Delaware Today features a Turnstone Custom Homes project in Rehoboth Beach designed to maximize natural light, breaking from the area's traditional small-window shingle style.

Renovating a coastal Delaware home? Before you budget, read what we routinely find inside the walls — rot, mold, asbestos, and failing structure.

Before you sign on a coastal Delaware lot, know what you can actually build. We break down setbacks, flood zones, wetlands, and what your views will really be.

Permitting a custom home or renovation at the Delaware beaches involves layered approvals, town-specific rules, and timelines that can impact your project schedule.

Build your Delaware beach home from afar with confidence. Real-time updates, one project manager, and a proven process designed for out-of-state clients.

Wondering how much it really costs to build a custom home in Coastal Delaware? We break down the key factors and help you plan your home with confidence.

Turnstone Custom Homes of Rehoboth Beach awarded Best of Houzz 2026

Building a custom home in Rehoboth Beach, Lewes, or Bethany Beach? Learn why Owner Purchased Materials (OPM) often add risk and cost.

Custom home building in Rehoboth Beach, Bethany Beach, or Dewey Beach comes with emotional highs and lows—here’s what to expect.

Building is Not a Game of Poker - Why you Should Share Your REAL Budget 

Renovate or rebuild at the Delaware beaches? Learn how to decide when a teardown or renovation makes the most sense.

Building or renovating in Sussex County, Delaware? Learn how the Improvement Tax works and how it can impact your project.

Turnstone Custom Homes of Rehoboth Beach wins the 2025 Best of Houzz Award for outstanding customer service.

Learn how COVID disrupted custom home building in coastal Delaware, causing delays, shortages, and rising construction costs.

A Message from our CEO, Harvey Ryan:

Turnstone shares kitchen design trends that make the heart of your coastal Delaware home both beautiful and functional.

Turnstone Custom Homes is a finalist for Best Home Builder and Best Home Remodeler in Coastal Style Magazine’s 2022 awards.

Turnstone Custom Homes wins Best of Houzz Service 2022 for the 4th consecutive year, recognized for outstanding customer service in Delaware.

Turnstone Custom Homes recognized in the 2021 Rehoboth Cottage & Town Awards for The Modern Hickman and The Poolvue properties.

Turnstone Custom Homes outlines how Project Managers ensure clear communication, professionalism, and respect during Delaware renovation projects.

Turnstone’s Aging-In-Place Checklist helps Delaware homeowners design accessible, safe, and stylish spaces for comfortable living at any age.

Discover the top home renovation trends for coastal Delaware homes, inspired by Architectural Digest’s 2021 guide for stylish and functional updates.

Delaware ranks #1 as the most tax-friendly state for retirees, with Sussex County property taxes below the state average, according to Kiplinger.

Over the last several months my colleagues Kim and Dave have been working tirelessly on a much-needed refresh of our website. Our website hosting company reached out to us last fall announcing they had revamped their technology and wanted us to be among the first to take advantage of its ease of use. Technology is really moving fast in this area, and they showed us how they could make it radically easier to maintain an update the site with fresh content on a regular basis. In studying our options, it became clear that modern websites are designed to accommodate users who like to scroll down through the site, stopping along the way to click on interesting topics. These sites have a wonderful flow and a sleek appearance, but sometimes they can be difficult to navigate, especially for a site with as much content as ours has. That’s why we also included a scaled-down, unobtrusive traditional menu structure to make it easier for those who prefer to navigate menus as well as for returning users looking to revisit content they discovered through scrolling.  We are thrilled with the outcome and hope you will find the new website inspiring, informative and easy to navigate.

Barely a day goes by that one of our estimators doesn’t come into my office to tell me about another price increase. Last week it was foam insulation prices. The historic freeze in Texas, and accompanying power outages, took many petrochemical plants offline. Bringing these plants back up is a complicated process that will take time. These plants produce key feedstocks for the manufacturing of spray foam insulation, among other building materials. We all know about lumber prices – the most widely-quoted index of lumber prices is up 189% since his time last year. Contrary to popular understanding we have plenty of lumber – it is sawmill capacity that is still struggling to meet demand after the COVID related shutdowns and the unexpected increase in remodeling activity. Rising oil prices impact a lot more than the price to gas up our trucks. Oil is a basic ingredient in asphalt shingles and all vinyl products. It has literally been a perfect storm, like nothing we have ever seen in our 17-year history. So, how have we responded? No local builder is able to simply absorb the kind of price increases we are seeing now and remain viable. But we do follow these principles during times of rapidly escalating prices: · Communicate! - In times like these our main priority is to be good communicators. No one likes to hear about price increases, but even worse is hearing about a price increase with no time to react. When we are forced to pass on a price escalation, we have that difficult conversation right away. We work hard to find viable alternatives and will search for other areas where we can take offsetting dollars out of the budget. · Relate - We are fortunate to have worked with most our key suppliers for many years. While they can’t defy the laws of supply and demand they can be sure that Turnstone is getting the best availability and pricing they are able to offer. · Shop – Yes, we default to our trusted long-term suppliers during times of stress, but we still are out there shopping every day – both for price and availability. · Flex – Almost as important as price is availability of key materials. Our production schedules are finely tuned, choregraphed dances of dozens of trade partners and suppliers. If a key component is delayed it can bring the entire job to a grinding halt. If we can’t get an insulation inspection there is very little work that can be done to the project. But there are other areas where we can modify the order of steps to keep progress happening and lessen the impact on the delivery date. · Innovate – We are currently studying the use of alternative building systems that may make sense for some clients. For example, we have a lot of experience building with Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF) with address both the lumber and spray foam insulation price increases and supply constraints. If one of these alternatives makes sense for a client, we will discuss the options with them.  Yes, there are tough conversations taking place regarding material price increases. That is happening throughout the industry. No matter what happens in the industry, Turnstone will move heaven and earth to address any challenges for our clients.

Turnstone Custom Homes reflects on 2020, highlighting our Delaware team’s dedication, resilience, and client-focused approach during a challenging year.

Check out our Newsletter here

Design a productive home office in your Delaware custom home. Turnstone Custom Homes offers expert tips for lighting, soundproofing, ventilation, and layout.

Learn how Turnstone Custom Homes in Delaware keeps remote clients fully connected through online construction portals, real-time updates, and seamless communication.

Watch Turnstone Custom Homes install a stunning rooftop swimming pool on a Dewey Beach, Delaware custom home. See the full process in our videos.

Click here to read our Newsletter for March 2020.

Could a Delaware farm field become a tropical-style resort? Crystal Lagoons aims to bring Caribbean-style lagoons and amenities to inland communities.

Design a custom home your pets will love! From dog washes and pet-friendly landscaping to flooring and paint, discover luxurious amenities for furry friends.

Click here to read our February 2020 Newsletter

We at Turnstone are beyond excited to have one of our kitchen designs be recognized for it's creative use of space. Our corner kitchen cabinet in this design really made the design one of a kind. Granted, these particular corner cabinets are a bit pricey and not for the price conscious. However, the design and article demonstrates all the possibilities of how to save space in your kitchen without sacrificing on design and quality.

Learn about required new home construction inspections in Sussex County, Delaware—and how Turnstone exceeds code for quality, safety, and energy efficiency.

Discover why successful custom home builders carefully choose clients and how the right partnership leads to exceptional homes in Coastal Delaware.

Learn how FloodIQ.com helps coastal Delaware homeowners assess future flood risk when planning or building near the water.

In October 2019, Home Builder Digest recognized Turnstone as one of the best custom home builders in Delaware. Their glowing review of Turnstone is absolutely amazing.

Discover pedestal-mounted porcelain pavers for flat, durable roof decks in luxury coastal homes across Rehoboth Beach, Lewes & Sussex County, DE.

Explore what Boomer home buyers really want in their next home, based on the latest NAHB survey. Insights for custom homes in Rehoboth, Lewes & Sussex County, DE.

Discover the kitchen trend of mixing metals for a modern, stylish look. Turnstone shares ideas to elevate your kitchen in Rehoboth, Dewey, Bethany, Lewes.

Learn the pros and cons of building with ICF (Insulated Concrete Forms) in beach towns. Turnstone shares insights for new homes in Rehoboth, Dewey, Lewes, Bethany.

Thinking about a new home in Dewey Beach, DE? Explore why families, pets, and boating make Dewey a top choice for coastal luxury living.

Learn the benefits of Mitsubishi ductless HVAC systems for luxury custom homes in Rehoboth Beach, Lewes, Bethany Beach & Coastal Southern Delaware.

Turnstone has some exciting stuff going on. Click here to learn more.

For many people, building a custom home is a process that involves several ups and downs spread out over a year or more. We thought this blogger provided a very thoughtful and fair explanation of what she learned from her home building process, which include the following:

Learn why custom home builders choose trusted local suppliers for materials, better quality, competitive pricing, faster turnaround times, and superior service.

Check out our Newsletter for May 2019