From the first phone call to the one-year warranty walkthrough — exactly what it looks like to build a custom home with Northwest Custom Homes in North Idaho. Six phases, typically 12 to 20 months end-to-end. The quick version Phase 1 — Discovery (1–2 weeks): Pre-construction consultation, lot walk, budget conversation Phase 2 — Design (2–4 months): Architectural drawings, interior design, itemized bid, signed agreement Phase 3 — Pre-construction (1–3 months): Permits, eng

Everything we get asked most often about building a custom home in North Idaho — timeline, cost, process, warranty, and the specifics that only come up once you start looking seriously. If your question isn't here, call 208-660-2896 and we'll answer it directly. Cost and budget How much does a custom home cost in Coeur d'Alene and North Idaho? Our custom homes typically fall in the luxury tier for the North Idaho market. Exact pricing depends on three variables: lot conditio

Third-generation North Idaho builders. Licensed Idaho contractor RCE-43798. Two Fendiches on every build — Eric leads construction, Luba leads interior design. The short version Founded 2016 — Northwest Custom Homes Inc., Hayden, Idaho Licensed — Idaho contractor registration RCE-43798 Third-generation builders — Eric Fendich is the third generation of Fendich family builders working in North Idaho 2025 Parade of Homes People's Choice — Oakhaven floor plan New constructio

Every home we build is one-of-a-kind. So is every family's story. Here's theirs, in their own words. Leave a review on Google → · Read all reviews on Google The short version ★★★★★ — Average Google rating 2025 Parade of Homes People's Choice — Oakhaven floor plan RCE-43798 — Licensed Idaho contractor Three generations of North Idaho builders Featured reviews "Northwest Custom Homes, led by Eric and his wife Luba, are hands down one of my favorite custom home builders in

Already own the lot? Let's build on it. Schedule a free site walk → (208) 660-2896 Who this is for If you own land in Kootenai County, Bonner County, or elsewhere in North Idaho and you're ready to build a custom home on it, this is the page for you. About 60% of the homes Northwest Custom Homes builds each year are on land the client already owns. Inherited parcels, recent purchases, long-held family acreage, lakefront lots held for a generation — we've built on all of them.

Third-generation North Idaho builder. Lakefront specialists. 2025 Parade of Homes People's Choice winner. Key facts at a glance Company: Northwest Custom Homes Inc. Founded: 2016 (third-generation North Idaho building family) Based in: Hayden, Idaho — serving all of Kootenai County Idaho contractor license: RCE-43798 Specialties: Luxury custom homes, lakefront construction, modern-vintage craftsman design, build-on-your-land programs Most recent award: 2025 North Idaho

North Idaho is defined by its landscape. Towering Ponderosa pines. Crystal-clear lakes that mirror the sky. Mountain ridgelines that change color with the seasons. It is a place where the natural world is not a backdrop — it is the main event. At Northwest Custom Homes, we believe a luxury custom home in this setting should do more than sit on the land. It should respond to it, embrace it, and become part of it. This is what we call site-responsive design, and it is a core pr

North Idaho is one of the Pacific Northwest's most compelling destinations for custom home building. The combination of pristine lakes, mountain landscapes, genuine small-town character, and a growing luxury real estate market has attracted families from across the country who are looking for a place to build a home that matches their vision for how they want to live. But North Idaho is not one single market. Each community offers a different character, different building opp

Coeur d'Alene is one of the most desirable places to build a custom home in the Pacific Northwest. The combination of Lake Coeur d'Alene, mountain panoramas, four distinct seasons, and a growing community of people who value quality of life has made this region a magnet for families looking to build their forever home. But building a custom home here — or anywhere — involves a process that can feel overwhelming if you have not done it before. This guide walks through every st

Most homes are built for the people who will live in them first. A legacy property is built for everyone who will live in it — including the generations who have not arrived yet. At Northwest Custom Homes, the concept of a legacy property is central to how we think about every project. It shapes our material choices, our structural decisions, and our design philosophy. But what does it actually mean to build a home with generational thinking? And what separates a legacy prope

Walk into a Northwest Custom Homes project and you will notice something immediately: it does not look like any single decade. There are no design clichés that will date it in five years, no trendy finishes that will feel tired by next season. Instead, there is a quality that is harder to define — a sense that the home has always been here, and always will be. This is what we call modern vintage design. It is the architectural philosophy at the heart of every home we build, a

There's a warmth to dark wood that no amount of chrome or glass can replicate. English oak with rich walnut stains. Ebonized beams. Dark cabinetry that catches light like a mirror but feels weighty and intentional. We're seeing dark wood become the anchor point in the homes we design—not for the sake of trend, but because it fundamentally changes how a space feels. The Warmth Factor: Why Dark Isn't Cold The assumption used to be that dark woods made a room feel heavy or dated

A few years ago, a walk-in pantry was a thoughtful upgrade. Today, in nearly every luxury home we build, it is non-negotiable. The reason is simple. The kitchen has become the most-photographed, most-used, and most-on-display room in the house, and the pantry is what allows it to stay that way. It is the space behind the curtain where the small appliances live, where the groceries land, where the prep happens, and where the mess goes when the dinner party arrives. Done well,

Ask any of our clients which room ends up being more important than they expected, and the answer is almost always the mudroom. It is the room nobody photographs, nobody shows their friends, and nobody designs first, and yet in a four-season home in North Idaho it is the room that gets used a hundred times a week. Skis come in covered in snow. Wet life jackets land on the bench after a day on the lake. Dogs shake themselves dry. Children drop backpacks. Groceries get parked.

The primary bathroom has quietly become one of the most important rooms in a luxury home. It is the first space our clients walk into in the morning and the last one they leave at night, and the way it makes them feel sets the tone for everything else. Done well, it functions less like a bathroom and more like a private wing devoted entirely to rest, ritual, and reset. We have built primary bathrooms in every shape and scale, from compact retreats tucked beneath dormers to...

There are very few decisions in a custom home that touch as much square footage as the flooring. It is the largest material surface in nearly every room, the foundation that every other design choice has to live on top of, and one of the few finishes you cannot easily swap out down the road. A floor that is wrong for the home reads as wrong for years. A floor that is right almost disappears, letting the rest of the architecture and furnishings do the talking. At Northwest Cus

Paint is the easiest part of a custom home to change, and the easiest part to get wrong. The right palette can make a home feel collected, calm, and rooted. The wrong palette can make a multi-million dollar build feel flat and dated within five years. Picking colors that age beautifully is its own discipline. At Northwest Custom Homes, our paint conversations happen alongside the stone, the floors, the trim profile, and the landscape outside the windows. Color does not exist

Lighting is the single most underappreciated element in custom home design. The same room can feel like a hotel lobby or a warm retreat depending entirely on how it is lit. The difference is almost never about how many fixtures are in the ceiling. It is about layering. At Northwest Custom Homes, lighting is treated as architecture, not a finish. We design it during framing, with multiple layers controlled on independent dimmers, so every room can shift from morning bright to

In a luxury custom home, the kitchen island is no longer just a workstation. It is the social center of the house, the place where homework happens, where wine is poured before dinner, and where the people you love congregate every single day. It deserves to be designed with the same care as a great dining table or a fireplace mantel. At Northwest Custom Homes, we treat the island as the most important piece of furniture in the house. Get the proportion, material, and lightin

Reeded glass is one of those details that quietly separates a thoughtfully designed kitchen from a beautiful one. The vertical fluting catches light, softens what is behind it, and adds texture without adding noise. It works in modern kitchens, transitional kitchens, and warmer English-inspired kitchens. The trick is using it intentionally. At Northwest Custom Homes, we have been specifying reeded glass more often in our luxury kitchens, and there is a reason it has become a