Located in central Georgia on the Oconee River, Lake Oconee is home to many luxury communities. About an hour and a half from Atlanta and Augusta and less than an hour from Athens, Lake Oconee offers the natural beauty of a 19,000-acre lake while positioning you close to many rich cultural centers.
Whether you’re drawn to Lake Oconee for the gorgeous golf courses, endless water activities, or a relaxing lifestyle away from the big city’s hustle and bustle, many people realize that Lake Oconee is the ideal spot to build their dream home.
In this article, we’ll look at ten of the best custom home builders in the Lake Oconee area to help you gather inspiration and get a sense of the range of options available when constructing the home of your dreams. Beyond that, we’ll look at what you want to do before selecting a builder and some of the best locations in the area to build your custom luxury home.
Let’s dig in!
What to Do Before You Choose a Builder
When you’ve decided that you’re going to make your dream and reality and custom design your own home, it can be tempting to start calling and interviewing builders. The truth is that costly surprises can result when you search for a builder before you have put together your design and build team.
At Dream Home Studio, our mission is to help you design and build the perfect home on time and on budget. Our services range from helping you create the ideal budget pathway and selecting the perfect property to architectural design and assisting in builder selection. Without a thorough plan and a personal on-budget pathway, expensive mistakes are, unfortunately, practically a certainty.
Our team of professionals can guide you through the contractual protections you’ll want to be built into your design, property, and construction contracts as an essential part of your on-budget pathway.
On our site, you can find videos that will help your custom luxury home-building experience be stress-free and predictable. Investing in the proper process and sticking with it can help ensure that your ultimate dream home is built on time and on budget, all while producing the home you’ve been waiting for your entire life.
10 of the Best Home Builders in Georgia’s Lake Oconee
In this list of the best home builders in Georgia’s Lake Oconee, you’ll find ten custom builders known for their craftsmanship, attention to detail, and commitment to building custom luxury homes. Each of these builders has been hand-selected as one of the featured builders at the distinguished Reynolds Lake Oconee, a community that offers luxury lake living at its finest.
Note: This list is not ranked, and the best home builders on Lake Oconee appear in no particular order.
1. Southern Luxury Homes
Kevin Aycock started Southern Luxury Homes after gaining nearly a decade of experience with a local custom builder. Composed of a partnership between employees, vendors, contractors, and real estate professionals, Southern Luxury Homes offers complete Design/Build services.
The team over at Southern Luxury manages every aspect of the design, selection, and construction process.
2. Camden Homes
Since 2005, Camden Homes has been building luxury custom homes on Lake Oconee. The owners, Gary and Nancy Pierotti, are personally and directly accessible to clients throughout the home-building process. They pride themselves on their commitment to detail and their reputation for on-budget and on-time projects.
Receiving the Builder of the Year recognition from the Lake Oconee Area Builders Association, Camden Homes focuses on making every step of the process enjoyable and easy for the client. With a rich network of talented tradespeople and deep knowledge of materials, top-of-the-line finishes, and luxury building processes, they create impressive homes that suit each client’s specific needs.
3. Artisan Built
Since 2006, Artisan Built has been a full-service custom home construction firm, building homes on Lake Oconee.
Founded by licensed contractors Ryan Miller and Bryan Combs, both of whom brought fourteen years of contracting and home design experience to the table, each Artisan Built home is unique and made specifically for the individual lifestyle needs of each client.
4. Calvert Custom Homes LLC
Calvert Custom Homes is owned and operated by David Calvert, a native of the Lake Oconee area. Rather than taking on as many projects as possible, he limits new home construction projects to only four to six yearly. Calvert Custom Homes can offer quality work and personal customer service by focusing on a select handful of builds without getting overloaded.
Specializing in building custom luxury homes that cater to each client’s individual tastes and needs, they offer hands-on supervision of all construction activities and an extended warranty service program.
5. H&H Quality Homes
H&H Quality Designs focuses on quality, not quantity. Only building a few homes each year, they are committed to providing excellent communication, high-quality work, and accurate pricing while delivering projects on schedule.
They operate from the belief that every home should be designed specifically for the home site. Rather than using stock luxury home plans, they collaborate with the architects and designers of your choice to create custom designs from scratch.
Their projects can range anywhere from $500k to more than $2.5 million. They also specialize in remodeling and addition projects for historic homes that require duplicated original finishes and artistry.
6. Dutton Construction, Inc
Building custom homes runs in the family over at Dutton Construction. Keith Dutton, the president of Dutton Construction, was taught by both his father and grandfather the skills and values needed to provide clients with high-quality outcomes.
Located at beautiful Lake Oconee, Dutton Construction is a mainstay in the area’s building industry. They have been building luxury homes for over thirty years in the Lake Oconee area and pride themselves in offering uncompromising quality and craftsmanship. You can tell by a quick peek at their gallery that their work is top-notch.
7. Rick Buechler Custom Homes
Based in Greensboro, Georgia, Rich Buechler Custom Homes is a partnership between Rick Buechler and his wife, Kim. The two live in Reynolds Plantation, where they have built more than one hundred custom homes. Over two decades, they have built a reputation of integrity, honesty, and trust in the Lake Oconee and Greensboro area.
Offering complete residential design services and committed to creating a professional and honest relationship with their clients, Rick and Kim pride themselves in having long-standing relationships with local artisans, many of which are from multi-generational, family-owned businesses.
8. Jones and Jones Premier Builders Inc.
Specializing in constructing fine homes in the Lake Oconee area, Jones and Jones is owned and operated by brothers Bobby and Dan Jones. Between the two of them, they have sixty years of combined experience and are both highly involved in the Lake Oconee area building community.
Bobby Jones is one of the founding members of both the Madison-Morgan Homebuilder’s Association and the Lake Oconee Area Builders Association. At the same time, Dan currently serves on the Lake Oconee Builders Association Board of Directors.
The brothers work with each of their clients to ensure that their vision for their dream custom home is transformed into a reality. Looking at the photo gallery of some of their completed projects, it becomes clear that their talk about attention to detail and a commitment to quality and value holds water.
9. New Leaf Homes
New Leaf Custom Homes offers personalized design services, hands-on project management, and interior selections and has created a flexible Personal Home Process intending to streamline the luxury home-building process.
In the luxury Lake Oconee community Reynolds Lake Oconee, they’ve built more than 85 luxury homes. As a team, they have more than 75 years of home-building experience.
Homebuilders interested in creating their dream abode in the most environmentally friendly way possible should give New Leaf a closer look. They pride themselves on preserving the land they build homes on and using products that conserve water, are durable, are energy efficient, and are healthier for humans and the earth.
New Leaf Homes can help you determine which energy-efficient and environmentally friendly systems to include in your house and offer several options for recycled and recyclable products. Everything from high-efficiency HVAC systems and water-conserving plumbing fixtures to solar water heaters and energy-efficient insulation products is on the list of technologies and strategies they can offer.
Belonging to the National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB) and the Urban Land Institute (UBI,) New Leaf Custom Homes is certified to build “NAHB Green Homes” and certified “EARTHCENTS” rated homes.
10. DreamBuilt LLC
Focused on thoughtful design, quality construction, and craftsmanship, DreamBuilt has been building beautiful homes in the Lake Oconee area for more than two decades. The four original partners came from various design and construction backgrounds in Atlanta and moved to Lake Oconee with their families.
Since they began building in the area in 1999, they have completed more than 350 projects while giving back to the community. Their portfolio runs the gamut from luxury retreats to farm cabins, and they are seen as an integral part of the expanding Lake Oconee area.
The Top 5 Communities Around Lake Oconee
There are endless reasons you might be drawn to living on Lake Oconee. With nearly 400 miles of shoreline, charming local towns, a fantastic climate, gorgeous golf courses, and plenty of water sports, there’s a lot to love about Lake Oconee.
Hikers, mountain bikers, and nature lovers are attracted to the nearby 800,000-acre Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest. The peaceful natural environment draws the praise of residents and visitors alike.
Are you wondering where you should build your luxury custom home in the Lake Oconee area? Let’s look at some of the finest communities on the lake.
Note: This list is not ranked, and the communities appear in no particular order.
1. Reynolds Lake Oconee
Reynolds Lake Oconee is a gated resort community with more luxury amenities than we can list here.
With six award-winning golf courses, nine restaurants, multiple swimming pools, miles of biking and walking trails, a world-class tennis and fitness club, and an on-site Ritz-Carlton Hotel and Sap, this is the ultimate luxury lake living.
2. The Harbor Club
Located on nine beautiful miles of shoreline, The Harbor Club on Lake Oconee is a golf community that offers prime lakefront living. Bordered by more than 1,500 acres of forested hills, you can look out into the woods, onto the fairway, or over the lake.
The award-winning 18-hole golf course is a significant draw for many residents, but there are also restaurants, a special event and recreation complex, a 15,000-square-foot clubhouse, and more.
3. Cuscowilla
If you want to build a lakefront home that will stay in your family for generations, Cuscowilla might be the place for you.
A private residential lake and golf community, you’ll find the only Coore-Crenshaw-designed golf course in all of Georgia. Complete with a 24-hour fitness center, dog park, community garden, lakefront swimming pool, and more; you can choose a secluded getaway or an excellent lakefront location.
4. The Water’s Edge
A gated community with lakeside property, The Water’s Edge is a tranquil and beautiful place ideal for a private second home or a sanctuary-like primary residence.
The only equestrian community on the lake, you’ll find gorgeous horse farms, incredible homes with barns, ponds, open pastures, and more in this quaint location.
5. Emerald Shores
Emerald Shores is tucked away in a truly gorgeous section of Lake Oconee.
An upscale community located right on the clear waters of Richland Creek, living here means enjoying the peace of the natural setting while also enjoying waterfront activities like kayaking and paddleboarding.
Starting Your Project the Right Way
Establishing a design and build team is a necessary first step when you want to stay on budget and on time with your Lake Oconee luxury home. Though it can be tempting to start touring pieces of property as soon as you decide to build your dream home, the only way to ensure you don’t run into expensive surprises is to get both your design team and build team together as the first course of action.
At Dream Home Studio, our mission and passion are to help people achieve the home of their dreams without many costly obstacles that are too common in the custom home industry. It doesn’t matter where you are on the journey to building a custom home– whether you’re just exploring the option or thinking about shopping around for the perfect lot– we’re here to discuss the best way to go through the delightful process of achieving a luxury home.
When you make a 30-minute exploration call with us, no commitment is required. We are dedicated to helping people learn about the best pathway to their custom luxury homes.
