Before you hire a custom home builder in Scarborough, ME, answer one question about your lot: sewer or septic. Growth-area lots tie into public sewer and water, while most homes west of the Turnpike run on a private well.
This page covers building a new custom home in Scarborough, Maine, on land the owner holds, from sewered lots in the town's growth areas to rural parcels west of the Turnpike that need a private well and septic. The work runs from lot evaluation and site work through the foundation, framing and finishes.
It is for owners who want a house drawn to their own layout rather than a subdivision spec. Custom Home Builder Biddeford prices the site before the house, coordinates the site evaluator and well driller, and files the permit with the town.
The key number: averaged across many builds, an 1,800 sq ft Scarborough house runs $513,000 to $594,000 at the simple tier before land.
We price the ground before the house in Scarborough because a new-home permit here requires proof of a Sanitary District sewer connection or a septic design on the state's HHE-200 form less than two years old.
Growth-area lots tied into Sanitary District sewer and public water
Rural parcels west of the Turnpike, on a drilled well and test-pit septic
Marsh and beach lots on the foundation the 2024 flood maps allow
The lot priced before the plan
Written number before digging
An update every week of the build
Neighboring towns
Zoning, groundwater and the marsh shape a new Scarborough house before anyone sketches a floor.
Scarborough's rural RF and RFM districts require 80,000 square feet per home and 200 feet of street frontage, while an R4 lot can be 10,000 square feet where sewer reaches.
All of those districts cap height at 35 feet, so we confirm the district, setbacks and height limit before a plan is drawn.
West of the Turnpike most homes draw from aquifer wells, and the town's 2021 Comprehensive Plan records western residents reporting dramatic drops in them. Nobody knows a well's depth until the driller hits water.
So we book the driller before framing and read the Aquifer Protection Overlay District rules before siting the septic.
Scarborough Marsh, about 3,200 acres, is the largest salt marsh in Maine, and state shoreland zoning reaches 250 feet back from it. The FEMA maps that took effect June 20, 2024 newly affected 679 properties here.
Basements are not permitted in a special flood hazard area, so a Pine Point or Higgins Beach lot inside one gets a raised foundation instead.
Each Scarborough build draws on these, in the order the lot asks.
Scarborough's Code Enforcement office issues building permits against its New Home Construction Package, and we pull yours once you approve the written price.
We walk your parcel, confirm its zoning and sewer access, and flag any marsh, dune or aquifer line.
Bring your designer's set, adapt a stock plan or use our design partner, and the price comes back in writing.
With the permit in hand we build from footings to finishes, report weekly and walk each room with you.
You choose a custom home builder in Scarborough, ME by asking how they will price the ground under the house. A quote for the house alone skips the part of a Scarborough budget most likely to move.
Then ask about code. With more than 4,000 residents, Scarborough must enforce MUBEC, whose 2021 energy code expects tight air sealing and fresh-air ventilation.
Near the marsh, pull up your parcel on the FEMA flood map before signing, because the zone decides whether a basement is allowed.
The people building custom homes in Scarborough mostly hold a rural lot west of the Turnpike or a sewered growth-area lot. Redevelopment at Higgins Beach follows a character-based zoning district, adopted in 2015, that governs building type, massing and foundations.
Scarborough land is hardest to build on along the marsh and the beaches, where shoreland setbacks, flood zones and dune permits overlap. Shoreland grading also needs a soil erosion control plan with the permit.
A Scarborough build should start with the growth-permit question, since the town has capped new-home permits under rules first adopted in 2001 and under review in 2026. Footings are then poured in the frost-free months.
A Scarborough custom home should cost $285 to $330 per square foot at the simple tier and $395 to $445+ for high detail, turnkey, land excluded. These average many builds and are not a quote.
| Finish tier | What it usually means | Average per sq ft | A 1,800 sq ft house |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple and efficient | Vinyl siding, shingle roof, click floors | $285 to $330 | $513,000 to $594,000 |
| Mid-range custom | Fiber cement, fiberglass windows, more tile | $330 to $395 | $594,000 to $711,000 |
| High detail | Marsh-view glass, metal roof, custom cabinets | $395 to $445+ | $711,000 to $801,000+ |
Turnkey averages for the house alone. Land, well, septic and site work are outside them.
A private well and septic in Scarborough cost, on average, $14,000 to $24,000 for the well and $16,000 to $40,000 for the septic. Growth-area lots on public water and sewer skip both.
A cleared Scarborough lot with utilities at the road runs about $70,000 to $95,000, on average, for site work, well, septic and power together. Woods, ledge or a long driveway can carry that past $150,000.
Inside one tier, a Scarborough price changes with finishes, the foundation (full basement or raised flood-zone) and how the builder staffs the job. In-house trades hold the schedule closer, while subcontracted specialists let each trade be bid.
We can walk your Scarborough lot as soon as a free estimate request comes in, and you hear what the ground costs before anyone mentions cabinets.
