Custom homes
Custom Home Builder for Nashville & Middle Tennessee
Houses drawn for one family and one piece of land, then built from the footings up by the people whose name is on the company.
TL;DR
Heirloom Home Co. builds custom homes from the ground up across Middle Tennessee from its base in Fairview. Co-founder Lance Ramsey, a builder with over a decade of hands-on experience in the region, runs the work. The company holds Tennessee contractor license 85402, classification BC-A residential, with a $3,000,000 limit per project. It publishes no per-square-foot price, because the lot, the size and shape of the house and the finishes set the number. Permits come from the city where there is one, such as Fairview or Brentwood, and from Williamson County on rural land.
What does Heirloom mean by a custom home?
A house designed for one family and one piece of land, rather than a plan picked from a catalog and repeated down the street. The company puts it this way: homes “designed with architectural integrity, finished with honest craftsmanship, and built to feel like they’ve always belonged to the land.”
Belonging to the land starts with the site itself: where the morning sun lands, which way the ground falls, which trees are worth keeping and what the porch should look out on. Those decisions are made before a footing is poured, and they are the real difference between a custom house and a production one. The rest (the plan, the roofline, the materials) follows from them.
Who builds an Heirloom house?
Lance Ramsey, Heirloom’s builder and co-founder, who has spent over a decade on custom homes and renovation across Middle Tennessee. He is the craft side of the company and the person who answers for how the house goes together, from the framing to the last piece of trim.
Lexi Ramsey, the CEO and other co-founder, leads the business and the brand, and the email address on this site is hers. A family that builds with Heirloom deals with the two people who own it, not a sales office that hands the job to someone else.
Is Heirloom licensed for a house this size?
Yes, for any single project up to $3,000,000. Tennessee has licensed contractors through its Board for Licensing Contractors since 1931, and every license carries a classification and a monetary limit: the most that contractor may contract for on one job.
Heirloom Home Co LLC holds license 85402 in the BC-A class, residential building, with that $3,000,000 limit, active through March 31, 2028. Whoever you hire, look the company up at verify.tn.gov before you sign: a builder whose limit is lower than your house cannot legally contract to build it.
What sets the price of a custom home?
The lot first, then the house, then the finishes. Site work varies most from one property to the next: clearing and grading, the length of the driveway, the foundation the soil calls for, and whether the land has a sewer tap or needs a septic system and a well.
The house itself comes next, and square footage is only part of it. A roofline with several gables, a lot of outside corners, tall ceilings and custom millwork all cost more than the same area under a simple roof. Finishes come last and are the easiest to adjust: cabinetry, stone, tile, flooring and fixtures. That is why Heirloom does not publish a per-square-foot figure; two houses of the same size on different lots can land far apart.
Which office permits a new house near Fairview?
The city, when the lot is inside one, and the county when it isn’t. Inside Fairview, plans go to the city’s Planning & Codes Department on Bowie Lake Road, and a house started after April 2, 2026 is reviewed under the new Fairview Development Code.
Brentwood runs its own Codes Section on Maryland Way and enforces the 2018 residential code. Rural Williamson County land answers to the county’s Building Codes Division on West Main Street in Franklin, on the 2021 code. Inside Metro Nashville, Metro Codes reviews to the 2024 editions. Where we build lists the office for each town.
Answers
Custom home questions
What does a custom home cost to build around Fairview and Nashville?
Heirloom does not publish a per-square-foot price, because three things set the number: the lot and what it takes to prepare it, the size and complexity of the house, and the finishes chosen. What the public record does say is that its state license allows a single project up to $3,000,000.
Who issues the building permit for a new house near Fairview?
It depends on the side of the city line. Inside Fairview, the city’s Planning & Codes Department at 7111 Bowie Lake Road issues it through the GovWell portal. On land in unincorporated Williamson County it is the county’s Building Codes Division at 1320 West Main Street, Suite 400, in Franklin.
Which building code does a new house in Williamson County follow?
Outside city limits, the county has enforced the 2021 International Residential Code and the 2018 International Energy Conservation Code since September 30, 2024. Cities set their own: Brentwood enforces the 2018 residential code, and Fairview projects started after April 2, 2026 fall under its new Development Code.
What should I check before hiring a custom home builder?
Start with the state record: an active license whose monetary limit covers your house, which takes a minute at verify.tn.gov. Then ask who will run the job day to day, what the warranty says in writing, and to see a certificate of insurance. At Heirloom the builder on site is co-founder Lance Ramsey.
Is building a custom home worth it?
It is when you plan to stay. A custom house is designed for one family and one piece of land, so its value shows over the years you live in it rather than at resale. That is the house Heirloom set out to build: “The one your family will live in for generations.”
