World Housing owes its existence to two individuals, Peter Dupuis and Sid Landolt.
Together, Peter and Sid have earned a worldwide reputation as real estate entrepreneurs, innovators and strategists in the marketing and sale of luxury real estate.
When the real estate market entered the Great Recession in 2008, the two had some time on their hands. A chance meeting in 2009 with TOMS Shoes’ founder Blake Mycoskie took their lives in a radically different direction. Inspired by TOM’s Shoes’ socially responsible business model, Peter spent three years in a graduate program studying social entrepreneurship, modern philanthropy, slum housing and landfill communities.
His work culminated in a successfully defended Masters thesis: “World Housing: A Blueprint for Creating Third World Bottom of the Pyramid Housing Supply Through a First World One-for-One Real Estate Gifting Model.” In 2013, Peter and Sid turned the thesis into the social change phenomenon that is World Housing. “A large part of what we do is brokerage,” explained Sid.
“We realized that our expertise in bringing people together over a real estate project applied just as well to communities in the developing world as it does in the US, Canada or Europe. It was a natural fit for us.”
The two gave freely of their time, expertise, office space and money to make World Housing operational. They drew friends, relatives, business associates, clients and customers from all over the world into the cause. They established strong relationships with NGOs and raised money to get houses built and communities started. “For Sid and I,” said Peter, “it’s all about the emotional connection in getting to know the families whose lives are transformed simply by having a roof over their heads and a lockable door.” The luxury real estate market has slowly rebounded since 2008, but Peter and Sid continue to work tirelessly on behalf of people who occupy the “bottom of the world’s housing pyramid”.
