The questions every first meeting starts with.

In the Alder Bay region in 2026, architect-led custom homes run about $520 to $780 per square foot for construction alone. Land, site work, design fees and furniture are separate. Our new homes usually start around $1.5M of construction, and most land between $2.5M and $4M.

About $1.5M of construction for a new home and $400K for a renovation. Below that, we'll tell you plainly and name smaller builders we trust. It's not a brush-off: our team and overhead are built for larger, slower projects.

An allowance is a placeholder for a choice you haven't made yet, like tile or lighting. We set ours from selections you've already made with our selections lead, at real quoted prices, so they hold up when the invoices arrive.

Across the last ten years, our final costs have averaged within 5% of the signed budget. You can see the spread for each project on the reviews and results page, and ask the owners yourself.

Yes. Design and preconstruction is a paid, fixed-fee phase, usually 4 to 6% of construction cost. We quote it in writing before you commit to anything. The first meeting is free.

Usually two to three years in total: 4 to 6 weeks of feasibility, 4 to 9 months of design, 6 weeks to 5 months of permits, and 10 to 20 months of construction. We give you a written schedule outline early and update it at every checkpoint.

Because it lets our principal walk every site on Fridays, keeps one superintendent on your house from start to finish, and means our project managers run two jobs, not six. Saying no to volume is how we say yes to detail.

Your first meeting includes the principal, the architect and the estimator. During construction you'll see the same superintendent every week, and our selections lead guides every finish choice.

Often, yes. Waterfront, hillside and rural sites with wells and septic are a big part of our work. We check what the site will demand during feasibility, before you spend money on design.

Yes. We build for outside architects as gladly as for our own studio, and we're most useful when we join during design, so pricing can guide the drawings early.

Every change is priced, written and signed before the work proceeds. No verbal approvals, no surprises on the next draw.

Every week. There's a Tuesday owner walk with the schedule and budget on page one, a monthly open-book draw, and a same-week call whenever something changes.

Across Alder Bay and the Carrington valley, usually within about an hour of the Coach House studio, so our principal and superintendent can be on site every week.

A 2-year systems warranty and a 10-year structural warranty, in writing, plus scheduled visits at 60 days and 11 months to fix what settling reveals.

Call the studio. We keep every shop drawing and finish record for the life of the house, and our carpenters still service homes we finished a decade ago.