who still cut material with the use of hand saws. At the age of 19, he started his own construction company, framing houses, garages, and building over 30 log homes and cabins in Louisa and surrounding counties.

With the slow down in construction during the late 1980’s, Jay decided to form a logging outfit to complement the construction company. He ran both companies for a few years until he was recruited by Lanny Woolfolk of Tradewinds of Virginia, a retail building supply company. After constructing the facility, Jay then assumed management of the store. In that capacity, he was responsible for purchasing, inventory, contractor sales, over the counter sales, and blueprint take-offs among many other things. It was here that he gained his knowledge and experience of buying “right.”

In 1996, Jay’s entrepreneurial spirit took over and he ventured back out on his own. He re-opened his construction company under the name Plumbline Construction and spent the next 6 years building Bulkheads and boathouses, installing beaches and boat ramps, and framing and siding houses for several local builders.

In 2002, the nationally recognized builder, Randy Rinehart offered Jay the position of Project Manager. After 5 years Jay earned the title of Vice President of Rinehart Custom Homes. There he and his staff built homes and remodels ranging from $800,000 to $3 million in construction costs.

In 2008, Lanny Woolfolk and John Romano offered Jay the opportunity to head the Architecture Review Committee for Noah’s Landing subdivision at Lake Anna where he currently reviews all the plan submittals.

In 2009, due to the economic slow down, Jay elected to step down from his position at Rinehart Custom Homes. “It was either me or several members of the staff. I couldn’t bear to see those that I care about get laid off. My faith told me that God would provide.”

Jay opened Plum Tree Properties early in 2009 and limits his custom home construction to three homes per year. This allows him and his team to provide his clients the care and detail they deserve.

Jay builds with uncompromised quality and he has a commitment to excellence which ensures that every detail of construction meets his rigorous standards. His principles of impeccable honesty, attention to detail, and dedication to doing things right the first time, have gained him a first-rate reputation in the community. As a result, Plum Tree Properties has a very promising and lengthy future.