I have some land out in somerville that is just about cleared and ready for building. Now all I need to do is find a top notch builder in the area. Anyone have any reccomendations.

I posted some suggestions under the "Can someone check my house" thread. There are quite a few really good builders in the B/CS area, depends on what you are looking for price wise and custom wise. Check out www.bcsbuilders.org and see if that might help you out.

Kenny Malesky built my house, awesome guy and credible work. I highly recommend.

I have worked with Bob and Ann Horton several times and all of our mutual clients have been very pleased. Handy Homes, Noble and Jason, is another local builder that I have heard good things about, although I have never dealt with them professionally, I know they are good people personally!

For a truly top notch builder, I'd suggest Jefferson Christian Homes. They built the Southern Living home out in Traditions and have done others on not so grand a scale. Here's a link to their site:http://www.jeffersonchristian.net/

I'd suggest coming back when you narrow it down to 2 or 3. We're not bashful about sharing our horror stories. There was even a related thread a while back. Unfortunately, I can't recall exactly which ones folks said to stay away from. I'm sure others will be along shortly to add to the list.

**NOTE: I don't work for them, just think they build beautiful homes.

Horton is a good guy but "retired" now I believe...We went with Dennis Husfeld (Husfeld Homes) and could not be happier...Kind of laid back, as I am, but will put the screws to a sub-con when needed...

Thanks folks. For reference it's a 4257 sq ft multi-level home designed by Shepley Bulfinch a firm in Boston. There is nothing real tricky about the design though. I am going to want to be pretty specific about materials used and am installing some leading edge heating and cooling systems. One of my concerns is that I'll be able to spend very little time on site because a project is going to have me out in LA for the next 18-24 months unless I can convince the client to allow the work to be done offsite.

[This message has been edited by bdp514am (edited 6/17/2007 10:35p).]

4257 sq ft, dayum, that will be one nice place. You should definitely go with one of the upper end builders in the area. Do you see the Traditions ad that runs on the bottom of this page. You should click on it and they go to the real estate section to view some of the homes and builders out at Traditions. Sounds like some of those builders could be a good fit for you.

Mariott Homes (www.mariotthomes.com) built our house and I highly recommend them, especially for the type of house and situation you described. They have excellent quality and have some of the best contractors that work with them, and have built many of the houses in Pebble Creek.



[This message has been edited by pmiller (edited 6/17/2007 10:55p).]

Some of the upper end builders I've plumbed for in town include Stokes, Mavrick, and MLS. They usually build LARGE homes and VERY nice homes. Good luck with you new house!

If Horton is retired then he must have built a bunch before doing so.(sarcasm) So many that he and his wife are still closing on them as recently as last week!

I have lived in Brazos County my whole life and know a LOT of builders. If you want to shoot me an email, I can get you in contact with a few (and even possibly get you a better price).

Aggie99 at AggieNetwork dot com

Clay Kolby is building my house right now. www.claykolby.com The guy does amazing work and is great to work with. Most of his stuff is in the 4Ksqft/$400K-$500K range, but he can obviously do anything. Let me know if you'd like to see any pics of his jobs - I've got a pile of pics of several of his different jobs, including my own place. The benefit of using Clay is that his wife works for him. She helps with all of the selections (paint, carpet, hardware, fixtures, etc), so it really helps cut out the runaround - she knows what to get and knows where to get it. It really makes things go smoothly.

Also, Dennis Husfeld does really good work. He built Fleen's house a year or so ago and it was a pretty nice setup, from what I understand.

Southern Estate Homes/Handy Homes-- been building in B/CS for about 20 years, and 33 years overall. Mostly built in Woodcreek, Pebble Creek, Southwood Forest, Spring Meadows, and also in Copperfield, Traditions, and Nantucket. He's also done a couple of houses out in Carlos, and he's doing a custom in Navasota right now. Give him a call and he'll walk you through his houses like he did for me. You'll learn a lot whether you decide to use them or not.

Super-
You know where he's building in Nav?

Dove Crossing-- off of the Hwy 6 feeder. about 2800-3000 sqft.

I figured that was it - it's towards the back. I was just hoping it wasn't that austin stone house with the spanish tile roof in Austiana Hills.

The new "construction boom" in town is nuts - more than a handful of $300K homes have gone up in the past year or so. Because of this newfound desire for Nav, the county basically jacked everyone's property values up by $20K if you're under 2500sqft or $40K if you're over 2500sqft.

Another strong thumbs up for Marriott Homes. Larry built one of our houses and he especially shined in the after the sale treatment we got. We had one problem 3 YEARS after it was built that clearly was there from the beginning. We just went to him and asked who he used for that, not expecting him to pay for it. He said it was obvious that it was there from the beginning and fixed it at no cost to us. Two years LATER (5 years post-building)our fence gate came off. We called to ask who he recommended to fix it. Before we knew it, someone from a fence firm came out, fixed it, and when we asked how much we owed he just said, "Just let Larry know I took care of you." If we build again, we won't hesitate to use him.

Thanks so much for all the feedback. One of the things that really sucks about moving back from Los Angeles is I no longer have my normal support network - big things like plumbers, electricians, builders, doctors etc as well as the little things like finding a dry cleaners, a maid the best breakfast in town etc. You guys have been very helpful.

The best support network you can have is a bunch of Aggies on this board directing you one way or the other. You need any of those kind of people you mentioned above, just post it on here and you will be amazed at the response you will get. The will give you the good, bad and the ugly which will help in making an informed decision. You may not have a support network back in B/CS yet but if you stay around this board long enough you will have one in no time. Good luck to you and welcome back to Aggieland. I am sure the housing costs here are a nice surprise over LA!

I agree with everything said...Marriott is WONDERFUL! Stay away from STOKES...

I recommend Charlie Williams of JLC BUILDING SERVICES 979-777-3551.


David N Bailey, DC, MPH '73, '05
http://baileyhwc.com