Best Custom Home Builders in Texas
Best Custom Home Builders in Texas
The idea of building a custom home in Texas can be exciting until you have to find custom home builders in Texas. Luckily, our guide to building a custom home and advice on selecting between Texas custom home builders can help address some of the confusion surrounding the home-build process.
Whether you are building a pre-designed model or from a set of custom architectural plans, the process of building a house can be overwhelming. From selecting the right piece of land to choosing the right architect & builder, and ensuring that everything comes together on time and within budget, there are a lot of moving processes. To help you fully understand what it takes to build a custom home, we created a guide to help you plan, decide, and execute on all of the major steps in the process, including finding the right Texas custom home builder for your project.
Below, we have compiled a list of resources that are specific to custom home building in the Lone Star State. That includes a selection of custom home builders in Texas, resources on finding experienced general contractors in Texas, and information on building requirements for custom homes in Texas.
Texas Custom Home Builders
Depending on your situation, you may be looking to work either with an architect/designer and a separate construction company, or you might want to work with a full-service company that completes all stages of the process themselves. We have included a selection of custom home builders in Texas (both architects/design firms & full-service builders) that can help you realize your dream of building a custom home.
Lake Flato Architects - (San Antonio, TX)
Lake Flato Architects is a San Antonio-based architectural firm specializing in high-end, sustainable homes. They work with buyers to create fully-custom home designs which are based on a combination of buyer wants and findings from site analysis. Their portfolio highlights the range of architectural styles they offer and includes modern homes, high-end ranches, and a series of more traditional porch homes.
With respect to project-architect fit, there are a few important things to consider. Aesthetically speaking, their homes largely feature modern architecture with traditional elements mixed in. Additionally, their homes are largely designed with sustainability in mind. As a firm, they have been recognized both for their architectural and sustainability achievements. They primarily act as a design-management firm and can oversee projects, though they do not actually complete any of the building themselves.
From a cost perspective, they bill customers using both one-time concept fees and architecture fees. On their porch house series, for example, the concept fee is $30,000 and the architecture fee is 10% of construction costs. The all-in cost of a custom home from Lake Flato Architects in Texas can range anywhere from $365 - $600+ per square foot.
Example of Work: Washington County Ranch
Backcountry Containers - (Needville, TX)
Backcountry Containers is a designer and builder of custom shipping container homes. They can work with buyers to create fully-custom home designs that are built using recycled shipping containers. Their past projects range from smaller single-family homes to multi-container houses with rooftop decks & porches.
When deciding whether Backcountry Containers is a good fit for your project, there are a few key areas to evaluate. First, their past projects all heavily-feature shipping containers in their architecture. Second, they offer turn-key project services meaning that they can assist with the design, site preparation, and construction of their homes.
From a cost perspective, most custom homes from Backcountry Containers range in cost from $315 - $365+ per square foot, with most multi-container projects beginning at $100,000.
Example of Work: Bosque Bungalow
Stackhouse Container Homes - (Cedar Park, TX)
Stackhouse is a designer and builder of both pre-designed & custom container or metal frame homes. They are based in Cedar Park and tend to work on projects in the Austin-Cedar Park area. Although they have a fairly small service area, they are able to offer turn-key building services. This allows them to handle all stages of the custom home building process - design, site work, installation, and finishes.
Stackhouse has a limited operating history making it difficult to definitively say which architectural styles they specialize in. Past custom projects, however, have had strong industrial and country aesthetic influences, though their pre-designed homes feature modern designs. Their early custom houses tend to cost $400+ per square foot, while their pre-engineered floor plans range in cost from $350 - $600 per square foot.
Example of Work:
Boxprefab & intexture - (Houston, TX)
Boxprefab is a designer and builder of prefabricated ADUs and homes. They offer a series of pre-designed homes, all of which feature modern architecture. Additionally, they can act as a custom home builder in Texas, using intexture as their design firm.
Design-wise, Boxprefab specializes in building sustainable homes that feature green materials. Aesthetically, they also work on homes with modern, yet functional homes. This is in line with intexture’s design philosophy, which has won them several design and sustainability awards for their modern, green architecture.
When considering the logistics of working with a Texas-based custom home builder, it is worth noting that Boxprefab offers turn-key building services. That means that while their partners, intexture, will design the home, all other parts of the project will be handled by Boxprefab. It is also worth mentioning that the owners and architects behind intexture are the founders and operators of Boxprefab. While Boxprefab’s standard home designs start at $200 per square foot, it is likely that a custom home designed by intexture will likely cost more than that.
Example of Work: Garden Oaks Home
Tomececk Studio Architecture (Denver, Colorado)
Tomececk Studio Architecture is an architecture and design firm that is based in Denver, Colorado. While they are not based in Texas, we have included them in our list of custom home builders as they can work on projects throughout the United States.
Architecturally, their past designs feature modern architecture but also tend to be based on traditional styles like ranches and colonials. Many of their designs also tend to feature a mix of materials like stone, glass, wood, and metal work.
To help you decide if Tomececk Studio Architects is a good fit for your Texas custom home build, there are a few things to note. First, while they do not build homes themselves, they do offer project supervision services and can even make site visits to check on projects. And from a cost standpoint, projects often range in cost from $250 - $400+ per square foot, with design fees ranging from 7 - 12% of construction costs.
Example of Work: Fractured
Builders & General Contractors in Texas
If you choose to work with more than one company to build your custom home (ex. An architect and a local builder or an architect, manufacturer, and local builder), you may be wondering how to find a local contractor with a background as a custom home builder in Texas. Criteria you will want to consider in your search may include:
Operational History - How long have they been in business? Do they have positive reviews? Can you speak to past clients?
Cost - How much do they estimate your project will cost? Do they have a history of staying on time and under budget?
Location - Are they located nearby to your project site? Are they familiar with local regulations?
To help you search for contractors and custom home builders in Texas, helpful resources include:
Local Home Builder Associations in Texas - contact your local chapter of home builders to search for qualified candidates
Google Maps - Google can be a helpful resource for finding custom home builders that are located within your area
Friends & Family - while this might not be as tech-forward as some of the other methods, this can be a trusted way of finding a quality builder with good recommendations
Alternatively, If you are looking to build a prefab home in Texas, both as a way to reduce your project’s budget or speed up your project’s completion time, you may be interested in our resources for:
