Custom home builders Louisville, Broomfield Longmont (Westminster, Boulder: sales, new construction, cabinets)

[Retire Mike]

Any help with possible custom home builders in Louisville, Broomfield, Longmont area. Probably build a 2000-2500 sq. ft. home Thanks

[mic111]

One option is Huntington Estates. They have several custom home builders. It is north Westminster, next to Broomfield.

Communities
CSI Construction

There is a sales center on site which I believe represents several custom builders.

There is also Spruce Meadows. You have several choices in that development also.
What to love about Spruce Meadows Community in Broomfield, Colorado
CSI Construction

[Lennny]

OP, could you be more specific?
A alot of peeps think that that the builder associated with a particuilar development is a custom home builder, but you may find a lot of them only work specifically with particular developments. In essence, they only build pre-determined structures on their lots and can only customize the "finishes" (cabinets, tile, carpet, etc).
If you purchased a lot, lets say the older area of Boulder and want a house built on it, you can go a lot of ways with this. I recommend looking for Architects that have an office in your locality that specializes on designing homes. You can contract with architects 2 ways, 1 way they design your home and work with your selected builder or construction company, or the second way is to retain your Architect as the Construction Manager, although this route can be costly. In Boulder, I would recomend Annette Shaver of Shaver Associates 303-444-4337. Be certain your Architect is registered with the state of Colorado . All to often I run across owners that contracted a "designer" and after paying them, scoff at me when I tell them they need to hire a structural engineer to sign off on the foundation design before we can build it. You are going to have to understand that you will have to pay a lot more money this route, then if you simply selected a lot and a pre determined "shell". You should also try to contact your cities Planning and Developing office, and make yourself familiar with your cities or counties building codes and regulations.
In essence, it is time consuming, expensive, and it has such a learning curve, that when you are built and done, you will have that "next time I can do it beter/differently" thoughts ruminating thorugh your head. If you are just looking for a "new" home then by all means deal with the car salesmen of home developments that call themselves "custom home builders". They are salesmen, not custom home builders, but most peeps don't know (or care to know) that their is a difference. Remember: Custom Home is all in the eye of the beholder.

[Retire Mike]

(Mike's wife replying here):
Mic111: Thank you for the suggestions. We will check out the links.

Lenny: Thank you for the information. Mike was requesting "custom home" builder resources mainly because we are guessing that in order to get what we really want in a home, we'll probably have to build it ourselves. All your points are valid. In our varied home ownership history, we have both remodeled and built per your definition of custom and you are right...we probably do not want to go to all the expense and detailed effort a true custom home transaction entails again. I have heretofore had the advantage of familiarity with the reputations of my resources, applicable law, building code and permit requirements, expected area soil analysis, amenities of the locale, etc. which I would have to educate myself on elsewhere.

We are looking for a reputable builder (maybe semi-custom or whatever that would be called) known for quality housing with access to build to suit on existing lots that allow some yard space, who will allow us to incorporate structural modifications as well as finishes and materials to one of his/her existing plans we basically like. And we'd have to like the existing or planned development area...

Besides housing, we are still researching and comparing other aspects of moving to various parts of CO or NM via available on-line information we can find with physical visits to follow.

[Noahma]

Originally Posted by Retire Mike

Any help with possible custom home builders in Louisville, Broomfield, Longmont area. Probably build a 2000-2500 sq. ft. home Thanks

Originally Posted by mic111

One option is Huntington Estates. They have several custom home builders. It is north Westminster, next to Broomfield.

Communities

I will second Huntington Trails is a smaller sub-division they are almost built out, Spruce Meadows are going to be larger lots and larger homes but is a great sub-division. I am an Architectural Designer that works with all three of the major builders in Huntington Trails and a few of the builders in Spruce Meadows. They are all custom builders as the production home lots in Huntington are sold out, and Spruce does not allow production homes within the sub-division.

CSI builders is a great company, we have worked with them for years. Carl Sandusky is the owner, and does a very good job meeting his clients needs.

Coenen Homes is another that builds in Huntington and Spruce Meadows, I really like these guys. I have done several hundred homes over the past 13 years with them. Dave Coenen is a very down to earth guy, and Donna in the office is a pretty funny lady

DRH builders and Homes by Dana is another we have been doing work with that is in Huntington Trails, I have only nice things to say about Dana. He could be considered the high end builder in Huntington.

I can also recommend Shaub Custom homes, and Kruegar Construction. Both do some outstanding construction.

CSI Construction

There is a sales center on site which I believe represents several custom builders.

There is also Spruce Meadows. You have several choices in that development also.
What to love about Spruce Meadows Community in Broomfield, Colorado
CSI Construction

Originally Posted by Lennny

OP, could you be more specific?
A alot of peeps think that that the builder associated with a particuilar development is a custom home builder, but you may find a lot of them only work specifically with particular developments. In essence, they only build pre-determined structures on their lots and can only customize the "finishes" (cabinets, tile, carpet, etc).
If you purchased a lot, lets say the older area of Boulder and want a house built on it, you can go a lot of ways with this. I recommend looking for Architects that have an office in your locality that specializes on designing homes. You can contract with architects 2 ways, 1 way they design your home and work with your selected builder or construction company, or the second way is to retain your Architect as the Construction Manager, although this route can be costly. In Boulder, I would recomend Annette Shaver of Shaver Associates 303-444-4337. Be certain your Architect is registered with the state of Colorado . All to often I run across owners that contracted a "designer" and after paying them, scoff at me when I tell them they need to hire a structural engineer to sign off on the foundation design before we can build it. You are going to have to understand that you will have to pay a lot more money this route, then if you simply selected a lot and a pre determined "shell". You should also try to contact your cities Planning and Developing office, and make yourself familiar with your cities or counties building codes and regulations.
In essence, it is time consuming, expensive, and it has such a learning curve, that when you are built and done, you will have that "next time I can do it beter/differently" thoughts ruminating thorugh your head. If you are just looking for a "new" home then by all means deal with the car salesmen of home developments that call themselves "custom home builders". They are salesmen, not custom home builders, but most peeps don't know (or care to know) that their is a difference. Remember: Custom Home is all in the eye of the beholder.

By going with a Registered Architect, you will have the potential of increasing the cost of the design process by quite a bit. You do not need to be a registered architect in the state of Colorado to design single family, and duplex homes. Anything considered Multi-family you do. ALL homes built in Colorado MUST be engineered by a structural engineer regardless if a registered architect is leading the project or not. The two sub-divisions and the one builder listed in the second post ARE custom builders / sub-divisions. Huntington Trails was a mixed custom / production sub-division but the production side has been built out for several years, and no new construction or open lots are available. Only the custom lots are still available.

Originally Posted by Retire Mike

(Mike's wife replying here):
Mic111: Thank you for the suggestions. We will check out the links.

Lenny: Thank you for the information. Mike was requesting "custom home" builder resources mainly because we are guessing that in order to get what we really want in a home, we'll probably have to build it ourselves. All your points are valid. In our varied home ownership history, we have both remodeled and built per your definition of custom and you are right...we probably do not want to go to all the expense and detailed effort a true custom home transaction entails again. I have heretofore had the advantage of familiarity with the reputations of my resources, applicable law, building code and permit requirements, expected area soil analysis, amenities of the locale, etc. which I would have to educate myself on elsewhere.

We are looking for a reputable builder (maybe semi-custom or whatever that would be called) known for quality housing with access to build to suit on existing lots that allow some yard space, who will allow us to incorporate structural modifications as well as finishes and materials to one of his/her existing plans we basically like. And we'd have to like the existing or planned development area...

Besides housing, we are still researching and comparing other aspects of moving to various parts of CO or NM via available on-line information we can find with physical visits to follow.

I know your post is a couple months old. I hope you have found what your looking for, but if not There are many options available to you. Of course you can check with any potential builders / designers on the BBB website. Colorado was hit pretty hard by the recession, and many builders are no longer operating. Those that are ready to get moving again. They survived for a reason, either they had HUGE cash reserves, or they are good.

So finding a builder you like is one option. Another is contacting an Architect or Residential designer themselves. This could be considered a good idea if you are not sure of a specific builder. It allows you to get the design process moving, and allows for you to be able to shop your builder and make sure they build to what YOU want.