Most custom homes in Naples are built the same way: an architect draws, a builder prices, and the two meet over a number that is higher than anyone expected. Nello Build puts the architect and the builder in the same company, and prices the house in the open as it is designed.
The architect is inside the company
Mali Torriero, AIA, is a registered architect in Florida, Pennsylvania and South Carolina and a certified Passive House Designer. Two of the houses she designed won Pittsburgh Home of the Year. Because she works alongside Gino rather than across a table from him, every design decision is priced as it is made. The version of the house you fall in love with is one you can afford, because the cost was part of drawing it.
Cost plus a fee, with every bid on the table
You see every subcontractor bid before it is accepted and every invoice before it is paid. Our fee is agreed at the start and does not move. Gino sources the subcontractors himself, and thirty years on the contractor’s side means knowing which trades are worth paying more for and which bids are padded. The saving on a custom house is not in the finishes; it is in the hundred small decisions about who does the work and at what price, made by someone who has priced a thousand of them.
Building for this coast
Wind-borne debris protection, flood elevations, sun on the west elevation in July, drainage that has to be solved on the lot. These are not negotiable in Collier County, and they are much easier to resolve in design than on site. Handled early, they make a better house: deep overhangs and shaded outdoor rooms come from the sun angles, cross-ventilation from how the plan is organised, a raised floor becomes an entry sequence instead of a stack of steps.
Additions and renovations
Not every project is a new house. Additions, whole-house renovations and condominium remodels in Pelican Bay, Park Shore and along Gulf Shore Boulevard get the same discipline: survey the existing conditions honestly, set the plan around what cannot move, and price it in the open.
Houses
All residential work → · Building from out of state? Read about owner’s representation
Common questions
What does it cost to build a custom home in Naples?
It depends on the lot, the flood zone, the size and the finish level, and anyone who gives you a number per square foot before seeing the site is guessing. What we can promise is that you will see every subcontractor bid before it is accepted, so the number is built in front of you rather than handed to you.
Do you build spec houses?
Yes. Bayshore, on Lunar Street in Naples, is a three-bedroom spec house with a pool, in progress now.
Can you design the house as well as build it?
Yes. Mali Torriero, AIA, is a registered architect and part of the company. Two of the houses she designed won Pittsburgh Home of the Year. Design and construction under one roof means the design is priced as it is drawn.
What about hurricanes and flooding?
Every house we build meets the current Florida Building Code for wind-borne debris and the FEMA flood elevation for its lot. Handled from the first sketch, those requirements shape a better house rather than compromising one: deep overhangs, raised floors that become an entry sequence, and openings that are protected without looking fortified.