Tom Sullivan was a designer from the time he was a young boy.  He would spend hours drawing cars, motorcycles, boats, and houses just for fun.  His talents regularly caught the eyes of his teachers in school.  On many occasions he was asked to draw and paint artwork for the schools he attended.  His early interest in drawing, designing, and engineering laid the groundwork to become one of the largest Professional Building Designers in the world.

In addition to art, Tom studied music and mechanical drawing in high school.  Tom originally majored in Commercial Art at the University of Memphis before he realized his real love was the creative world of architectural design.  His many years of art, drafting, and mechanical engineering, combined with his new love for architectural technology, caught the eye of a talented Building Designer, Ted Brown.  Tom studied under Ted for nine and a half years before becoming a Certified Professional Member of the American Institute of Building Design (AIBD), himself.

In 1980 Tom started his own Building Design business, which turned out to be one of the worst times for the building design business ever.  With no help from 18% interest rates, his total income for the year was $8000.  However, with a $364 per month house note, paid-up car notes, $1 t/v dinners, and 68-degree thermostat settings, somehow he survived that first lean year.

In 1982, Tom's home design talents caught the eye of the Memphis Area Home Builders Association and he was selected to design of the original “Good Reasons Home" built in Germantown TN.  He was selected again in 1983 to design a second "Good Reasons Home" in Walnut Grove Lake subdivision, which was the first TVA approved Passive Solar home in West Tennessee.  In 1984 Tom was commissioned to design the new Memphis Area Home Builders Association’s office complex containing the Delta and Magnolia Ballrooms.  Since then, with the help of around 25 dedicated employees, his firm, Sullivan Home Plans, has designed tens of thousands of home plans and thousands of office buildings, condominiums, apartments and accessory buildings.  Tom’s firm has won more Vesta Home Design awards in his 30 year domination, winning more Vesta Home Show awards than all other home designers combined, and sometimes taking first, second, and third all in the same show.  Other notable residential commissions were the prestigious "Quantum Home" in historic Midtown Memphis and his company’s most recent Vesta winners designed by Tom’s head designer, Jimmy Ballard are featured on the home page of this website. With additional design talents from Professional Building Designers, Scott Hyman, Ricky Parker, and John Wortham, through the years Sullivan Home Plans has gained the design trust of the majority of the top home builders in the Memphis and surrounding areas, with many years surpassing 2500 design projects per year.

The demand for Sullivan Home Plan designs in Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas has resulted opening offices in Memphis, Oakland, and Olive Branch.  Sullivan Home Plans is now in their fourth building located across from the Agri-Center backing up to highly traveled Germantown Parkway.  His future plans include offering space in his new building for an interior and a landscape designer in hopes of providing a one-stop design service. 

With the help and expertise of Tom’s Internet Sales Manager, Suzie Cotter and her Oakland design team, we are showcasing what has become “The World’s Largest Inventory of Original Home Designs”.  With Sullivan Home Plans’ local success along with its now, worldwide success selling award-winning designs on the Internet.....        the sky is the limit!