A custom home builder in Arundel, ME has to plan around two things no floor plan shows: the soil under your lot and the town's monthly cap on growth permits. We price both before we price the house.
This page explains how a new custom home gets built in Arundel, Maine, a York County town just inland from Kennebunkport whose comprehensive plan describes mostly owner-occupied, fairly new single-family houses. The work is ground-up construction on the owner's land, from site work and foundation through framing, systems and finishes.
It is for owners who want a house fitted to their own lot. Here that lot matters a great deal: the town plan found every home treating its own sewage, most drawing groundwater, and Arundel limits new growth permits to four a month.
What sets this builder apart is pricing the ground first and timing the permit to the pour. The key number: across many builds, a turnkey Arundel house averages $285 to $445+ per square foot before land, with well, septic and site work priced on their own lines.
Reading the Arundel ground before choosing a plan matters because the town sits on sandy outwash, slow marine clay and ledge, and one house costs more on some of those grounds than others.
Test pits where the septic will go, since the town plan found every Arundel home treating its own sewage
The growth permit timed so the foundation is done inside the town's four-month window
A drilled well priced as a range, because most Arundel homes run on groundwater
Ground priced before the house
A written price before excavation
Weekly updates through the build
Neighboring towns
A town rule, the ground and the water set the budget before the kitchen does.
Arundel's Residential Growth Ordinance allows up to four new dwelling units a month and 40 a year, issued in the order complete applications arrive.
A growth permit expires after four months unless the foundation is complete, so we book the excavation and the pour before applying.
The town plan maps about a quarter of Arundel as glacial outwash and a third as marine silts and clays around the Kennebunk River and Route 111.
Outwash sand usually takes a septic field easily. On wet clay the site evaluator often raises the system, which changes the septic line of the price.
Arundel's Shoreland Overlay reaches 250 feet from the Kennebunk River and Goff's Mill Brook, and Resource Protection covers land within 250 feet of Brimstone Pond and the river's 100-year floodplain.
The town adopted FEMA Zones A and AE from the July 17, 2024 maps, so we check a riverside lot on the FEMA flood map first. On a Resource Protection parcel, ask the code office what may be built before making an offer.
An Arundel build usually leans on three of our six services.
Arundel's Code Enforcement Office issues building permits, and its checklist asks for a site evaluation showing a septic system will fit, so the HHE-200 septic design comes first.
We walk your Arundel lot, flag the house, well and septic spots, and book a site evaluator's test pits.
Plans are finished, the written price follows, and we assemble the permit package you sign.
The foundation is scheduled to finish inside the four months, you hear from us weekly, and we walk the finished house together.
You choose a custom home builder in Arundel, ME by asking how they price the ground before the house. Site work, well and septic should each get their own line in the written price.
Next, ask how they handle the growth permit clock: a permit issued in November that waits on a spring pour can expire.
Last, ask for the energy plan. Arundel's 4,264 residents in 2020 put it over the 4,000 mark where state law requires MUBEC enforcement, energy code included.
The owner of record files for an Arundel growth permit, since the ordinance accepts applications only from that person. We prepare the package; you sign it.
Arundel lots need the most site work where the town plan maps exposed bedrock: the north end of Portland Road, Old Post Road and New Road. High water tables along Downing, Curtis, Limerick and Hill roads come next.
An Arundel owner should apply once plans are final and a crew can pour within four months. Only complete applications enter the next month's selection.
Building a house in Arundel costs about $285 to $445+ per square foot, turnkey, before the land. Those are averages across many builds, not a quote.
| Finish tier | What it usually means | Average per sq ft | A 3,000 sq ft house |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple and efficient | Vinyl siding and windows, shingle roof | $285 to $330 | $855,000 to $990,000 |
| Mid-range custom | Fiber cement siding, fiberglass windows | $330 to $395 | $990,000 to $1,185,000 |
| High detail | Wood windows, metal roof, custom trim | $395 to $445+ | $1,185,000 to $1,335,000+ |
Turnkey Arundel averages, everything except the land. Well, septic and site work are below.
A well adds about $14,000 to $24,000 and a septic system $16,000 to $40,000 in Arundel. The town plan puts public water mainly on Route One and part of River Road, so most lots need both.
Site work on a cleared, utility-ready Arundel lot runs roughly $70,000 to $95,000 with the well, septic and power. A wooded ledge lot, or a Rural Conservation lot set 100 feet off a main road, can pass $150,000.
Finish choices move an Arundel house most: siding, windows, tile, cabinets, a garage, a deck. On ledge we favor a frost wall and slab over a basement. In-house crews hold a schedule tighter, while hired specialists bring depth in one trade.
Your Arundel lot is ready for its growth permit once the ground is tested and the plans are priced. Send a free estimate request and we will walk the land and price the site plainly.
