ellehaus

For agents, architects and interior designers

Your client, your design, built the way you promised.

Ellehaus is a boutique custom home and renovation builder in Tampa Bay. We take a limited number of projects each year, price them on an open book, and keep the people who brought us in informed from the first call to the final walk-through. We work as one team with you, so your client gets a better home and we both earn the next one.

Set up a 20-minute introHow it works
A curved plaster stair with oak treads and a recessed handrail

What you can count on

  1. A prompt replyto you and to any client you refer.
  2. The same person from first price to handover.The owner who prices the job runs it.
  3. Your relationship stays yours.We never recommend a different agent, architect or designer to your client.
  4. No surprises in your name.Changes go through you before they reach the client.
A walnut vanity with brass pulls under a marble top and handmade tile
Walnut, marble and handmade tileSpecified by the designer, built as drawn
What we bring to the project

Builder at the table early, accountable to the end.

Most of a project's cost and risk is decided before construction starts. We do our best work for partners when we're brought in at the idea stage.

Head · transom
Black steel window grid and transom looking onto a natural rock face
Feasibility and budget
Lot and home reviews covering zoning, setbacks, flood zone and required floor elevation, with a realistic budget range before anyone invests in full design.
Pricing as design develops
Estimates at concept, design development and construction drawings, step by step through the process, so the design and the budget never drift apart.
Open-book construction
Actual cost plus an agreed builder's fee. Every bid, invoice and receipt is visible to the client.
Florida building know-how
Flood elevation, impact-rated openings, coastal materials, seawalls and permitting across Hillsborough and Pinellas.
Scope we take on
New custom homes, whole-home renovations and additions, built to the Ellehaus standard.
Communication
A weekly written update with photos for the client, at every stage of our process. A short milestone note for you, with the client's permission.
Tall black mullions over a natural rock face
Sill · mullions

How we make your job easier

Specific to the way you work.

Steel brackets, cable rail and warm wood

Real estate agents

Help buyers see what a property can become.

  • A walk-through with your buyer during the inspection period, with a renovation or rebuild range within 48 hours.
  • Teardown and lot feasibility for land and waterfront buyers: what can be built, how high, and roughly what it costs.
  • A builder your clients can call after closing, so the relationship keeps paying off for you.
  • Pre-listing improvements for sellers, scoped to what moves the sale price.
Panel joints and a raking shadow on a flat facade

Architects

Your drawings, built as drawn.

  • Preconstruction pricing at each design phase, so the client approves a home they can afford to build.
  • Constructability reviews before permit, so problems are solved on paper and not in the field.
  • No value engineering behind your back. Any substitution goes to you for approval first.
  • RFIs and submittals answered promptly, with a standing invitation to site walks.
  • Clients who come to us without an architect are introduced to architects we trust.
Horizontal wood cladding with a long steel door pull

Interior designers

Specifications protected through install.

  • Your selections and specs are treated as the contract, not a starting point.
  • Procurement coordination: lead times tracked, deliveries received, stored and protected.
  • Sequencing planned around your installs, millwork and lighting.
  • Your preferred trades and installers are welcome on site.
  • A joint punch walk before the client sees the finished rooms.

Working together

One team, for this client and the next one.

Your client hired you for your judgment. We build around it. From the first meeting to the last walk-through we work as one team, so the client gets a smoother project and every finished home brings new work to both of us.

  1. Aligned before the first client meetingWe sit down with you first: the client's goals, how you like to communicate, and where your scope ends and ours begins. The client meets one coordinated team, not a set of separate vendors.
  2. Problems solved together, not passed aroundWhen a detail, a price or a date needs to change, it comes to you first and we work it out together. Nobody is surprised on site, and nobody has to defend a decision they weren't part of.
  3. Every finished home is the next referralA client who had an easy project recommends everyone on the team. We share photos, credit your work by name and stay in touch after handover, so the homes we build together keep bringing in the next project.

How the partnership works

Five steps, the same every time.

  1. Intro conversation

    Twenty minutes, by phone or over coffee. We learn how you work, the clients you serve and what you need from a builder.

  2. Refer a client

    Call, text or use the form below. We contact the client promptly and copy you on the first email.

  3. Feasibility and budget

    We review the lot or home and share a scope and budget range with the client. You stay in the loop as far as the client allows.

  4. Design and construction

    Architects and designers stay in charge of their work through each phase. Everyone gets milestone updates and an open invitation to walk the site.

  5. Handover and credit

    Professional photos are shared for your portfolio, with the client's permission, and you're credited by name wherever we show the project.

Wall sconces glowing on cedar panels at dusk
A linear sconce and a diagonal shadow on white stucco
Lights on at handoverSconce, set as specified

Partner questions

Before you refer a client.

Do you work with outside architects and designers?

Yes. Most of our projects start with the client's own architect or designer, and we prefer to be brought in while the design is still developing.

Will you market other services to my client?

No. We won't suggest a different agent, architect or designer to a client you introduced, and we don't add them to marketing lists.

What size projects do you take on?

New custom homes and whole-home renovations, plus additions. If you're unsure whether a project fits, call and ask. If it isn't a fit, we'll say so quickly and suggest someone who is. See what goes into every home.

How do you price?

Open book: the actual cost of the work plus an agreed builder's fee. The client sees every bid and invoice, so the numbers you hear about are the real ones. How open-book pricing works.

Can you give a quick number before a buyer makes an offer?

Yes. After a walk-through we can give a renovation or rebuild range within 48 hours. It is a budget range for decision-making, not a contract price. For land, our lot feasibility checklist covers what we look at.

For your clients

Plain-English reading you can forward.

Short guides from the Ellehaus journal. Share them with a buyer, homeowner or client before the first meeting.

Partner with us

Set up an intro, or refer a client.

Call or text

(813) 667-9989

Email

info@ellehaushomes.com