Hall of Fame

The Best in American Living™ Awards Hall of Fame program honors individuals and firms who have been housing industry thought leaders and significantly influenced the residential design and construction field through their success in their professions. We would not be here, experiencing our lives in the way we do, if these individuals had not envisioned and executed the design improvements we have enjoyed over the last 30 plus years.


2022 Inductees

William A. Davidson

President, Davidson Communities
San Diego, CA

Bill Davidson founded San Diego-based Davidson Communities in 1978. For more than 40 years, Bill and his new-home neighborhoods have been honored with local, regional and national building industry awards for design and marketing excellence. In 2014, Bill was named a “Legend of Residential Marketing” by NAHB, and in 2011, Bill was inducted into Builder Magazine’s Hall of Fame for Design Excellence. Bill was elected into the California Building Industry Foundation Hall of Fame in 2000, followed by the San Diego Building Industry Association (SDBIA) Hall of Fame in 2006. 

Bill’s volunteer commitment to industry leadership spans nearly 40 years. In 1988, as SDBIA president and chairman of the Construction Industry Federation, he successfully led the campaign against four local growth control initiatives. In 2013 and 2015, Bill and his wife, Dawn Davidson, co-chaired the Pacific Coast Builders Conference in San Francisco. 

Bill is an active member of the World President’s Organization, the Urban Land Institute and Lambda Alpha International. He served on the local Children’s Hospital Foundation’s Board of Directors from 1990 to 1995 and as vice chairman in 1993. He also served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Magdalena Ecke YMCA and the Board of Trustees of Bishops School, and is patron of San Diego Cares.


Dawn Davidson

Founder and CEO, Dawn Davidson Design, Inc.
San Diego, CA


Dawn Davison graduated from Woodbury University with a Bachelor of Science in interior design/architecture. With an entrepreneurial spirit and a passion for design, she launched Design Line Interiors, Inc., in 1985, at the age of 25. The firm quickly became a respected brand known for delivering emotionally charged interiors. Today, Design Line is one of the nation’s most sought-after interior design firms.

Dawn and her talented team have designed thousands of interiors over the years, including boutique hotels, private residences, model homes, sales centers, multifamily projects, commercial projects, and community club houses and amenities. Design Line Interiors’ ability to translate a creative vision into functional, yet inspiring, spaces extend throughout the world, with projects located in the United States, Mexico, China, Dubai and Saudi Arabia.

In 2021, Dawn was honored with the esteemed Max Tipton Award, acknowledging a visionary leader’s pursuit of creative ideas and innovations, while contributing to the advancement of the building industry through the consistent sharing of knowledge and mentoring of others. In 2022, Dawn sold Design Line Interiors and embarked on a new design journey, Dawn Davidson Design. Combining her passion for interior design and love of architecture, Dawn finds delight in traveling and developing family projects as well as remodeling older homes.



Mary DeWalt, IRM Fellow, MIRM, CMP

President, Mary DeWalt Design Group
Austin, TX

Mary DeWalt is recognized nationally as a leader in the field of model home merchandising. She is a frequent speaker at the International Builders’ Show, as well as state and local conferences. 

In 1997, Mary received the coveted Master in Institute of Residential Marketing (MIRM) designation. She is a frequent contributor to Builder and Developer Magazine and other industry publications. 

For over 20 years, Mary has been active in the Home Builders Association of Greater Austin, as well as national NAHB. She was the 2003 chair of the National Sales and Marketing Council and 2006 president of NAHB’s Institute of Residential Marketing. Mary has served on the 55+ Housing Industry Council Boards of Trustees and the NAHB Design Committee. 

Mary received the Trina Ripley Excellence in Education Award from NAHB’s Institute of Residential Marketing. The award was given for “her outstanding lifetime achievements in educating new home sales and marketing professionals and helping to achieve the goals of the Institute of Residential Marketing.” She also received the Bill Molster Award from the National Sales and Marketing Council in 2009. Mary was honored to be recognized as the 2019 Legend in Residential Marketing


Doris Pearlman
Founder, Possibilities For Design
Denver, CO

A respected thought leader in both the design and home building industries, Doris Pearlman founded Possibilities For Design more than 30 years ago to bring her trend-setting concepts to a marketplace eager for innovation. With well more than 200 accolades to its name, Possibilities is widely recognized as one of the most awarded home builder-centric interior design firms in the country.

Based in Denver, Doris is an in-demand speaker at design conferences across the nation and has been honored with the prestigious Industry Legends Award and the Excellence in Education Award. Doris is a former chair of NAHB’s Design Committee and has led the Design Education Subcommittee. She has also been a member of the HomeAid Board in Colorado, NAHB’s Institute of Residential Marketing Board of Trustees, NAHB’s 55+ Housing Industry Council and the National Sales and Marketing Council, where she chaired The Nationals Awards committee.

Doris continues to shape the future of design with her consumer-focused perspective and national influence.


Lynne Pratt

President, Pratt Building
Huntington Woods, MI

Following a somewhat surprising journey into the home building industry, Lynne Pratt instinctively found her way to home design and locating the design industry’s best and brightest. 

When Lynne married Don Pratt in 1990, she also married into a successful family construction company. Over the years, she donned many hats by necessity and learned the business from numerous perspectives before getting her builder’s license and opening her own building company. She credits the Home Builders Association (HBA) structure for the educational opportunities that remain so crucial to every construction professional. Education and networking opportunities were the HBA’s original draw for Lynne, but she often says that the people she met there have always been the glue that kept her involved. Involvement in NAHB eventually led her to the Design Committee, where she realized an untold wealth of talent and resources existed that she felt remained largely overlooked by the NAHB membership. Because good design continuously speaks to our senses and feeds our souls, it is also very simply good for business. That realization created Lynne’s desire to ensure that the Design Committee, its vast resources, its multitalented members and the Best in American Living Awards program would be promoted as a premier member benefit


J. Ronald Terwilliger

Chairman Emeritus and Retired CEO, Trammell Crow Residential Company

Ron Terwilliger is chairman of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Terwilliger Center for Housing, focusing on workforce and affordable housing. He also established the Terwilliger Center for Innovation and Shelter at Habitat for Humanity International to improve housing conditions of low-income families worldwide. The J. Ronald Terwilliger Center for Housing Policy.at the Bipartisan Policy Center works to advance public policies in order to address our nation’s critical housing affordability challenges.

He is past chairman of Enterprise Community Partners, the International Board of Directors of Habitat for Humanity and ULI. He continues to support the aforementioned boards philanthropically as well as serving as trustee. He is also chairman emeritus of Trammell Crow Residential Company, a national residential real estate company and the largest developer of multifamily housing in the United States for several decades during his tenure as CEO.

Ron is an honor graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. After serving five years in the Navy, he received his MBA with High Distinction from the Harvard Graduate School of Business where he was elected a Baker Scholar. 

Ron has received numerous housing awards including NAHB’s Hall of Fame Award, the National Housing Conference Housing Leader of the Year Award, the ULI J.C. Nichols Prize Award, and the Edward W. Brooke Housing Leadership Award.


Michael Woodley

President, Woodley Architectural Group, Inc.

Michael L. Woodley, AIA, is president of Woodley Architectural Group, Inc., with offices in Scottsdale, Ariz., Southern California and Denver, Colo. Michael has more than 30 years of experience in a wide variety of housing types. His work spans high-density, multi-story to high-end custom homes.

Woodley Architectural Group is working with some of the most respected and successful builders across the United States. Michael’s hands-on approach and interactive design charrette process have established him as a highly successful, innovative architect, sought out by a wide variety of home builders across the nation and abroad. Michael personally leads his team with a passion for design that is a key element in the reputation and success of the Woodley Architectural Group. His passion, retail approach to housing, and sensitivity to project budget have been instrumental in winning widespread industry recognition.

Michael is a graduate from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo and is registered in California, Colorado, Arizona, Hawaii, Illinois, New Mexico and Nevada. He is a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the California Building Industry Association (BIA) and NAHB. Michael has been a featured speaker at AIA, NAHB and PCBC functions. He has also judged major design competitions throughout the country.