Wooded lots, long setbacks, and houses that were architect-designed the first time. Renovating in Bloomfield Hills is as much a site question as a building one, which trees can come down, how close the work sits to a wetland, and how much of the lot can be paved. We plan for all three before design begins.
4.9 star
Over 100 reviews
5 year
Warranty on our workmanship
2014
Founded, and building here since
100%
In-house design, source & build
Bloomfield Hills grew up around Cranbrook, and the architecture reflects it. English Arts and Crafts and Tudor, Colonial and Georgian Revival, French Eclectic, and an unusually deep bench of mid-century modern and Usonian work from the 1940s through the 1970s, including Frank Lloyd Wright's Smith House, now owned by Cranbrook. Postwar ranches and split-levels fill in around them.
What unites them is the setting. These are wooded, private, generously spaced lots, and the community has written that into its ordinances more thoroughly than anywhere else we work.
That means the site review can be a bigger part of the schedule than the construction. We'd rather establish that at the first visit than discover it after you've approved drawings.
01 - Kitchens
Custom cabinetry and millwork scaled to rooms that are typically larger than their Birmingham equivalents.
$75,000 – $300,000+
02 - Bathrooms
Primary suites and guest baths, with waterproofing and a flood-tested pan on every shower.
$22,000 – $200,000+
03 - Additions
Additions on wooded, generously set-back lots, where tree and natural-features review usually precede design approval.
$250,000 – $900,000+
04 - Whole-home
Full renovations of architect-designed houses, including mid-century work that deserves a light hand.
$300,000 – $2,000,000+
Ranges shown are typical for Bloomfield Hills. Full tier-by-tier pricing is on each cost guide.
In the City, tree removal requires a permit and building-department plan review before any work begins. Since the 2021 update, properties under 1.5 acres may remove up to two trees without a permit and larger properties up to three. Trees under 8-inch caliper and dead or diseased trees are exempt. Removals need photographs and a stated reason, replacement planting is mandatory, and the City has been explicit that evergreens are not accepted as replacements. Violations are misdemeanors.
The Township’s standard applies to new construction, redevelopment and clear-cutting — but not to a developed property with no proposed construction. Protected trees start at 8 inches DBH, landmark trees at 24. Replacement runs at 50 percent of total DBH removed for protected trees and 100 percent for landmark trees, with a certified arborist’s survey required. Knowing which side of the line your address falls on changes the permit set.
In the City, work in, on or adjacent to a wetland, watercourse or floodplain triggers a Natural Features Application. A 25-foot setback applies from a wetland edge or a watercourse’s ordinary high water mark, and review runs through the wetlands, planning or city commission depending on scope. The fee is $500 plus a $5,000 to $10,000 escrow. Near Pine, Island, Forest or Gilbert Lake, this belongs in the schedule from day one.
The City’s landscaped open space ordinance excludes patios, terraces and pool-adjacent paving from the open space calculation, and a driveway only counts if it is no more than ten feet wide running a single direct route to a garage no larger than 20 by 20. Generous drives and terraces are exactly what homeowners here want, and exactly what the ordinance limits.
The City issues separate electrical, plumbing, mechanical, fire alarm and fire suppression permits, plus tree removal, soil erosion, grading and site plan review. The Township requires soil erosion measures and construction access drives to be installed and inspected before the permit is issued, and runs roughly a ten-business-day plan review. Township work may also need Oakland County approvals for soil erosion, septic fields, wells and culverts.
Requirements change and the two jurisdictions differ. Confirm current specifics with the City of Bloomfield Hills Building Department or Bloomfield Township Planning, Building and Ordinance before relying on any of the above.
We build throughout the City and the surrounding Township, along with Birmingham, Franklin and Beverly Hills. Many homes with a Bloomfield Hills mailing address sit in the Township; we confirm which applies at the first visit.
On a wooded Bloomfield Hills lot, the trees, the wetland setback and the open-space calculation can shape a project more than any design decision. A terrace and drive that seem modest on paper can put a lot over its landscaped open space requirement, and a wetland within twenty-five feet of the work brings a five-figure escrow with it.
We look at the site survey before we draw. If it is clean, everything after gets easier. If it is not, you learn that while the design can still change cheaply.
We don't reface cabinets and we don't paint them. We're the right fit when the project deserves new cabinetry, real millwork, and a builder who reads the ordinance before the elevation.
4.8 stars
Average customer review
2014
Founded in Metro Detroit
Old Woodward
Our office, in Birmingham
100%
In-house design, source & build
Am I in the City of Bloomfield Hills or Bloomfield Township?
It is worth confirming, because the answer changes which building department, which tree rules and which wetland process applies. Many homes with a Bloomfield Hills mailing address are in the Township. We check this at the first visit.
Do I need a permit to take down a tree?
In the City, yes, for anything beyond two trees on a lot under 1.5 acres or three on a larger one, with photographs, documented reasons and mandatory deciduous replacements. In the Township the rule attaches to construction rather than to removal on a developed lot. This is one of the more commonly misunderstood differences between the two.
What is natural features review and will it apply to me?
If your project sits in or within twenty-five feet of a wetland, watercourse or floodplain in the City, it applies. The fee is $500 plus a $5,000 to $10,000 escrow, and review can involve the wetlands, planning or city commission. We identify this from the survey before design.
Can I extend the driveway or add a terrace?
Sometimes, but the ordinance is deliberately restrictive. Patios, terraces and pool-adjacent paving do not count toward required landscaped open space, and only a narrow direct driveway counts. We run the calculation early rather than designing something that has to be cut back.
Do you work on mid-century modern homes?
Yes, and they need a specific kind of restraint. Bloomfield Hills has a genuinely significant collection of mid-century and Usonian houses, and the wrong renovation erases what makes them worth owning. We would rather restore the detailing than replace it with something current.
Are you licensed and insured in Michigan?
Yes, licensed Michigan residential builder, Lic. 2102213502, fully insured, with our office on Old Woodward in Birmingham.
Planning a renovation in Bloomfield Hills?
