Building a Custom Home in Central Texas: A Design-Build Guide for 2026

Design-build means one team handles both the design and the construction of your home under a single contract, instead of hiring an architect and a separate builder and hoping their plans line up. In Central Texas, a ground-up custom home built this way typically takes 10 to 16 months from initial design to move-in, depending on the size of the home, the site, and how long permitting takes in your county.

What design-build means, and why it saves time and money

With a traditional build, you hire an architect to design the home, then take those plans out to bid with separate contractors. If the design turns out to be more expensive to build than expected, you're back at the drawing board, and that back-and-forth eats weeks or months. Design-build collapses that into one process. The same team drawing the plans is pricing the plans, so cost gets checked against the design as it develops instead of after it's finished. That catches expensive surprises early, when they're cheap to fix, rather than after a bid comes back over budget.

The custom home process, step by step

The process usually starts with a site visit and a conversation about how you want to live in the home: layout priorities, must-have rooms, budget range. From there, design moves through a few rounds of revisions until the plan is locked, at which point permitting begins alongside final material selections like flooring, cabinetry, and countertops. Site work comes next. Then the plumbing rough-in goes in, before the steel is set and before the slab is poured, because those lines run underneath the foundation and have to be placed and inspected first. The foundation follows, then framing, then the middle stretch of mechanical, electrical, and the remaining plumbing work before drywall closes the walls up. Finish work, including any custom concrete elements, comes last, and a final walkthrough closes out the project before you get keys.

Timeline and permitting realities in Central Texas

Permitting timelines vary a lot by county and by how close the property is to existing infrastructure. A lot in an established Bastrop neighborhood with utilities already at the road moves faster through permitting than a rural Hill Country lot that needs a septic system, a well, or a new driveway culvert. Weather adds some variability too. Most Central Texas custom builds land in the 10 to 16 month range, with larger or more remote projects running toward the longer end.

Why built-in artisan concrete sets a custom home apart

A design-build approach matters most when a home includes custom elements that need to be planned from day one rather than added later. Concrete countertops, a fireplace surround, or built-in furniture pieces all need their exact dimensions locked into the plan before framing, not chosen after the fact and forced to fit. Because Kennedy's designs and builds these pieces in-house, they get planned into the home from the earliest drawings, which means the finished kitchen, bath, or living space was actually designed around them instead of the other way around.

How to budget for a ground-up build

Land, site work, and foundation costs vary the most from lot to lot, so those get priced first once a site is chosen. From there, square footage and finish level drive most of the remaining budget. A homeowner who wants custom concrete countertops, built-in furniture, or a fireplace surround should flag that early, since those elements get designed into the plan rather than bolted on at the end. Building in a contingency, typically 10 to 15 percent of the total budget, covers the kind of surprises that show up once site work starts.

Frequently asked questions

What is design-build?

Design-build means one company handles the design and construction of your home under a single contract, rather than hiring an architect and a separate builder. It keeps cost, schedule, and design decisions connected throughout the project.

How long does it take to build a custom home in Central Texas?

Most ground-up custom homes take 10 to 16 months from design to move-in, depending on size, site conditions, and how long permitting takes in your county.

Is design-build more expensive than hiring an architect and builder separately?

Not typically. Because cost gets checked against the design continuously, design-build tends to catch expensive changes early, before they turn into a change order mid-construction.

Can custom concrete features be added to a custom home build?

Yes, and they work best when planned from the start. Countertops, fireplaces, and built-in furniture get designed into the home's layout rather than fitted in afterward.

If you're considering a ground-up custom home in Central Texas and want a team that handles design, construction, and custom concrete work under one roof, reach out to Kennedy's to start the conversation.