Common Questions

Questions we're asked most often by clients considering a custom home, renovation, or restoration in Atlanta.

Where does The Berndsen Company build?

The Berndsen Company builds throughout Georgia and surrounding states, with most projects in Atlanta and the surrounding communities — Buckhead, Brookhaven, Sandy Springs, and Roswell.

Beyond the city, the firm builds lakeside and mountain retreats across North Georgia. Rooted in Atlanta for more than three decades, it has worked in nearly every established neighborhood in the metro area.

Do you offer in-house architecture and design?

No. The Berndsen Company is a builder, and works alongside independent architects, interior designers, and landscape architects rather than employing them.

If you already have a design team, we work with the professionals you've chosen. If you're starting from scratch, we recommend trusted collaborators from three decades of relationships with Atlanta's leading firms.

Should I hire an architect or a builder first?

Either order works, and the better question is whether your builder is involved before the drawings are finished.

Many clients come to us at their architect's recommendation. Others engage us first, and we help assemble the project team. What matters more than sequence is that the builder contributes during design — on constructability, material availability, and cost — rather than receiving a completed set of drawings to price. Decisions made on paper are inexpensive to change. The same decisions made on site are not.

What is your building process?

Every Berndsen project begins with the client's vision, then moves through design coordination, site analysis, budgeting, and construction under a dedicated project team.

If you already have an architect or designer, we step in to bring the plan to life. If you're starting from scratch, we help build the right project team. From there we coordinate design with your architect on codes and permitting, conduct site analysis to catch challenges early, and provide preliminary cost estimates as the design evolves. Once plans are final, we develop a comprehensive, itemized budget built on bids from our trusted subcontractors.

Your team is a Project Manager and a dedicated on-site Superintendent, overseeing the project from groundbreaking to final walkthrough.

Is The Berndsen Company licensed and insured?

Yes. President Jon Berndsen has been a certified, licensed General Contractor since 1986, with nearly five decades of construction experience in Atlanta.

The Berndsen Company is a member of the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association and a Certified Professional Home Builder of Georgia.

What does it mean to specialize in classical and traditional architecture?

It means building to the proportions, detailing, and material standards those traditions require, rather than approximating them.

Proportion has to be correct because the eye reads it immediately. Mouldings need to be right for their period rather than pulled from a catalogue. Materials must be specified so the house ages the way its precedents did. Meeting that standard depends on trades who can execute period detail and a builder who knows when a drawing should be questioned.

Jon Berndsen helped found the Southeast Chapter of the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art and is a past President of the organization. The firm received the Philip Trammell Shutze Award in 2008 for the David Residence, with Historical Concepts.

Which Atlanta neighborhoods do you build in?

Most of the firm's work is in Buckhead, Brookhaven, Sandy Springs, and Roswell, along with Atlanta's older intown neighborhoods.

Building in established areas brings constraints newer developments don't: mature tree canopy to protect, tight lot lines, historic district review, and neighbors close enough that the construction schedule matters to them.

Do you handle renovations as well as new construction?

Yes. The firm builds new residences, renovates and restores existing homes, and completes high-end condominium renovations.

Renovating an established Atlanta house means working with what's there — original framing that may not be plumb, additions from several eras, and the question of which decisions to reverse and which to build on. Condominium work adds association requirements and neighbor considerations that single-family projects don't have.

What's the difference between a custom builder and a production builder?

A custom builder constructs one house to one set of drawings for one client. A production builder constructs variations of a set plan across many lots.

The practical difference is where decisions get made. On a custom project, nearly everything is specified for that house and that site. That requires more coordination and costs more, but nothing is chosen by default.

How do you stand behind your work after completion?

The firm remains available after the final walkthrough, and treats warranty issues as ongoing responsibility rather than closed business.

Over thirty years in business means a lot of houses built, and we take that history seriously. If something needs attention after you move in, we're a phone call away. Our reputation was built one relationship at a time, and we treat every home as if our name is still on it — because it is.

What should I look for when choosing a custom home builder in Atlanta?

Look for a builder who will be involved before the drawings are finished, who can show completed work in the style you want, and whose references include the architects they've worked with.

Ask who will actually be on site day to day. Ask how budgets are developed and when. Ask to speak to an architect they've worked with recently, not only past clients — architects see how a builder handles problems.

Have a question that isn't answered here? Get in touch — we're happy to talk through your project.