Nashville’s residential new-construction market spans custom estates in Brentwood and Franklin, infill builds in 12 South and East Nashville, and master-planned community work across Williamson County. The three home builders profiled below focus on ground-up new construction rather than renovation contracting, hold long-running Middle Tennessee tenure, and publish work in the Davidson and Williamson County corridor. Each entry reflects information drawn from the company’s own published web copy, verified on 2026-05-11.
Quick Comparison #
| Firm | Operating Since | Headquarters | Primary Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carbine & Associates | Family building presence since 1986 (40+ years) | Brentwood, TN | Luxury custom homes, named communities |
| Ford Classic Homes | 1995 (30+ years) | Franklin, TN | Luxury custom homes, in-house design |
| Hidden Valley Homes | More than 30 years per published copy | Franklin, TN | Luxury custom homes, estate lots |
1. Carbine & Associates #
- Address: 7105 Crossroads Blvd., Suite 104, Brentwood, TN 37027
- Phone: (615) 661-9995
- Founder: James Carbine, president and co-founder; family building presence in Franklin since 1986
- Operating Since: Family-led residential building in Williamson County since 1986 (40+ years) per company statement
- Credentials: Tennessee licensed residential builder operating across Middle Tennessee; published cumulative team experience exceeding one hundred years; member of Williamson County and Brentwood building communities
- Service area: Franklin, Brentwood, Nashville, and the broader Williamson County corridor
- Specialties: Luxury custom home construction, builder of record inside named communities (Taliaferro, The Mill at Bond Springs, Little Creek Farms, Primm Springs, Midtown), design-build coordination, transparent cost control
- Website: Carbine & Associates
Family lineage and four-decade Williamson County presence #
The practice traces its building history in the Franklin area to 1986, when Denzel Carbine and James Carbine began working together. James Carbine now serves as president and co-founder of the current company, and the published team page presents the operation as a father-and-son legacy continued under second-generation leadership. That continuity gives the builder direct institutional memory of Franklin and Brentwood subdivision growth across four decades.
Named-community builder program #
Rather than publishing a single floor-plan catalog, the company lists active builds inside named Middle Tennessee neighborhoods including Taliaferro, The Mill at Bond Springs, Little Creek Farms, Primm Springs, and Midtown. Buyers select a lot within one of those communities and the team handles plan selection or fully custom design from there. The named-community model gives the builder steady pipeline volume while keeping each home individually specified.
Transparent cost-control framework #
The published process language emphasizes transparent cost control, project organization, and detailed attention through each construction phase. For luxury-tier custom work, that framing aligns with the AIA A101 owner-contractor agreement format common in Middle Tennessee, where guaranteed maximum price and detailed schedule-of-values reporting are standard contract instruments.
Brentwood headquarters and Franklin job-site footprint #
The Crossroads Boulevard office sits in Brentwood inside the 37027 zip, directly off Cool Springs Boulevard and Interstate 65, with active job sites concentrated west and south into Franklin. That positioning matches Williamson County’s luxury custom corridor, where lot availability inside named developments continues to anchor new-construction demand.
2. Ford Classic Homes #
- Address: 554 Franklin Road, Suite 300, Franklin, TN 37069
- Phone: (615) 503-9727
- Founder: Mike Ford, founder and principal
- Operating Since: Mike Ford began building in Williamson County in 1995, with the company formally trading as Ford Classic Homes since 1997 (30+ years of builder tenure)
- Credentials: Tennessee licensed residential builder; in-house team includes a state-registered Architect; team members carry Tennessee Broker licenses and GRI and ABR real-estate designations; 2026 Franklin Sizzle Awards Best Homebuilder; 2025 Nashville Parade of Homes Most Livable Award; 2022 Franklin Sizzle Awards Best Homebuilder; 2021 Guide to Williamson’s Best Builder Award
- Service area: Williamson and Davidson counties, with active work in Westhaven, The Grove, Rosebrooke, Witherspoon, Colletta, SouthBrooke, SouthVale, Village of Providence, and Oakland Springs
- Specialties: Luxury custom home design and construction, in-house architectural drafting, in-house interior design, Southern-style and contemporary plan vocabularies
- Website: Ford Classic Homes
In-house architectural and interior design #
A state-registered Architect sits on staff alongside an interior-design group, allowing the company to handle plan development, exterior elevation, and finish selection inside a single contract. The integrated model is documented on the published Our Company page and reduces the number of outside consultants a buyer needs to retain for a single-family custom project.
Recent awards across Williamson County publications #
Across recent award cycles the builder has been recognized as Best Homebuilder in the 2026 and 2022 Franklin Sizzle Awards, received the 2025 Nashville Parade of Homes Most Livable Award, and was named Best Builder in the 2021 Guide to Williamson’s Best. The awards are publication-issued and reader-voted in some cases, so they sit alongside, not in place of, the Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors record.
Community builder of record at Westhaven and The Grove #
The shop is a published builder of record inside the Westhaven traditional neighborhood development in Franklin and The Grove signature golf community south of Franklin, plus Rosebrooke in Brentwood. That community-level participation gives buyers access to lots inside controlled developments rather than only scattered-site infill work.
Real-estate licensing on the build team #
Team members hold Tennessee Broker licenses with GRI (Graduate, REALTOR Institute) and ABR (Accredited Buyer’s Representative) designations issued through the National Association of REALTORS. For buyers who are simultaneously transacting a lot purchase and a build contract, the same operation can handle both threads under licensed real-estate representation.
3. Hidden Valley Homes #
- Address: 520 Duke Dr, Franklin, TN 37067
- Phone: (615) 370-0980
- Founder: Jim Spangler, founder and principal builder
- Operating Since: More than 30 years of design and building experience per company statement; established in the Nashville market after a national-builder relocation to the area in 1999
- Credentials: Tennessee licensed residential builder; family-owned and operated; James Hardie siding partnership; published portfolio of luxury custom homes and large-scale renovations across the Nashville, Brentwood, and Franklin submarkets
- Service area: Nashville, Brentwood, and Franklin within the Davidson and Williamson County footprint
- Specialties: One-of-a-kind luxury custom homes, large-scale renovation and remodel work, estate-lot representation, showcase inventory homes built and listed for sale
- Website: Hidden Valley Homes
Founder-led family ownership #
The company is family-owned and family-operated, with Jim Spangler continuing as the principal builder after a career inside a large national homebuilder. The published About narrative frames the operation as a return to single-builder accountability after national-builder process work, with quality standards set personally by the founder.
Estate-lot representation alongside built inventory #
The published Homes page lists both fully completed showcase residences offered for sale and estate-lot opportunities where a buyer can secure the parcel first and design from there. That dual track gives buyers either an immediate-occupancy path or a from-scratch custom path inside the same company.
Large-scale renovation as a secondary line #
While the primary focus is ground-up custom home construction, the published service list also names large-scale renovation and remodel work. For buyers holding an existing Brentwood or Franklin estate where a tear-down is not preferred, that dual capability keeps a single builder across either path.
James Hardie product partnership #
The company displays a James Hardie siding partnership on its published materials. James Hardie fiber-cement products are a common exterior-cladding specification across Middle Tennessee luxury custom homes, and partner-builder status indicates direct manufacturer relationships for warranty and installation certification.
Reference Notes #
The Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors administers the Building Contractor (BC) license required for any construction project valued at twenty-five thousand dollars or more in total materials and labor, with the same threshold applied to residential, commercial, and industrial work. Applicants must pass a business and law exam, pass a trade exam such as the BC-A or Residential classification exam, submit a reviewed financial statement supporting a requested monetary limit, and carry workers’ compensation coverage. The Residential Contractor (BC-A or RBC) classification covers one-family through four-family dwellings up to three stories above grade. License lookup runs through the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance contractor license search portal.
National designations frequently displayed by Nashville-area home builders include NAHB membership and the NAHB Certified Graduate Builder (CGB) and Certified Green Professional (CGP) credentials, awarded by the National Association of Home Builders after completion of designation coursework on contracts, finance, project management, risk management, and (for CGP) energy and resource efficiency. Locally, the Home Builders Association of Middle Tennessee (HBAMT) operates as the regional NAHB affiliate and hosts the Nashville Parade of Homes each program year. AIA contract documents such as the A101 standard form between owner and contractor and the A201 general conditions are the predominant residential and luxury-custom contract instruments used in this market.
Inside Davidson County, the Metropolitan Government Codes Department reviews building, electrical, mechanical, plumbing, and gas permits, and new single-family construction triggers plan review under the 2018 International Residential Code as adopted by Metro. Energy code review applies the 2018 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), which sets envelope, fenestration, mechanical, and lighting performance minimums. Williamson County jurisdictions, including the cities of Franklin and Brentwood, run their own permit and inspection departments with overlapping but separately scheduled review workflows.
Selection Methodology #
Each listed builder publishes a physical Middle Tennessee address, a working phone number in the (615) area code, and a named founder or principal. Each operation has documented residential building tenure of at least 30 years in the Nashville and Williamson County market. Credentials cited above (Tennessee residential builder licensure, in-house design staff, James Hardie partnership, publication-issued awards, and NAHB or HBAMT affiliation context) were taken from each company’s own published web copy and cross-checked against the originating organization’s published references where available. To prevent duplication with the General Contractors directory entry, none of the firms listed in that prior entry are repeated here. Listings reflect only information published as of 2026-05-11. Exact state license numbers are not reproduced because the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance license search portal is the authoritative source and license status can change between publication and reader review.
Frequently Asked Questions #
What is the difference between a custom home builder and a production home builder in Nashville? #
A custom home builder constructs a one-of-a-kind residence from plans developed for a specific buyer on a specific lot, with finishes, layout, and specifications selected by the buyer. A production builder offers a fixed library of plans built repeatedly across a development with limited buyer-level customization. All three operations profiled above publish a custom-builder model, with several also serving as builder of record inside named Williamson County communities.
Does the same Tennessee BC license cover both new home construction and remodel work? #
Yes. The Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors issues the Building Contractor license at a monetary-limit threshold tied to project value rather than scope category. A Residential Contractor classification authorizes the builder to perform ground-up new construction and renovation work on one-family through four-family dwellings up to three stories above grade. The contractor must still pull a Metro Codes or city-level permit for each individual project.
What national designations like NAHB CGB or CGP mean for a home builder? #
The Certified Graduate Builder (CGB) is a designation issued by the National Association of Home Builders after a member completes coursework in business management, estimating, project management, finance, and building science paired with documented building experience. The Certified Green Professional (CGP) covers energy and resource efficiency, advanced building science, and green specification. Both are designations held by the builder personally rather than company-level licenses.
How long does a Nashville-area custom home project typically take from contract to certificate of occupancy? #
Timelines vary by lot conditions, plan complexity, finish level, and jurisdiction, but custom homes in the Nashville and Williamson County market commonly run twelve to eighteen months from a signed construction contract through certificate of occupancy. Estate-tier homes above seven-thousand square feet, deeply customized millwork packages, and lots requiring extensive site preparation typically push that range toward the upper bound.
Editorial Note #
This guide was published on 2026-05-11 and reflects research current as of that date. Verify licenses, phone numbers, and current business status before engaging any firm.