A custom home builder in Kennebunkport, ME reads the flood map before the floor plan. We check the zone, the elevation and the height cap before a single room is priced.
This page is about building a new custom home in Kennebunkport, Maine, the coastal York County town of Dock Square, Cape Porpoise and Goose Rocks Beach. The work is a ground-up house on the owner's lot, including knockdown and rebuild where an older house stands now.
It is for owners who want a house designed around a specific piece of shore, marsh edge or wooded lot. Here that means the flood elevation, the zone's height cap and the town's annual growth management permits shape the plan.
We check all three before pricing. The number to remember: across many builds, a turnkey Kennebunkport house averages $285 to $445+ per square foot before land, with well, septic, sewer and site work priced on separate lines.
A Kennebunkport floor plan waits on the flood map because, on a flood-zone lot, the town's elevations revised effective July 18, 2024 set the first-floor height and the foundation.
Goose Rocks and Cape Porpoise houses drawn under their 30-foot height cap
A growth management permit secured first, since every new dwelling unit in town needs one
Foundation drains and sump pumps kept off the town sewer, where its rules bar them
Flood zone checked before pricing
Site work priced on its own lines
Weekly updates from footing to final
Neighboring towns
Lot size, flood water and demolition rules shape the house first.
The town's 2020 zoning summary sets a 40,000-square-foot minimum lot and 20 percent coverage in the Village Residential, Goose Rocks and Cape Arundel zones, and three acres at 10 percent in Farm and Forest.
Height tops out at 30 feet in Goose Rocks and Cape Porpoise. In the shoreland or flood zone a new house is measured from original grade on its downhill side, so roof pitch and foundation height get set together.
The town's flooding page lists streets that close for two to three hours in a storm surge or high tide: Dock Square, stretches of Ocean Avenue, Head of the Harbor, the Pier Road causeway, Dyke Road and the east end of Kings Highway.
Building in the 100-year floodplain needs its own permit, checked against the town's FEMA panels, and on those roads we plan for the hours a flooded street cuts the house off.
Replacing a house without adding a dwelling unit needs no growth management permit, and a replacement raised to flood elevation is measured for height from the bottom of its sill.
Tearing down a locally historic house built before 1930 in a National Register district starts a 60-day wait with notice to abutters and newspaper ads, so we schedule it before pricing the demolition.
A Kennebunkport build usually calls on three of our six services.
As of October 1, 2026, Kennebunkport takes every permit application through GovWell, and its planning FAQ lays out the growth permit and the required inspections.
We walk your Kennebunkport lot and check its zone, flood elevation, height cap and sewer or septic before anything is drawn.
Plans are finished and priced in writing, then both permit applications go in with your letter of authorization.
The town inspects from the footing through framing and insulation to the final, you hear from us weekly, and we walk the finished house together.
You pick a custom home builder in Kennebunkport, ME by asking how they fit the flood elevation and the height cap into one design. On a Goose Rocks lot, a foot added to the foundation is a foot taken from the roofline.
Ask whether anything starts before the permit. The town doubles the fee for work begun without one, and a builder who digs early is spending your money.
Then ask how they time the growth permit: it is good for 120 days, so book the foundation crew first.
Kennebunkport growth permits go first come, first served once the Code Enforcement Officer finds an application complete, with priority for permanent residents.
Kennebunkport's smaller building lots sit in Cape Porpoise East and West, the Riverfront zone and Dock Square, where the zoning summary sets a 20,000-square-foot minimum.
You should apply for a Kennebunkport growth permit once plans are final and the septic or sewer approval is ready. Each year's count is based on the town's ten-year average, never fewer than 40.
A custom house in Kennebunkport costs about $285 to $445+ per square foot, turnkey, before the land. Those numbers average many builds; your flood zone and finishes move yours.
| Finish tier | What it usually means | Average per sq ft | A 2,600 sq ft house |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple and efficient | Vinyl siding and windows, a simple gable roof | $285 to $330 | $741,000 to $858,000 |
| Mid-range custom | Fiber cement shingles, fiberglass windows | $330 to $395 | $858,000 to $1,027,000 |
| High detail | Wood windows, metal roofing, porches and trim | $395 to $445+ | $1,027,000 to $1,157,000+ |
Averages for a turnkey Kennebunkport house without the land. Well, septic, sewer hookup and site work come on top.
A drilled well adds about $14,000 to $24,000 and a septic system $16,000 to $40,000 on a Kennebunkport lot off the town sewer. On the sewer, a connection application and its fees replace the septic.
A cleared, utility-ready Kennebunkport lot usually needs $70,000 to $95,000 of site work, counting the well, septic and power. A wooded lot with ledge or a long driveway can pass $150,000.
Finish choices move a Kennebunkport house most: cedar shingles, windows, tile, cabinets, porches. A raised flood-zone foundation outprices a frost wall and slab, and in-house crews control the calendar while hired specialists bring single-trade depth.
We check your Kennebunkport lot's flood zone first after a free estimate request, then walk the land and write down the likely site cost.
