Renovations & remodels
Gut renovations and whole-house rebuilds for Harwich's older capes and cottages, including taking one back to the frame when that's the honest answer.
Serving Harwich & Harwich Port · Lower Cape, MA
Building and rebuilding in Harwich and Harwich Port, MA.
Two of our most demanding projects are in Harwich Port, both a short walk from Nantucket Sound: a waterfront home taken down to the deck and rebuilt top to bottom, and a teardown that's going back up as a new house right now. Coastal work rewards a builder who is patient about details. That's us, with 30+ years and a 5.0 rating to show for it.
Coastal construction, done properly
Building near the water in Harwich changes the details, not the standard.
Harwich Port sits on Nantucket Sound between Wychmere, Saquatucket and Allen harbors, and a lot of its housing is older capes and cottages that have been through decades of salt and wind. Some are worth opening up and rebuilding; some are worth taking down and starting over. We've done both in Harwich Port.
Waterfront and near-water lots come with their own rulebook. FEMA flood zones can dictate how high a new first floor sits and how the foundation is built; work within 100 feet of a coastal bank or wetland goes to the Harwich Conservation Commission under the Wetlands Protection Act before a shovel goes in; and older houses may fall under the town's demolition review before they can come down. We plan for each of these on Harwich projects and fold them into the schedule from the start, because a surprise at the Conservation Commission is a month lost.
And then there's the salt. Everything exposed is specified for it: white cedar shingles, PVC trim that won't rot, stainless or hot-dipped fasteners, cable railings instead of wood that needs repainting every other year, and flashing details that assume wind-driven rain, because that's what the Sound delivers. Our Harwich Port renovation is the showcase for all of it: fieldstone walls, bluestone patios and a house that looks like it has always been there.
- A full waterfront gut renovation in Harwich Port, finished and lived in
- A teardown and new build in Harwich Port, under construction now
- Flood-zone, Conservation Commission and Building Department permitting handled for you
5.0Google rating
What we build in Harwich
Open it up, or start again. Both done right.
New home builds
Teardowns and ground-up coastal homes: elevated foundations where the flood map asks for them, framing and shingles built for the Sound.
Additions & decks
Decks, porches and second-floor additions with cable rail and rot-proof trim, sized for the view and built for the weather.
Custom woodwork
Built-in millwork, shiplap ceilings and custom kitchens. The Harwich Port renovation is full of it.
Case study · Harwich Port, MA
A waterfront cape, taken down to the deck and rebuilt from there.
A complete gut renovation on the water in Harwich Port. The house was stripped back to the first-floor deck in the middle of winter, reframed around a steel frame for the open plan, and rebuilt top to bottom — gambrel second floor, cable-rail decks, a custom kitchen, built-in millwork and marble baths — then finished outside with fieldstone walls, bluestone patios and full landscaping.
An older gray cape a short walk from the Sound, neighbors close on both sides, and a winter start.
Stripped to the first-floor deck, then reframed around a steel frame so the main floor could open up wall to wall without posts in the way.
Gambrel second floor, cable rails, fieldstone walls and bluestone outside; the kitchen, built-ins and marble baths inside. Handed over with the gardens in.
What the job involved
- Full strip-down to the first-floor deck and new framing, including a structural steel frame for the open main floor
- Gambrel second story with decks and cable railings facing the water
- Custom kitchen, built-in millwork, shiplap ceilings and marble baths
- Fieldstone retaining walls, stone steps, bluestone patios and paths
- Full landscaping, lawn and planting beds
What it means for your Harwich project
Renovating near the water isn't a kitchen-and-bath job with a view. It's structure, flood and conservation rules, and materials that have to outlast the salt. This one went from snow on the roof to flowers in the beds, and it's the project we point to when a Harwich homeowner asks whether their house is worth saving. Our second Harwich Port job took the other route: the old cape came down, and a new home is going up in its place.
New Build · Under construction
Also in Harwich Port: a teardown and rebuild
The original cape came down; a new home is going up in its place. Excavation, poured foundation and slab, framing and sheathing, now wrapped with the porch and composite deck on and siding next.
Rated by real clients
"From start to finish, they were professional, reliable, and truly experts in their craft." — Lucas S., Google review
Harwich FAQ
Answers before you even call.
Honest answer: it depends on the structure, the foundation and what zoning lets you do with the lot. We've taken one Harwich Port house back to its deck and rebuilt it, and taken another down to start fresh. We'll walk yours with you and tell you which one makes sense for the money, even if the answer is the cheaper one.
If your lot is in a FEMA flood zone, the first floor may need to sit above a set elevation, which drives the foundation design and sometimes the whole approach to the house. It's all workable; it just has to be designed in from the start rather than discovered at permit. We check the flood map before we quote.
Yes. Work within 100 feet of a wetland or coastal bank needs Conservation Commission approval under the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act before it can start. We prepare for that filing alongside the building permit so the two run together rather than one after the other.
Most Cape projects do. You'll have one crew and one phone number for the whole job, and decisions get queued up so you can make them from wherever you are. Both of our Harwich Port projects ran through the winter.
Harwich Port is a regular drive for us from Bridgewater, not a special trip. Two of our largest projects are there, and we're on the Lower Cape often enough that scheduling a site walk is straightforward.
Beyond Harwich
Also building along the Lower and Mid-Cape.
Chatham, Brewster, Orleans, Dennis and Yarmouth are all in range of the same crew that rebuilt in Harwich Port — and so is the rest of the Cape.
Makyson Building Company
Let's look at your house
Building in Harwich? Let's walk it together.
Renovation or rebuild, waterfront or inland — tell us what you're thinking and we'll give you a straight read and a real quote.