We love customers who come back to us. It gives us the chance to catch up, check in, and rekindle the collaboration and memories that we created together. Once we have built a partnership with our clients through our shared work on a project, it’s never the end, but the continuation of a lifelong friendship.
Balancing the moving parts of any home building project takes expertise. New Energy Works General Contracting team works alongside clients and tradespeople as partners, all working together to make a vision a reality – and in a way that is good for people and the planet.
Site superintendent Jake Desmarais is the lead for our general contracting team at a high craft build above Keuka Lake in the Finger Lakes region of New York. “This project is super exciting for me to see what we are capable of. We are known for our timber frames, but this project is exploring and illustrating to future clients what all our capabilities are outside of timber frames. And I think that’s exciting.”
“The home is very modern. It’s not a timber frame. And yet it has intricate details and high-craft needs which feels really familiar to what we’re great at. It’s been a fun one—with the modern motif and contemporary vibe of the home there is a lot of coordination, and the sequence of the project is atypical to our traditional build.”
Architect Ty Allen AIA, NCARB, LEED AP and Principal of ARK Design Studio adds, “the family owns various properties, and they chose a spot that was at a decently high elevation with great views of the south end of Keuka Lake. The house is right there, highly visible, really accessible, and in a really good spot, not on any main drive. The clients wanted a home that felt modern and different but not so modern that it looked like a spaceship had landed on the side of the hill or anything. They gave us some latitude to experiment with some more modern roof forms, shapes, and ultimately the materials.”
“My philosophy is a house should feel like it’s part of its context, but it should also feel special and more forward with its approach,” Allen explains. “This client asked for a cleaner, more composed aesthetic. They weren’t looking for lots of frills, they wanted something that tended toward simplicity for both in the interior materials and the exterior.”
“The interior is a natural palette consisting of light-colored walls, more subtle and softer greens, and then wood tones. And while the interior palette practices a soft restraint, the exterior is even more so with black accents and dark siding. It’s a deliberately limited palette with minimal color and wood usage.”
“The exterior in particular is something unique,” Desmarais adds. “The project has two toned siding with mixed orientations—both horizontal and vertical.”
Desmarais continues, “The home is going to be a fantastic show piece that illustrated our General Contracting abilities and the craftsmanship of our subs and relationships. ARK’s design has several unique things going on throughout the project. It is definitely a showstopper.”
Beyond the details in the design, the overall living concept is intentional as well.
Allen says, “The spaces are right sized for a family of four, with the option of an in-law living situation. It was important for the client to be able to take care of family in the future, providing the house a generational flexibility.”
Continuing that flexibility into daily use and flow, the homeowners wanted an ‘away space’. “We’re calling it ‘The Nerd Nook,’” Allen laughs. “The clients wanted to create a pocket office, nothing huge, but a place where someone could go in and be on the phone or the computer to have a bit of privacy. It is filled with built ins and window seat with great views—it has really become a gem of a space.”
The Keuka Lake home is a growing cannon of non-timber frame but thoughtful and high-craft homes in the Finger Lakes for the New Energy Works General Contracting team.
What separates New Energy Works GCs from other great builders in the area is the partnership the team makes with architects and homeowners. Desmarais confirms, “Our communication is second to none. I’m in constant contact with our clients in all different forms, whether text, email, phone call, or BuildBook updates. We have client meetings onsite and we walk the project together so that they can get a feel for the progression of the project.”
Luke Nagle, head of New Energy Wors General Contracting division concurs, “We want our clients to have as much or as little involvement in the day-to-day build as they are comfortable with. Some clients really want to be hands on, others realize as the project progresses it’s just too much. And some want us to take the lead and work with the architect to execute their vision. We’re here for all three and the in between. The goal, at the end, is a home that everyone is proud of and a happy client.”
“If you work with the New Energy Works general contracting group we’re here to try and make building a home its simple and easy for you,” Desmarais explains. “My job is to take away the headache of what building a custom home can become. There are so many decisions to be made throughout the process when building a house. All the way down to, ‘Where are we putting light switches?’ Simple things that you take for granted when it’s a turnkey house you buy.”
“This is why the partnership aspect with a client and architect, and GC is so important. We are doing a lot of forward thinking in advance, we’re asking questions in advance, doing initial walkthroughs well before the subcontractors show up to do the work. We are trying to mitigate problems that could arise before we get to a point of no return by having conversations and communicating early and often.”
“In the end, designing and building a home for a client is so personal,” shares Allen. “It’s a huge investment of time and money. Feelings and dreams become part of the story. Execution, the build, then becomes so important. Working with a partner who can understand how much of a clients’ resources are involved in the home is paramount. A good builder looks to make a client happy. A great builder looks to make a client a friend.”
