05 About Hartwell
A carpenter's studio that learned to draw.
Hartwell began in 2004 as three carpenters in a coach house. Twenty-two years later we are 26 architects, estimators and builders under one roof, still building 8 homes a year, and still pricing and designing them in the same room.
The story
One idea, kept for twenty-two years.
June Hartwell spent ten years as a finish carpenter watching beautiful drawings arrive on site with budgets that could never build them. The design happened in one office and the pricing in another, and the client paid for the gap.
So she started a studio where the two would share a hallway. First it was carpenters and an estimator. In 2014 our own architects moved in, and Hartwell became fully design-build: one team, one contract and one number that everyone at the table is responsible for.
In 2016 we set a limit of eight homes a year. It cost us growth, and it is the best decision we ever made. It means the principal still walks every site on Fridays, one superintendent stays with your house from footings to keys, and the studio still answers the phone in year five.
What we value
Four habits we refuse to give up.
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One hallway
Architects, estimator and builders work side by side under one contract, so the design and the budget are tested against each other every week.
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An open book
Every invoice visible, allowances set from real choices, and contingency stated in every budget. If a number moves, you hear it from us first.
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A deliberate cap
Eight homes a year. It is the reason our principal can walk your site every Friday, and the reason we still answer the phone in year five.
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Craft we keep in-house
Our own carpenters build the stairs, kitchens and paneling most builders order from a catalog, and they train the next generation while they do it.
The shop
We still build the parts most builders order.
Our carpentry crew builds kitchens, stairs, libraries and paneling in solid wood. In winter the crew moves into the shop behind the Coach House, so the millwork for spring's houses is built in January, not ordered in April.
Since 2010 our four-year apprenticeship has trained eleven journeyed carpenters. Craft is a hiring decision before it is a slogan.
Along the way
Twenty-two years, six decisions.
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2004
A carpenter's studio
June Hartwell opens the Coach House with three carpenters and one rule: price and design in the same room.
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2010
The apprenticeship
A four-year craft program begins. Eleven journeyed carpenters have graduated since.
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2014
Architecture moves in
Priya Raman joins and the studio becomes fully design-build, architects and estimator down one hallway.
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2016
The cap
We set the limit at eight homes a year, and have kept it every year since.
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2019
Open book, always
Monthly open-book draws become standard on every contract, not just on request.
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2026
Twenty-two years in
Twenty-six people, one studio, and a ten-year average of under 5% between contract and final cost.
The team
Five people, five promises.
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June Hartwell
Founder & Principal
The promise: every number and date we put in writing.
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Priya Raman
Director of Architecture
The design: proportion, light and your brief, kept whole from sketch to keys.
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Tom Whitaker
Preconstruction Director
The number: real allowances, priced drawings, no teaser budgets.
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Sofia Reyes
Interiors & Selections Lead
The decisions: every selection made on time, on budget and in writing.
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Dale Kowalski
Senior Site Superintendent
The site: safety, sequence and a jobsite you could bring your grandmother to.
Hartwell is a fictional studio, so the team appears as monograms rather than portraits.
Where we build.
Alder Bay and the Carrington valley, usually within an hour of the Coach House. That keeps our principal and superintendent on your site every week. Waterfront lots, hillsides and rural land with wells and septic are a big part of our work.
The Coach House, 12 Milliner's Row, Alder Bay · +1 (555) 019-2400
Begin
Begin with ninety honest minutes.
The first meeting costs nothing and commits you to nothing: your brief, real per-square-foot numbers said out loud, and a frank answer about fit in both directions. We take on 8 homes a year, so the conversation is the whole first step.
The studio: studio@hartwellhomes.example · +1 (555) 019-2400