Fort Worth New-Build Spotlight: The Tanglewood Home That Started as a Kitchen Remodel and Ended as a Full Rebuild
A quick reminder before we dive into the story: alongside our renovation work (our bread and butter), we also build ground-up custom homes. We just wrapped one of our favorite projects of the year in Tanglewood, and we wanted to show it off — partly because it's a beautiful house, and partly because it started as a very different project. This is the story of how it happened, what we built, and what we're building next.
How a Kitchen Remodel Became a Full Rebuild
We got hired almost two years ago to do a kitchen remodel for this family. We did the initial walkthroughs, started scoping the design, and were on our way to a straightforward Tanglewood kitchen renovation.
Then a storm came through Fort Worth.
A tree fell straight through the middle of the house and cut it, functionally, in two. Insurance called it a total loss.
That's how a kitchen remodel became a full, ground-up rebuild.
A year and a half of design and construction later, the family just moved in. And what we built together is exactly the kind of Fort Worth home we love making — one that looks like it's always been there, on a street where it always should have been.
The Design Brief: A House That Belongs
Our starting point with the family was simple. We wanted to build them a home that felt like it had always been on that street. Not a new-construction box with zero connection to its block. A house that belongs.
That meant a big front porch (Tanglewood is a front-porch neighborhood). Rooms that hold the way this family actually lives, not the way a magazine photo suggests they should. Timeless. Classic. Built to be a home for the next thirty years, not to hit a trend that will read as dated in five.
The Exterior
On the outside: board and batten in Alabaster (Sherwin-Williams — one of the great warm whites of the last decade), paired with French white brick that reads warm and grounded without being stark. A walnut front door — real wood, real presence — that anchors the front of the house. And a big sealed-concrete porch that says come sit down, which is exactly what Tanglewood porches are for.
The proportions are what matter here. Big enough to feel generous. Detailed enough to feel intentional. Simple enough to age well. Nothing on the exterior is chasing a moment — every choice is meant to look right in 2026, in 2036, and in 2046.
The Interior Palette
Inside, we went with a warm, timeless palette. Revere Pewter on the walls (Benjamin Moore's most-recommended warm neutral, and for good reason — it holds up in every light, in every room, without ever going cold). Simply White on the trim. Wide-plank oak floors in a natural finish that lets the wood do the talking.
The primary shower is done in Zellige tile — the handmade Moroccan square that adds handmade character without shouting about it. Custom cream cabinets throughout the kitchen wrap a walnut island topped with butcher block, which becomes the visual and functional anchor of the space.
One bold room: we color drenched the study in Quarry Rock, a deep moody green that turns the room into a real destination. Every house benefits from one room that's brave. In this one, that room is the study.
Out back, a covered patio with a fireplace and a yard that actually gets used. That last part matters. A backyard is only as good as it is used, and this one was designed for real Sunday afternoons.
(See the full gallery of the completed home here.)
Why This Project Matters to Us
Two things about this build we're particularly proud of.
First, that we could take a family through the worst-case-scenario version of a construction project — losing their home to a natural disaster — and get them to a genuinely joyful outcome eighteen months later. That's what our team is built to do. The design phase, the insurance coordination, the construction sequencing, the constant communication with the family — all of it. This is why we run design-build under one roof.
Second, that the finished house doesn't look like a new build. It looks like it's been on that Tanglewood street since 1948, aged into itself gracefully, and been quietly loved by a family that got the details right. New construction that reads as continuous with an established neighborhood is one of the hardest things to do well. We spent real design hours on the proportions, the roof pitch, the porch depth, the window rhythm, and the material palette to make sure this house belongs.
What's Next: Two More Infill Builds in the Works
We have two more custom infill builds under construction right now. One in Berkeley Place. One out in Benbrook. Different neighborhoods, same principle — new construction that doesn't feel like new construction. Each one designed to match the street it's sitting on, not fight it.
Berkeley Place asks for a slightly different design vocabulary than Tanglewood. Benbrook asks for something different again. That's part of the fun of infill work — every neighborhood has its own architectural conversation, and the goal is to add to that conversation, not interrupt it.
The Broader Point
A house that looks like it belongs is a house you don't have to explain. That principle has shaped how we approach every custom build we take on. The best compliment we get on a new-build project is when a neighbor walks past and asks what year the house was built, thinking it's original to the street.
If you've been thinking about building — whether that's a rebuild after a loss, an addition, or a full ground-up on a lot you already love — we'd be a good conversation to have. Free consultation, like always. We'll come look at the lot, listen to what you want the house to be, and give you honest guidance on whether it makes sense to build, when the calendar could realistically support it, and what the budget conversation looks like.
Ground-up custom is a slower, longer, more involved partnership than a renovation. When it goes well, it produces the kind of house you get to love for the next thirty years. That's what we're here for.
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Ready to start the process of finding or creating a home that feels like you? Get started here.