Gold Country Custom Homes

We found Chris by chance, our original builder became too busy and was no longer interested in working on our project within our budget. Disgruntled and discouraged that our dream may be dead, with tens of thousands invested and countless hours of time invested we decided to give it another go and search for another builder. Taking the hard earned lessons from the previous engagement we knew what we valued most: communication and commitment to building a quality home for a fair price. After chatting with 8 different contractors, Chris quickly rose to the top of the list due to his communication, quality commitment and personality. Chris's communication is second to none, he is constantly by his phone and always responds within a few hours. Chris's sub contractors are some of the best in the area, always willing to give an opinion when needed and more than willing to make accommodations or changes as we see fit. Chris's demeanor is truly why we choose him to build our home, he takes only 3 homes a year and interviews the client just as much as we interview him. He's not looking to just build any house and is always willing to listen and offer advice where needed. We are very early in the construction stage...but i have to tell you that we are just thrilled to go down this journey with Gold Country Customer Homes!!

We found Chris after realizing our dream home was going to cost 400K more than we had! We engaged Chris to bid the job to our budget and he came through. So literally Chris allowed us to achieve our forever dream-home. I am sure any contractor could have found a way to do price out a job to hit a budget, but Chris actually built it for that amount. Our overruns due to error were extremely low… about 2/3rds of 1% on a 1.5MM budget. Making that accomplishment even more meaningful was the fact that we came into the project with plans suitable for permit purposes, but lacking sufficient detail to build all aspects of the home. This was based on fact that we hired an architect up to the permit phase but didn’t continue on with fully detailed plans based on the crazy price to do so. We had strong opinions on what the home should be which precluded us getting any plans off the shelf. Chris knew this of course and had to work harder to make all those detailed decisions in the field along with his subs. There were an additional 3% of overruns from bid to build based mostly on the fact that some of those details couldn’t be covered by the initial bids. But based on information known at that time and how much could have gone wrong, I think 3% underbid is pretty fantastic. Also during this timeframe was the added challenge of a housing boom with subcontractors being booked out and extremely busy. Chris was relentless in his focus on the “critical path”. He found a way to get the right subs there at the right time and when all else failed he strapped on a tool belt and did himself, while billing back the sub…this kept us on time and on budget. This was our first and last foray into building a home and we have learned so much from Chris. We are very appreciative of Chris’ efforts and patience with us through the process.

My wife Robin and I highly recommend Chris Hewell, owner of Gold Country Custom Homes. His professional demeanor and knowledge of the building process was invaluable to help us feel comfortable enough to push forward in our custom home building process. Since we wanted to have control of the design , he put us with his architect and designer. That one move within a month straightened out all of our design flaws. Chris refers to himself as a "coach". If he sees anything about the project that is too costly or needs new thought, he helps immediately. As far as my wife & I am concerned, if you want to lower your blood pressure, hire Chris.

Building a 2nd home in Tahoe has been a dream of our family for many years. Selecting the right general contractor was imperative. The Truckee river wraps around our home site with 360-degree views of river and spectacular vistas of granite outcroppings hanging off 300-foot cliffs. I interviewed six different general contractors, had three bid my project, and I selected Chris Hewell with Gold Country Custom Homes based upon my strict criteria. With construction costs very expensive the criteria I set was, 1) I wanted someone that was passionate about building our home, 2) I demand attention to detail, 3) I wanted real time communication as we work through the build, and 4) I needed a GC that agreed to work within my budget and wasn’t hard set at just throwing up another home. I can say with great enthusiasm and confidence that Chris exceeded all four of my requirements. My personal business is built on trust, hard work and focusing on always doing the right thing. I am confident Chris holds these same valuable characteristics and I’m pleased to recommend his services to any demanding home builder. Jim & Tami Files

Chris at Gold Country Custom is helping make our dream house come true with pricing that we can afford while not skimping on quality! He gets stuff done and is always ready and pushing for the next stage of the project.

As a realtor I sold several land sites to clients that in turn contracted with Chris to design and build their custom dream homes. His team executed every detail from permits, to design, HOA architectural approvals, county inspections, and many other details. Take a look at some of his posted photos and you will see why all of those clients were happy to see their dream home transformed into a reality.

The owner's attention to detail and design are superb! Whether it be a customized wine cave cellar, a European bidet, or expertly integrating the native landscape. . .there is no challenge too big for Chris and his team of custom builders.

Gold Country Custom Homes was a contractor for my design client. Chris Hewell helped my clients build their home . It is beautiful. They wanted their home to be unique . We selected many different finishes and details . Some builders do not want to take the time with details . Chris did and in time . Chris and I worked well together and has referred me to help other clients with design selections . I always enjoy working with his clients . The properties are usually in beautiful setting .