Some houses do not need a better kitchen; they need a better idea. Rooms in the wrong places, a main floor that hides its best light, a layout drawn for a family that lived seventy years ago. A whole-home remodel rebuilds the logic of the house, and it is where design-build earns its keep: one team owns the plan, the price, and the schedule from the first sketch to the last coat of paint.
Whole-home work starts with a ruthless audit of what the house does well. Good bones, real light, rooms that already work: those we keep, and the budget goes where the plan is broken. Ada's design phase produces a whole-house plan even if we build it in phases, so a kitchen done this year and a second floor done in three years land as one house, not two remodels wearing the same address.
At this scale, process is the product. You get a published chapter schedule (structure, envelope, systems, finish), a photographed update every Friday, and a standing weekly walkthrough with your project manager. Change orders are written, priced, and signed before work shifts, which is why our largest projects run as calmly as our smallest.
Whole-home remodels at Wrenhouse generally start around $260,000 and run past $500,000 for full 2,500-square-foot reworkings with systems and envelope included (illustrative demo ranges). It is the largest check most families ever write after the house itself, which is exactly why the number is fixed in the Refine phase, before a single wall opens.
See the full investment guide →Expect 12 to 16 weeks of design and refinement, then 20 to 30 weeks on site depending on scope. Families sometimes stay through the work in phases; for full-gut projects most choose to relocate, and we will tell you honestly which kind of project yours is.
Walk through the process →
A 1948 lake house taken down to what was worth keeping, then rebuilt around the water: one long sightline from the front door to the shoreline.
Illustrative demo figures; not a real project record.
All at once is cheaper per square foot and shorter in total disruption; phases are gentler on cash flow and on daily life. We design the whole house either way, so phased work still adds up to one coherent home. The right answer is a budget conversation, and we will have it with real numbers.
For partial scopes, often yes, with the house zoned and sealed. For full-gut projects, no, and we will say so plainly: the money you save on rent you lose in schedule and sanity. We help clients plan the move-out window to the week.
By finishing the design before we start the build. The Refine phase locks selections, engineering, and subcontractor pricing into one fixed proposal. After that, the number only moves when you change the scope, in writing, with the price attached.
A first conversation costs nothing and commits you to nothing. Bring your questions, your rough budget, and the thing about your house that drives you crazy.