The Best Custom Home Builders in West Virginia

West Virginia is a great place for people searching for a peaceful life, with the backdrop of mountains and rivers. Compared to other states, West Virginia has a lower cost of living, which makes finding and buying homes below $100,000 an easy feat. These homes do have various styles that mirror the homeowner’s personality and way of living, but West Virginia has an impressive amount of red-bricked colonial homes, with some of them exhibiting white accents to give the home some embellishment. Though this list for custom home builders is short, it showcases some of West Virginia’s most respected contractors, valued for their drive towards creating the perfect home for their clients. While customer reviews and work ethic were taken into consideration, these firms were also listed due to features in publications like Modern Builder + Design, Southern Living, and Country Living.

Along with these magazine features, some of these firms also won awards like the Home Building Associaton (HBA)’s Builder Member of The Year and the Palladio Award for Vandalia which is a national design awards program that honors achievements in traditional architectural design. As firms that have enough experience to attain such recognition, the majority of these firms also have memberships in the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

If you are thinking about building a custom home, we recommend checking each builder’s license with the local licensing board, speaking to past clients, and using our bidding system to get competitive quotes from at least 3 contractors. Getting multiple bids is the best way to ensure you get a fair price and that bids include the complete scope of work.

6) Miller’s Residential

135 Integrity Ter., Martinsburg, WV 25405

A builder respected throughout Martinsburg, Miller’s Residential has numerous repeat clients across the state. Based on reviews from these customers, most projects are a result of the team’s dedication to creating products that are both functional and beautifully designed. One example of these homes is an approximately 5,200-square-foot ranch-style home. Though it has a simple exterior, one of the most notable features of this home is the great room. Along with a dining and kitchen area, a separate office adjoins the living area.

To highlight the welcoming space, the firm also installed a gas fireplace encased in stone and an authentic barn beam mantle. Outside, a wood fireplace completes the outdoor entertainment area. Miller’s Residential has been building homes in the farmhouse and colonial styles since Brian Miler established it in 2004. Along with his team, Miller is known to be realistic, knowledgeable, innovative, and focused.

5) Wolfe Construction

1414 MacCorkle Ave., SW, Charleston, WV 25303

Wolfe Construction is one of the most trusted names when it comes to commercial and high-end residential construction. Established in 1965 by Josh Wolfe, this firm emphasizes its services for design building, project management, and construction management. As a residential builder, Wolfe Construction has built many luxury custom homes for some of the area’s most prestigious neighborhoods, generally in the Craftsman, farmhouse, and shingle styles. To ensure that the clients get their money’s worth, the firm works with other designers and vendors to fill its sales office with mock-ups of systems and finishes. This collaboration may be one reason why the firm is able to build new homes, renovate, or do conversions of existing spaces.

Along with the help of other industry companies, Wolfe Construction has built over 17,000,000 square feet of residential and mixed-use buildings for private and national developer clients.

4) JC Smith LLC

210 W. Burke St., Martinsburg, WV

JC Smith LLC is a residential renovator, custom home builder, and commercial contractor focused on the West Virginia Eastern Panhandle Tri-State area. Owned by partners John and Chrissy Smith, the firm was established in 2009. Even during its early years, many of its clients saw it as a reliable firm, with a work ethic that allows it to finish projects on time and on budget. With its credible, experienced, and reliable team, JC Smith is capable of doing the complex work required for historic renovations and has built hundreds of residential improvements, often designed in the prairie and colonial revival styles. One of these notable homes is an expansive private residence with an attached bed and breakfast wrapped in James Hardie Light Mist and Artic White in the colonial revival style.

Though the firm is relatively young in the construction industry, JC Smith holds a membership in the Home Builders Association of West Virginia (HBAWV) and was recognized with the Best of the Best West Virginia Building Award from 2015 to 2018.Along with this award, the firm was rated #3877 in Inc.’s 2018 5000 list. The Journal also recognized it with the Best of the Best Excellence Award which the firm has won from 2015 to 2019.

3) Michael F. Taylor

113 East German St. Shepherdstown, WV 25443

A firm with 40 years of construction experience, Michael F. Taylor has built, restored, and renovated countless homes in the Jefferson County and surrounding areas. Most of these houses are built in the modern, mission, Craftsman, and traditional styles. Among these homes is the firm’s most notable project—the Italian Villa. Located in Shepherdstown, this villa was designed by Reader and Swartz Architects. A home that was inspired by the homeowners’ trip to Tuscany, it was built to be a livable place for entertaining guests. Like Tuscan homes that bask in the Italian sunlight, the villa has open living spaces that allow natural light to stream in. Outside, there are patios, pergolas, walkways, and enchanting gardens that accent the home’s stucco and wood trim exterior.

Thanks to homes like this, Michael F. Taylor won the 2008 Palladio Award for Vandalia—national awards that recognize excellence in traditional architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, and traditional craftsmanship. The firm has also been featured in magazines like Southern Living Magazine, Washingtonian Magazine, The Journal Magazine, Home Magazine, and Contractor Digest.

2) Rising Sun

6000 Coombs Farm Dr., Suite #206A, Morgantown, WV 26508

A full-service design-build company, Rising Sun separates itself from other builders with its ability to create a plethora of styles—from modern to split level to timber frames. To make its homes look inviting and innovative, the firm tends to utilize natural elements like wood and stone. One great example of these beautiful homes is a Craftsman-style residence in Morgantown. A home that won the HBAWV’s 2018 Best of West Virginia Building Award, it has features like large windows and a Rising Sun custom-built pergola, allowing the homeowners to take in the sights of the backyard stream, foliage, and wildlife. Rising Sun has won awards like the Home Builders Association (HBA)’s 2015 Builder Member of the Year award and the 2019 Best of Morgantown Reader’s Choice Award. The firm was also featured in Country Living’s 2019 issue and its principal was invited as a guest in a radio podcast called “Positively West Virginia.”

The firm currently has company owner Chris Bailey as the team lead. A graduate of West Virginia University’s Bachelor of Fine Arts in Sculpture and Design program, Bailey began as a master woodworker who built and designed furniture before becoming a builder and renovator for custom homes. One of his renovations projects—a historical West Virginia farmhouse—was featured in the June 2019 issue of Country Living magazine.

1) Steorts Home Design and Construction

206 Chase Dr., Hurricane, WV 25526

Established in 1995, Steorts Home Design and Construction is known as one of the leading luxury home builders in the area, thanks to its progressive work ethic. Steorts Home Design and Construction is capable of settling job problems or cost overruns while keeping up with the current trends in the market to find new software. Steorts Home Design and Construction was featured in the 2015 issue of Modern Builder + Design magazine. It was also featured in The Charleston Newspaper, which recognized the firm as 2016’s Best Builder in the Valley. Though the firm is relatively young, it belongs to a family of home builders that has been creating homes for generations. Currently, the firm has Jason Steorts at the helm.

Thanks to this history, the firm not only has a good handle on West Virginia’s custom home building market, but is also experienced in building numerous properties throughout the mountains of West Virginia. This experience and knowledge have helped the firm create homes like the 600G Woodridge residence. A shingle styled home, it features a red-bricked facade, a popular style in the state, and a black gable and valley roof, which balance the colors to give the home a classy and elegant look. The firm also builds homes in the traditional, craftsman, and farmhouse styles, and is also adept in renovation and commercial construction.

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About Our Rankings

This list takes a range of ranking criteria into consideration, including but not limited to: work history, customer satisfaction, awards and recognition, geographic area of work, cost, building permits, and clientele. We spent over 40 hours researching local contractors before calculating the final ranking for this post. If there is additional information about your business that could affect these rankings, please fill out this form and we will take it into consideration.