Noted for being one of the most populous cities in Jefferson County, Lakewood is one of the best places to live in Colorado. It provides its residents with an urban-suburban mix environment, with a large portion of its population owning their own homes.
Lakewood also offers numerous exciting and lively restaurants, coffee shops, and parks. Homes here are a rich mix of varying traditional and modern themes. Behind these homes are some of the city’s most experienced builders. This list showcases ten of the best custom home builders in the area. They were chosen based on merit, personal backgrounds, and their portfolios.
Cornerstone Homes
1005 S 120th St. Unit #201, Lafayette, CO 80026
Since its inception in 1988, Cornerstone Custom Homes has worked on more than 150 one-of-a-kind projects. It takes on both ground-up construction and large-scale renovations and specializes in an extensive range of designs. The firm has also established and secured relationships with some of the area’s leading architects and designers. The result: numerous elegantly crafted homes throughout some of the area’s best residential communities. The firm’s work has been featured in magazines like 5280 and Luxe. It is also the proud recipient of an award from the National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA) for one of its kitchen remodels. The firm also uses a design-build approach and showcases an excellent portfolio, depicting a gallery of various luxurious modern and contemporary homes and spaces. The project below perfectly embodies its expertise.
Labeled in the firm’s portfolio as the “T House,” this project was completed in Longmont. It sits atop a 40-acre property north of Boulder and fits naturally into the hillside. Inside, its homeowners can bask in fantastic sweeping views of the front range. The firm’s team opted for a seamless indoor-outdoor floor plan, floor-to-ceiling windows, deep roof overhangs, and sliding pocket doors. It also showcases smooth clay interior wall finishes and countless modern minimalistic details.
Camerata Homes
7091 S Sedalia St., Foxfield, CO 80016
Camerata Homes extends its services throughout Colorado. It specializes in semi-custom and custom homebuilding services and offers its clients a complete and comprehensive range of services. With more than eight decades of collective building experience, the firm’s team assists clients throughout the entire process—from offering design and conceptualization services to providing accurate budget analyses, obtaining permits, and completing finishing touches. It uses the highest quality materials and efficient building practices and has established an excellent network of professionals and quality contractors to collaborate on various projects. Camerata is the proud recipient of many awards, including numerous distinctions from the Home Building Association of Metro Denver.
At the firm’s helm is Jan Knibbe. He offers the firm’s clients over four decades of industry experience and first gained experience working for one of the nation’s largest home builders, serving as the president of its Denver office. He is noted for his excellent remodeling skills and was also honored by HomeAid Colorado for his volunteer efforts.
Sopris Homes
6420 Gunpark Dr. Suite D, Boulder, CO 80301
Sopris Homes is made up of a team of leading architects, engineers, interior design consultants, and exterior colorists. It offers a comprehensive range of luxury custom home building services and takes great pride in being one of only a handful of U.S. EPA’s exclusive Energy Star builders in the state. All of its homes are constructed in adherence to the latest International Energy Conservation Code and uses a highly personalized approach. This ensures that its projects meet a homeowner’s lifestyle and needs. Additionally, it emphasizes the importance of close collaboration with its clients during the process, which has allowed it to craft and secure significant relationships with numerous homeowners throughout its years in the industry. That said, it is also noted for its excellent ability to customize a home’s exterior and interior design and finishes. Additionally, all of its projects come with a notable seven-year warranty.
The project featured here depicts its Maybell model. This is one of its most popular plans often used as a foundation. It features seamlessly blended interior and exterior spaces, along with a grand entry with radial stairs, an open-air kitchen, and several entertainment and living spaces.
Timber Ridge Properties
5445 DTC Pkwy. Penthouse #4, Greenwood Village, CO 80111
Timber Ridge Properties specializes in both custom homebuilding and remodeling services. It is particularly regarded for its expertise in modern designs, often tailor-fit to accommodate Colorado’s landscape. The firm is family owned and operated and draws inspiration from over three decades of industry experience. It uses a highly personalized boutique approach, ensuring that no two homes are alike. Additionally, it has experience in every facet of the process, which includes construction, design, remodeling and renovation, architecture, finance, and real estate. It has been lauded on multiple occasions for its excellent contributions to the industry. Some of its most important distinctions include being selected as one of the Top 3 Home Builders in Denver and several awards from the annual Parade of Homes and from the NKBA.
Showcased here is one of the firm’s modern Tuscan masterpieces. Sifting through its portfolio, these modern renditions of otherwise classic themes are something of a regular theme for the firm. For this home specifically, it opted for large windows, angular roofs, and several unique fixtures to give it its contemporary touch.
GRC Builders
8191 Southpark Ln. Suite #105, Littleton, CO 80120
Extending its services throughout the South Denver metro area, GRC Builders is a family-owned and operated firm that offers numerous custom home building services. It is regarded for its excellent attention to detail, meticulous methods, and personalized approach. Further, the firm provides interested clients with free estimates upon consultation. These come with absolutely no obligations, with clients also having the option of brainstorming with its professionals for a design. GRC is perhaps best known for its kitchen and bathroom remodels, basements, and home additions. It has more than 35 years of experience and has established an excellent clientele list for itself. All of GRC’s projects come with one-year warranties and cover the labor and materials on all jobs.
The firm has also worked on numerous unique spaces that demand skill from its builders. These include home offices, sunspaces, master suites with steam showers, saunas or jetted tubs, media rooms, exercise rooms, and game rooms. It is also a Certified Green Professional, ensuring that its projects are designed and crafted with only the best sustainable materials and elements.
Hess Custom Homes
P.O. Box 5089, Frisco, CO 80443
Established in 1993, Hess Custom Homes works on distinctive custom homes and remodels and has since curated a portfolio of high-end homes and extensive remodels and renovations. Its namesake and founder Greg Hess leads the firm, who has experience serving as a mediator and expert witness on numerous construction defects and construction-related dispute cases. He is actually a certified Construction Arbitrator and serves on the National Board of Arbitrators for Construction Dispute Resolution Services (CDRS). He personally oversees each of the firm’s projects, ensuring the quality of the company’s work. Under his leadership, Hess has gained an extraordinary reputation for its attention to detail and hands-on project management, as well as its excellent budget analyses. This approach has won the firm acclaim through the years and is further bolstered with several sustainability and energy-efficiency processes.
The firm is a Certified Green Building Professional and maintains affiliations with organizations like the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and EnergyStar. Its best work is illustrated in the project featured here. Dubbed as the “Beulah Ranch,” this custom home spans more than 6,500 square feet. It features Ground Source Geothermal heating and cooling systems, pine sidings, its own mudroom, a movie theater, and a large open-concept Chef’s kitchen.
Kurowski Development Co.
9200 W Cross Dr. Suite #319, Littleton, CO 80123
Founded in 1976, Kurowski Development dedicates itself to building energy-efficient, environmentally conscious custom homes. It extends its services throughout Denver, with some of its best homes found in areas such as Greenwood Reserve at Cherry Creek, Boulder, Castle Park Ranch, Castle Pines, and Cherry Creek. At its helm is John Kurowski, an experienced professional who keeps an eye throughout the entire process, assuring homeowners that their new spaces will receive the benefit of his experience. He is joined by a handpicked staff of experienced professionals who are well versed in every phase and facet of the process. Together, they have won multiple awards under the firm’s name. Some of these distinctions include the Energy Value Housing Award from the NAHB’s Research Center and an Excellence in Sustainability Award from Whirlpool’s The Green Touch.
The project above depicts one of its best award-winning projects. Lauded with the 2010 Energy Value Housing Silver Award, the Woodhaven project was designed and crafted with energy-efficient solutions. It primarily features a classic craftsman design coupled with various transitional finishes.
Reed Design Builders
1701 Wadsworth Blvd., Lakewood, CO, 80214
With nearly three decades of industry experience, Reed Design Builders specializes in infill construction. It extends its services throughout the Denver metro area. It has also worked on several new-build neighborhoods, which include Baker, Highlands, Sloans, LoHi, and Berkeley. For the last decade, it has worked on more than 300 units, which include both single and multifamily projects. It is also noted for its excellent historic preservations and wonderful interior design. Aside from its residential work, the firm has also taken on several commercial projects and tenant finishing spaces. It has on its staff real estate professionals and several other licensed experts, which allows it to keep the entire process in house.
As for its designs, its portfolio depicts a variety of modern and contemporary styles. This is best seen in the project below. For this home, it opted for a combination of wood, brick, and concrete. A recurring theme of straight lines coupled with clean finishes can also be observed. Its team also crafted several decks, large entryways, and minimalist windows.
