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Design-build means one company designs and builds your home, so the same team answers for the plans, the price and the construction. The other common path is design-bid-build: you hire an architect for the drawings, take them to builders for bids, then sign a separate construction contract. Both paths can lead to a beautiful home.
What changes is who you work with, when you learn the real price, and who you call when something needs to change. That is what design-build services come down to for a homeowner.
Dunn & Stone has built homes in the Houston area since 1999, and custom home design-build is how we work. Our in-house design team, design center and construction team are one company, based in Pinehurst, and we build within about 60 miles of Pinehurst.
Design-build is a way of delivering a home where one company handles both the design and the construction. The Design-Build Institute of America puts the difference simply: other delivery methods use separate contracts for design and construction, and design-build brings them together.
For a custom home, that means the people drawing your floor plan are the same people pricing it and building it. Your designer, your estimator and your project manager work from one set of decisions. When a choice in the design affects the budget, you hear about it while you can still adjust, instead of after the drawings are done.
Design-build custom homes come in more than one form. Some firms design every home from a blank page. Others, like us, start from proven floor plans and shape them around your lot, your budget and how your family lives.
Our semi-custom homes start from designs refined over years of real-world use, so the layout you choose has already been lived in.
With the architect-first path (design-bid-build), you hire an architect, complete the drawings, then take them to builders for bids and sign a separate construction contract. With design-build, one team handles both, and the price is developed alongside the design.
On the architect-first path, you sign with an architect for the design. When the drawings are complete, you choose a builder, often by comparing bids, and sign a second contract for construction.
With design-build, every agreement is with one company. At Dunn & Stone, your exploration, design and final agreements are all with us, and you work with the same team from the first exploration meeting through the final contract, construction and warranty.
Under design-bid-build, the architect and the builder each manage their own part, and you are the link between them. Many architects also offer construction administration, visiting the site and reviewing the builder's work on your behalf, which some owners value a great deal.
In design-build, coordination happens inside one team. The people choosing your windows talk with the people who order and install them. You still make every decision about your home. You just don't have to carry messages between two companies to get there.
This is the difference many families feel most. Under architect-first, you learn the build price after the drawings are finished and bids come back.
At Dunn & Stone, the price comes together as the design does. We look at your lot, your plan and your features and finishes early, then price your selections as you make them. The price is set in a fixed-price contract at the Final Contract phase, before Build Documents and construction begin.
On the architect-first path, a high bid often sends the drawings back for changes. That can mean redesign time with the architect, a second round of bids, or trimming the home you planned. Many projects work through it well, and it helps to plan for the possibility from the start.
With design-build, budget and design move together, so you see the cost of your choices while the plan is still open. If a choice pushes past your budget, we talk it through and adjust before the design is finished.
If something needs attention on a design-build home, there is one company to call. Under architect-first, the architect and the builder each answer for their own part, and sorting out which part a question belongs to can take a conversation or two.
If you'd like to see how either path would work on your lot, we're glad to walk through it with you. You can schedule a consultation and bring your questions.
Our process runs through five phases, each handled by the same team.
Together, these five phases make up the process of building a custom home, and they follow the same order as the 5 steps to building a custom home. Design, permitting and construction all shape how long it takes to build a house.
Selections happen with the same team that prices and builds your home. So each choice is costed as you make it, and you can see how your flooring, cabinets and fixtures fit the budget before anything is final.
We select everything up front, and your fixed price carries your actual choices. When you compare quotes, check how each one splits allowances and included features. And if a tile you love isn't in our design center, we can usually find it through Daltile's showroom or online catalog.
You have one team from your first sketch to your final walkthrough. The same company that drew your plan answers for how it gets built, and our own team handles warranty service after you move in.
That single point of accountability is the heart of design-build. Your questions go to one team, and the answers come from the people doing the work.
A fixed-price contract sets one construction total, tied to your plans and specifications, before the build starts. My goal on every home is for the contract number to be the closing number.
We design the whole home so you shouldn't need change orders. If you decide to change something later, it is written, priced and signed before the work happens. A complete contract spells out what's included in your fixed price.
Design-build isn't automatically more expensive than hiring an architect first. Which path costs less depends on the home, the lot and the selections. What design-build changes most is when you know the number.
On the architect-first path, architect fees are usually a percentage of construction cost, paid alongside the builder's price. With design-build, design and construction come from one company, and the price is built as the design develops.
Dunn & Stone homes typically fall in the $500K to $1.5M range. As general Houston market context, not a Dunn & Stone quote, rough 2026 ranges put semi-custom homes across the area at about $150 to $275 per square foot, depending on the builder, the finishes and the lot.
We also design for efficiency. Rooms are sized so full lengths of lumber get used wherever possible, which trims waste and holds the price down without cutting finish quality.
Your lot plays a part too. Some lot prep is built into our base price. Longer driveways and sloped lots needing imported fill can increase it, and we price it for each lot during Exploration.
To see where your plan might land, try our cost to build a house calculator.
Hiring an architect first can make sense for a one-of-a-kind design built from scratch, or if you want an independent designer representing you during construction. Both are good reasons, and plenty of beautiful homes start this way.
An architect-first path often fits well when:
Our homes start from proven floor plans that we customize with you. If your heart is set on a design drawn from scratch, an architect is a wonderful place to begin.
But if a proven plan shaped around your lot, your budget and your family sounds right, design-build gives you one team and a fixed price before construction begins.
Design-build services cover both the design and the construction of your home, all with one company. For a custom home, that includes planning the home for your lot, settling the floor plan and selections, setting the price and building the house. At Dunn & Stone, all of that happens with one team, from Exploration through construction.
The main disadvantage of design-build is less design freedom, because a design-build firm often works within its own approach, and at Dunn & Stone that means starting from proven floor plans. You also don't have a separate architect reviewing the builder on your behalf. For a one-of-a-kind design, an architect-first path may fit better.
Who designs your house depends on the path you choose: on the architect-first path, the architect designs it and the builder constructs it, while with design-build the same company handles both. At Dunn & Stone, our in-house design team works with you on the floor plan, the exterior and your selections.
The cost to design a custom home with an architect is usually a percentage of construction cost. With design-build, design is part of the builder's process, and at Dunn & Stone it happens with the same team that prices your home. Once you decide to move forward, plan on a $10,000 to $15,000 design deposit.
Architects generally design homes rather than build them, and they work alongside a separate builder who handles construction. Many also offer construction administration, visiting the site and reviewing work for the owner. A design-build firm brings design and construction together, so the team that plans your home also builds it.
A design and build contract puts the design and the construction of your home with one company. At Dunn & Stone, the key agreement is a fixed-price contract signed at the Final Contract phase, before Build Documents and construction begin. It ties one price to your plans and selections.
Both paths can build a home you'll love for decades. The right one depends on how you want to design it, when you want to know the price, and how many people you want to coordinate along the way.
If one team, one point of accountability and a fixed price before construction sound like the way you'd like to build, we'd love to meet you. Our first consultation is free, takes about an hour and a half, and comes with no obligation. Bring your lot address, a budget or target size, and a short must-have list, and schedule a consultation with our team in Pinehurst.
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