What Does A Boston Home Remodel Actually Cost in 2025?
We have been providing Architectural Design Build services to Boston and the GBA for nearly two decades now. This year celebrates our 20th anniversary and is something I am very proud of! What started off initially as a solo venture post graduation from Tufts University is now one of New England’s leading Architectural Design Build creative firms–a vibrant team of 25 architects, interior designers, project managers and artisan builders dedicated to the legacy of the Architect as a Master Builder.
A fundamental, relevant and defining factor throughout this journey has been the subject of actual project cost–and how we continue to approach this with our clients and the process we provide for each.
Cost is not a taboo subject. Nor should it be obfuscated or shunted further down the line until the client is locked in or committed to a design.
So…what will my Boston home remodel actually cost?
I have been asked this by clients, friends, industry partners, my parents…everyone. It’s a factor which steers projects and is a key part of the decision making by Boston homeowner, yet can often be vague, obscure and difficult to determine.
Yet true costing information is vital is it drives decision making.
This holds true whether a homeowner is remodeling an existing home or seeking a new home to purchase and upgrade to align with their specific aesthetic and needs.
Design options and material choices drive construction cost.
It’s been a core value of mine since the very beginning of this professional journey to candidly present costs and various cost factors to our clients from the outset of each project–even before they are our clients.
We offer free design consultations to potential clients when they first reach out to us–after a walk through of their space and an understanding of their vision I endeavor to give them straight data from the very get go.
Sometimes this is a bit of a shock. But often our clients appreciate the candor and straightforward approach in a subject so many seek to avoid or complicate.
We go the other way: we lean into straightforward talk on cost.
Along these lines we’ve developed a BOSTON HOME REMODELING COST GUIDE over the last 5 years for use by our clients, trade partners and real estate professionals as a resource to help them evaluate how to approach their own potential home design and remodel.
It’s a free resource and is based on 20 years of actual projects by NEDC throughout Boston and Boston’s MetroWest.
We launched our 20th Anniversary Edition for 2025 recently and its available for download here:
The idea is to provide cost-driven guidance for each part of a Boston home which one may be considering a meaningful design and remodel for. Clearly this is general and each project unique–but it provides an accurate starting point and frame of reference with which to think and plan.
At NEDC we often help clients with larger remodels in Boston ranging from kitchen / bath and primary suite remodels to home additions and whole home gut remodels.
(A smaller project for our team at NEDC is in the 300K range. Our average project size is 500K to 1M, and we have recently completed several north of 3-4M)
We specialize in larger projects where the homeowner is seeking a meaningful remodel and desires the simplicity and certainty inherent in dealing with one creative professional team from beginning to end.
WHAT IS ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN BUILD?
We offer an overview on Architectural Design Build and its client benefits. These are primarily as follows:
- Faster Project Completion
- Reduced Cost
- Certainty
Architectural Design Build versus Design Bid Build
There are two primary approaches to a major home design and remodel in Boston in 2025. While this can be made very complex as a subject, the natural creative process is fundamentally simple. I will cover both here:
Design-Bid-Build is the process that has been introduced over the past 150 years or so whereby you as the client directly hire an architect to draft plans and design your project — to then have it bid out to multiple contractors seeking to win the bid and perform the project. This approach has been generalized as mainstream over the past decades and sold to homeowners, often creating client stress and potential loss of both client funds and time. This approach has many liabilities for the client due in no small part to the fragmented spheres of responsibilities which this system and method creates.
There is no single person or entity fully accountable to the client for the entire project’s success.
This single factor alone can create a host of problems for the client.
By default the client is ultimately responsible for both Architect and Builder as well as the ultimate success of the project. Thus one can have impractical and expensive design work, impractical planning, numerous change orders, shoddy craftsmanship, and projects which are off timeline and over budget. In the end, the client can be left damaged. You or a family member or friend may have experienced this in the past. We have many clients come to us after poor experiences with this approach.
Architectural Design-Build (also Design Build) is the natural approach to creation of the built environment and has been used for thousands of years to create many of the beautiful structures of earth. Architectural Design Build is the route of choice if one desires to save on time and money, reduce stress, and eliminate a fragmented sense of project responsibility in the people working for you.
Architectural Design Build is a model that stresses single-source accountability with the creative design, planning, and remodel executed start to finish by one firm.
Architectural Design-Build in Boston is currently being turned to by professionals, families, and individuals as the cutting edge of efficiency, aesthetics, practicality, and accountability when it comes to designing and remodeling a home. This approach packages architectural design and interior design services with artisan-level building and remodeling services. This natural synthesis makes for a simple, efficient, and accountable creative process followed by a streamlined and responsible build phase, reducing cost, time of execution, and client stress throughout. With the Architectural Design Build approach, the client is dealing solely with one fully accountable firm.
New England Design and Construction specializes in Architectural Design Build with a specific focus on sustainable luxury homes. We are extremely mindful of environmental impact and passionate about project efficiency and client comfort.
NEDC: Who we are today
Our ethos, values and team:
Architectural Design Build Reviews in Boston: What NEDC Clients are Saying
“NEDC did a gut renovation of our house. The process with them was amazing from start to finish. From our first meeting with the president, Dave Supple, who inspected all corners of house and talked about our goals, to the wrap-up of the punch list with the project manager and lead designer, everything went exceedingly well. The process began with a series of broad design options and price ranges, then settled to one primary design during which we refined all the details and finalize the budget; then we moved onto all the material, appliance and finish selections, which is also done hand-in-hand with NEDC’s designers. Once construction began, we had a weekly meeting with the project manager to discuss what had been done the prior week and what was coming. This allowed for timely course correction. The project was completed on time – maybe even a bit ahead of schedule, I don’t remember, despite some COVID permitting setbacks – and at the budget that was set at the end of the design process. We were very happy with NEDC.”
NEDC Client JMD – Cambridge, MA
“They do very high quality work and take care of everything. They also operate with a lot of integrity and trustworthiness. When something doesn’t go to plan, they take care of it. They do everything they can to make sure you are happy and satisfied with the work and that you are setup to enjoy it for a long time. This is hard to find in the construction business and is what sets NEDC apart, in my opinion. I can’t imagine another design and build firm that is as professional, reliable and talented as NEDC. The team is very personable, passionate and just plain nice. And the end result is outstanding. Our entire family (pets included) is extremely satisfied, now and for the future, with what they created for us.”
NEDC Client HR – Boston
“We really enjoyed working with NEDC, from start to finish. The designers were wonderful about accommodating our tastes and considering costs as we tried to stretch our budget as much as we could. They also did a great job helping us figure out some features of universal design that will allow friends and family with mobility challenges to access our whole first floor, including the new bathroom, with ease without compromising the look of the room for our everyday use. The construction crew, from NEDC staff to subcontractors, was extremely considerate of the fact that we were living in the space while they were working, going so far as to leave a very clean workspace at the end of every day. Everyone was personable and professional, and did their best to manage even small details like making sure our cat didn’t get into the basement. Our old house held many surprises for us, and in spite of that they managed to come in on schedule, which was amazing, and they were always great about communicating what these surprises would mean in terms of changes in schedule, budget, etc. In terms of finishes, their work is top quality, and they have been great about correcting even small cosmetic issues, ensuring that our home looks just as we hoped. They have taken a very tired old building and turned it into a beautiful, functional space that we are proud to call home.”
NEDC Client KT – Cambridge, MA
“I wouldn’t actually trust anybody else with my house…”
NEDC Client SL – Chestnut Hill
I hope this helps!
Reach out–we would love to hear from you.
Love,
David Muniz Supple