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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We used Great Falls Construction for a custom build in Great Falls and had a great experience with them.  I know they build houses in McLean as well.  We also interviewed Sugar Oak and looked at several of their houses.  We felt good about them as well and have gotten good feedback from others on both builders.

Gulick Group built quite a few of the houses in the reserve and is also doing custom builds in McLean / Great Falls now, although I would think of them as more semi-custom than true custom.  They have a couple of house models that they will try to customize to suit your needs/preferences.  The house models are nice, but they have built a ton of them all over Great Falls + McLean, so they aren't really that unique.

To the PP who is looking for 5000-6000 sq ft with a $900K construction budget, I think that will be difficult.  We interviewed 6-7 builders before starting our project and the [b]cost range was from $200-$325/sq ft for construction costs only (excluding lot, site prep, landscaping, architecture, A/V, etc.)[/b].  Semi-custom was closer to $200/sq ft, high-end custom was $300-$325/sq ft. If you are looking for high-end custom, I think $1.5M would be a good budget for 5,000 sq ft.  You want to be sure you have some cushion in the construction budget and aren't just barely making it work or you will have far too many tradeoffs in construction and the process will be very stressful.[/quote]
NP. Let me see if I got the math right... for 5000 sq ft, using lower amount, it will cost $1M just for the construction cost? Then add $800K for lot cost and maybe $200K site prep & misc. That's $2M all in. If we held the house for 10 years, I wonder how much it would appreciate. Or most of $2M a sunk cost for living in McLean in a new build?[/quote]

I don't think you build a custom home these days as an investment. They are too unique and one of a kind to translate into the general marketplace.  10 years from now they will feel dated and have a lot of new houses to compete with. [/quote]

Just exercise caution and don't "build your dream". Look through existing plans, drive around to find houses you like, and say "I want something like that". Look at the homes in Woodlea Mill, which were built over 20 years ago and have aged far better in their appearance than any spec homes in large suburban developments. They still look fantastic. Some of the interior trim can use an update, but it's very very minor stuff. That said, $2M in McLean for a 5000sqft home sounds high and is going to lose out to cheaper built competition that boasts more sqft for the money. I feel you have to hit the 6000sqft threshold for a multi-million dollar house to be taken seriously in McLean. I remember seeing this one BEAUTIFULLY constructed home, like the entire exterior was built with cedar, fell absolutely in love with it, but knew that it wouldn't sell well in McLean because it was only about 4000sqft. [/quote]

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