What we build · Custom Homes
Building From Nothing
A custom home is the only project where every decision is still open, which is exactly why it is the easiest one to lose control of financially.
Bring the drawings at whatever stage they are. An honest range and the decisions that move it, before anyone quotes.
Licensed
General contractor, licensed in the state of Florida
Self-perform
Dewatering, SOE and deep foundations in house
Leadership
Delivered Fifth Avenue and Central Park West interiors
Open book
Where the contract is cost-plus, the books open
The gap between the concept and the set
Almost every custom home budget is set at concept, when the drawings are beautiful and unresolved, and then tested against a finished construction set eighteen months later. The number moves, sometimes by a great deal, and everybody is surprised — though nobody should be, because the two documents describe different buildings.
What actually moves the number
- The site: water table, soil, seawall, flood elevation, tree protection.
- Structural ambition — long spans and cantilevers cost disproportionately.
- Glazing area, which on a Florida waterfront lot is often the single largest line.
- Millwork and stone, where allowance and reality diverge most.
- Systems: full home automation, generator, elevator, pool and dock.
How we handle it
- 01Review the site and the geotechnical report before discussing budget.
- 02Give a range with the three or four decisions that will move it.
- 03Price real selections rather than round-number allowances wherever possible.
- 04Preconstruction through design development, not a bid at the end.
- 05Permit, build, and manage the trades directly rather than brokering them.
- 06Punch list, turnover and warranty walk at eleven months.
The most useful thing an owner can do early is decide which three things genuinely matter — the kitchen, the water view, the primary suite — and let the rest be excellent rather than exceptional. Projects that try to make everything exceptional are the ones that run out of money at the finishes, which is the worst possible place to run out.
Said plainly
Where we stop
If you want the lowest number, we are not it. There are builders who will hand you a smaller figure now and find the difference in change orders later. We would rather lose the job at the range conversation than win it and have that argument in month fourteen.
FAQ
Common questions
- What does a custom home cost per square foot?
- A range so wide it is not useful without the site and the drawings. Anyone quoting a per-foot figure for luxury work before seeing either is guessing.
- How long does it take?
- Typically well over a year for a substantial house, and permitting alone can be months. We give the realistic program, not the optimistic one.
- Do you work with our architect?
- Yes, and preferably from design development rather than at bid. That is when the cost decisions are still cheap.
- Fixed price or cost-plus?
- Both work. Cost-plus with an open book suits a design that is still evolving; fixed price suits a fully resolved set. We will tell you which your drawings actually support.
The decisions
Fixed Price or Cost-Plus
The contract type decides who carries the risk of the unknown, and both answers are legitimate. What is not legitimate is a fixed price on drawings that cannot support one.
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Choosing a Builder
Three builders will show you three beautiful portfolios and three numbers that differ by a lot. The portfolio tells you what they photograph, not what they are like to build with.
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Allowances & Selections
An allowance is a placeholder for a decision you have not made. A contract full of them is a contract whose final number has not been decided.
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The Program
Every owner is told a number at the start and most projects take longer. The gap is usually permitting, long-lead items and decisions — rarely the building itself.
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Change Orders
Change orders are normal. Designs evolve, owners change their minds, and buildings reveal things. What is not normal is finding out about them at the end.
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More what we build
Waterfront Construction
On a waterfront lot the building is often the straightforward part. The water table, the seawall, the flood elevation and the permitting are what decide the program and a large share of the cost.
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Whole-House Renovation
Renovating an existing house is harder to price than building a new one, because a meaningful part of the scope is behind finishes nobody has opened.
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Historic Restoration
In a historic district the approval process governs the design, and it operates on a timescale that has nothing to do with construction.
Read more →
Next step
Find out what is actually wrong with it.
An inspection, photographs of what we found, and a written scope. If the honest answer is that it can wait another season, that is the answer you will get.