Built Right.
Built Honest.
Custom homes in Heath, Rockwall and the greater DFW area. 45 homes and 341,143 square feet so far, and I'm known for telling you about the problem before you find it.
Talk to Aaronor call (972) 528-5668
Every one of these started as someone’s plan on paper. I’d be proud to add yours to the count.
A lakeside house in Ridge Lakes of Heath
A lakeside house in Ridge Lakes of Heath, built during my years at Rick Shipley Custom Homes. The Dallas Builders Association made it a Home of the Week, and CandysDirt toured it in August 2018 and called it the hottest new Texas transitional in Heath.
The published write-ups describe it well: about seven thousand square feet of living space on a .834-acre lot, five bedrooms, a standing seam metal roof, Lincoln clad wood windows and a brick exterior. Inside, five-inch white oak floors run room to room, there are four fireplaces, and the main-floor primary suite opens to its own patio.
- Community
- Ridge Lakes of Heath
- Under roof
- 9,180 sq ft
- Recognition
- DBA Home of the Week
What I build
Ground-up custom homes on your lot, described a few different ways. The trades, the sequence and the phone number stay the same whichever door you came in.
Homes
Ground-up custom homes, from a first build to an estate on acreage.
- Custom Home ConstructionCustom Home Builder
- Luxury Custom HomesLuxury Custom Home Builder
- High-End HomesHigh-End Home Builder
- New ConstructionNew Construction Home Builder
- Estate HomesEstate Home Builder
Styles
The architectural language the house speaks: massing, roof pitch, window proportion.
- ModernModern Home Builder
- ContemporaryContemporary Home Builder
- TraditionalTraditional Home Builder
- FarmhouseFarmhouse Builder
- Ranch-StyleRanch-Style Home Builder
- MediterraneanMediterranean Home Builder
- European-StyleEuropean-Style Home Builder
- Industrial-StyleIndustrial-Style Home Builder
Scale
Footprint and stories, which the lot usually decides for you.
- Large HomesLarge Custom Home Builder
- Small HomesSmall Custom Home Builder
- Single-StorySingle-Story Home Builder
- Two-StoryTwo-Story Home Builder
- Multi-StoryMulti-Story Home Builder
Design
The work before and around the build itself.
- Architectural DesignArchitectural Home Design
- Design ConsultationDesign Consultation
- Floor PlansCustom Floor Plans
- Exterior StylesCustom Exteriors
- InteriorsCustom Home Interiors
- Luxury FinishesLuxury Home Finishes
- Tailored SpacesTailored Living Spaces
- Project ManagementConstruction Project Management
The short version of how I got here
I didn’t come to building the way most people expect. Honestly, the trades found me before I found them.
At thirteen I spent my summers hanging drywall with my uncle, and that’s where I learned what it takes to build a house from the inside out. The path after that wasn’t a straight line: cable contracting for AT&T, radio and television broadcasting, IT contracting and automation systems programming.
In 2008 a government broadcasting contract ended and I moved into healthcare, where the pay wasn’t what people assume. I remember standing in a grocery store aisle deciding a bag of Oreos was a luxury I couldn’t justify. Right there I decided to advance myself and never look back. At 27 I enrolled in college, and I finished a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in 2014.
That same year I joined Rick Shipley Custom Homes. For twelve years I learned the discipline of building luxury homes from Rick, whose company D Home named a Best Builder year after year. When Rick retired, I stepped out on my own.
I still carry the tools and supplies to keep a clean job site. I visit every one of my sites daily, whether that’s the usual three to five houses or the ten we had running at once after COVID. I know my trades by name, and I know their families.
I won’t hide a mistake behind a wall or in a conversation.
When something doesn’t go as planned you hear it from me first, face to face, on the job site, with a plan to make it right. A past client hired me for an addition and the budget started climbing past what made sense. I told him it shouldn’t cost that much and restructured the job, even though it cut into my margin.
Wood, stone and steel all start raw and imperfect. Our job is to refine them into something that will stand for generations. Every house is an invitation to put my name and my hands into something that will outlast me, and I don’t take that lightly.
In print, and on the record
Houses I’ve had a hand in have been published and awarded. Where the credit belongs to Rick Shipley Custom Homes or to a designer, it says so.
The Cottage JournalSpring 2017
Good Shepherds Cottage
Thoughtful decorating, along with an ample dose of enchantment, makes this tiny Texas home as beautiful as it is accommodating.
A Rick Shipley Custom Homes cottage in Heath that I ran as superintendent. Interiors by Barbara Owens.
Read the originalHoliday Décor2017
Evergreen Love
This cottage has a peaceful charm that only deep family roots can create.
The same cottage, published again for the holidays.
Read the originalDallas Builders AssociationRidge Lakes of Heath
Home of the Week
Majestic modern custom craftsmanship and nature-filled living unfold at this exquisite waterfront retreat.
Built by Rick Shipley Custom Homes during my years there.
Read the originalCandysDirtAugust 2018
We Are Hot on Heath and This Texas Transitional
What luxury community with the hottest new Texas transitional home is within a half hour of downtown Dallas? It’s Heath!
The same Ridge Lakes house, toured by CandysDirt. Rick Shipley Custom Homes.
Read the originalInterior Design Society2022
Designer of the Year 2022: Stately Elegance
With respect to the European architecture we remodeled and updated the interiors creating a look that would age beautifully.
Award to designer Barbara Owens for a full remodel that my construction company built.
Read the originalD HomeYear after year
Best Builder
Rick Shipley Custom Homes, the builder I trained under for twelve years, was a D Home Best Builder year after year.
Read the original
1The lot
We walk it together. Grade, drainage, trees, access, where the sun comes from. I tell you what the site will and won't allow before anyone draws a plan.
2The plan
Design happens against the real site, not a generic rectangle. You see the envelope, the constraints and the honest cost of the choices that are hard to reverse.
3The numbers
You get a breakdown you can actually read, with the unglamorous items priced rather than buried in an allowance nobody explains.
4The dirt
Pad, drainage and foundation. The least photogenic phase and the one that decides whether the house is still square in twenty years.
5The frame
Walls, roof and the shape of every room. Come walk it while it's open; standing in a space teaches more than any elevation drawing.
6The finish
Cabinets, stone, tile, trim. Slower than people expect, because this is the part you touch every day for the next thirty years.
7The keys
Walk-through, punch list, and a builder who still answers the phone afterward. One family has now brought me back for a fourth project. That only happens if the last one went right.
Owners are on my sites regularly. The framing window is the one I push people to attend, because seeing the volume changes decisions.
Six counties, and I drive to all of them
Most of my houses sit in Heath and Rockwall, with work in Allen, McKinney, Richardson and Dallas. I take jobs I can physically get to, because I’m on every site every day.
Dallas County
Established neighborhoods, infill teardowns and the lots closest to home.
Collin County
Master-planned north DFW plus the acreage opening up above 380.
Rockwall County
The lake corridor. Grade, views and setbacks drive these plans.
Kaufman County
Black-clay acreage east of Dallas where the foundation leads.
Hunt County
County land with long approaches and rural utility runs.
Questions I get asked
How long does a custom home take?
It depends far more on the lot and the decisions than on the framing. Walk me through your site and I will give you a real range for your build rather than a brochure number.
Do you build on my lot or do you have lots?
I build on your lot. If you haven’t bought it yet, bring me out before you do. I have talked people out of lots that would have cost them more in dirt work than they saved on the purchase.
How many houses do you run at once?
Usually three to five. I’m on every one of my job sites daily, and that only works if the number stays small.
What happens when something goes wrong?
You hear it from me first, face to face, along with what I plan to do about it.
How will I know what’s happening on my build?
I run every job in JobTread, so you, the designer and the trades see the same decisions, changes and milestones.
What areas do you build in?
Heath, Rockwall and the surrounding DFW area across 6 counties. I take jobs I can physically get to.
Tell me about your lot
No pressure on a first call. Ask what you want to ask, and I will give you a straight read on what your site will and won’t allow.