Service · Custom Home Building
Custom Home Building
A new home designed around how you actually live, built once and built right — from the first sketch to the day you get the keys. Serving Southport, Oak Island, Wilmington, and Brunswick County.
New construction, done together
Not a stock plan with your name on it.
A lot of what gets sold as a "custom home" is a catalog plan with three choices of countertop. That is not what this is. When Northstar builds your home, you sit on the design team — the layout, the materials, and the budget decisions are yours to make, with Chase giving you straight answers about what each one really costs.
Every new build runs cost-plus: the actual cost of the work plus a flat 20% builder's fee. You see the real numbers from the first estimate to the final invoice, so upgrading the windows or adding a porch is a decision, not a fight.
Chase has been building since he was 17. The framing crews, the trades, the inspectors — he is on site with them, and the house gets built the way it was drawn.
New custom homes
The full from-scratch build: your lot, your layout, your finishes. We start with how you live — where the morning light should land, where the kitchen needs to flow, what the porch should look out on — and design the house around that, not around a floor plan we already had.
This is the work Northstar exists to do: long-term and forever homes for people who would rather get it right than get it fast and cheap.
- Design developed with you, not handed to you
- One builder responsible from permits to punch list
- Real material and labor numbers at every step
Build on your lot
Already own land — in town, on the water, or out in the county? We build on your lot and deal with what your lot actually is: the soil, the setbacks, the flood zone, the driveway that has to come in at an angle.
Before any design work gets serious, Chase will walk the property with you and tell you plainly what the site will and won't allow. That conversation has saved more than one client from buying the wrong plan for the right land.
- Site evaluation before you commit to a design
- Septic, well, and utility coordination handled
- Flood-zone and elevation requirements built in from day one
Luxury & gated-community homes
Building inside an established community — St James, Landfall, or any neighborhood with an architectural review committee — adds a second client to the project: the ARC. We know how that process runs.
Northstar handles the submittals, the design-guideline compliance, the material approvals, and the construction rules, so the review board is a checkpoint and not a six-month parking lot for your project.
- ARC submittals and approvals managed for you
- Built to association standards and to yours
- High-end finish level that fits the neighborhood
How a new build runs, cost-plus
New construction has a reputation for surprise costs and slipping dates. The fix is not a slicker contract — it is open books and honest scheduling. You pay what the house actually costs plus a flat 20%, and you can see every invoice that makes up that number.
On timelines, Chase tells you the truth, including the parts you might not want to hear. If the window package is twelve weeks out, you hear it when he does — not after the drywall is hung.
- Flat 20% builder's fee on actual cost — no markup games
- Upgrades mid-build stay simple: still just 20% on the new number
- Schedule updates that match reality, not the brochure
Where we do this work
One coast, four home bases
Northstar builds new custom homes across the southern North Carolina coast — based in Southport, working from Oak Island up through Brunswick County to Wilmington. Each market has its own rules, review boards, and soil under the grass, and we have built in all of them.
Custom home builder in Wilmington, NC
New homes in the luxury neighborhoods east of town — Landfall, Autumn Hall, Mayfaire — with the ARC paperwork handled.
Building on Oak Island
Elevated homes on pilings, detailed for the wind, the salt, and the flood maps of the island.
Southport — our home base
Historic-district sensitivity, waterfront lots, and the St James communities we know street by street.
Across Brunswick County
County-wide new construction — golf communities, gated neighborhoods, and rural acreage builds.
See the standard
Our flagship build: 3429 Scupper Run
A custom raised beach house built from the ground up in Southport — open vaulted living, a chef's kitchen, covered decks over the marsh. Built and sold for $1.25M. This is what a Northstar new build looks like finished.
Tour the projectQuestions we get about this work
What does it cost to build a custom home with Northstar?
The honest answer is: the actual cost of your specific house, plus a flat 20% builder's fee. We don't quote a teaser price per square foot, because the lot, the foundation type, and your finish choices move that number more than any builder's brochure admits. What we will do, before you commit, is build a real cost-plus estimate with you line by line so you know what you're signing up for.
Can you build on a lot we already own?
Yes — build-on-your-lot work is a core part of what we do. Chase will walk the property with you first and tell you straight what the site allows: soils, setbacks, flood elevation, utilities. If the land has a problem, you'll hear it before design starts, not after.
How long does a new custom home take?
It depends on the house, the site, and the supply chain — and we won't pretend otherwise. What we commit to is honest scheduling: a real timeline up front based on the actual scope, and updates that match what's happening on site. No promises the calendar can't keep.
Do you only build big, expensive homes?
No. The range is "small to limitless" — Chase has framed farm buildings and built $1.25M beach houses. What stays constant is the standard of the work and the cost-plus structure that keeps you in control of how much house you buy.
Ready to design your home?
Tell Chase about the lot, the rooms you need, and the way you want to live in it. You'll get a straight answer about what it takes — and a seat on the design team.