04.1 Services · Custom homes
One team, one contract and one accountable number, from the first sketch to the keys.
The work
Design-build means our architects, estimator and builders work as one team under one contract. The other way, design first and bid later, is how cantilevers get cut down to porches and budgets get discovered too late.
We take on eight homes a year across new homes and major renovations, on purpose. That cap is what pays for the Friday principal walks, the same superintendent from footings to keys, and a studio that still answers the phone in year five.
For families building an architecturally serious home in the Alder Bay region, usually 3,000 to 7,000 square feet.
The money, plainly
Design and preconstruction is a paid phase, usually 4 to 6% of construction cost, quoted as a fixed fee before you commit.
In our region in 2026, architect-led custom homes run about $520 to $780 per square foot before land and site work. We say that at the first meeting, too.
Build under cost-plus with a fixed fee and a fully open book, or at a fixed price once the drawings are complete. Your call, and we explain both in plain English.
Allowances are set from your real selections at 90% documents, not from teaser numbers. Every new-home budget we write carries a 5% owner's contingency.
Every figure here is part of a fictional demo, set to be realistic for a high-end regional builder in 2026. Read the cost talk
How it runs
The full six phases, start to finish, with our own architects drawing.
01 · 90 minutes · no fee
02 · 4 to 6 weeks · fixed fee
03 · 4 to 9 months
04 · 3 to 5 weeks
05 · 10 to 20 months
06 · Move-in + 12 months
The proof
2025
Modern · New custom home
Solana Point, Alder Bay waterfront
A pavilion house on the point: a cantilevered walnut canopy, an infinity edge to the bay, and not one repeated detail.
2024
Transitional · New custom home
Briar Hollow, Carrington foothills
Fieldstone, sand-float stucco and white-oak carriage doors. A hill-country house that will look as right in forty years as it did on day one.
2023
Classical & heritage · New custom home
Calloway Lane, Alder Bay
A painted-brick Georgian at the head of a working pear orchard: true divided-light sashes, plaster cornices and proportions you can feel from the road.
No. Many clients come to us while they are still choosing a lot. We can walk shortlisted sites with you and tell you what each one will demand (well, septic, retaining, utilities) before you buy.
Most of ours take 4 to 9 months of design and 13 to 20 months of construction. Permits add 6 weeks to 5 months depending on the site. We give you a schedule skeleton during feasibility and update it at every checkpoint.
Yes. Cost-plus with a fixed fee shows you every invoice. A fixed price, set from complete drawings, moves more risk to us. We explain the trade-offs and you choose.
Renovations
Old houses get a vote. We open the walls before we price the work, then keep every promise the discovery lets us make.
Architect partnerships
Bring your architect. We'll be the builder who prices the drawings honestly, then builds them as drawn.
Interiors & millwork
Selections made calmly and on time, and the cabinetry, stairs and paneling built by our own carpenters.
Begin
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