After thirty-five years in the industry, Frankel Design Build stands for timeless quality and sublime good taste among Houstonians in the know.
While custom-building a second home is the romantic dream of many, the realities can be daunting. That’s why insightful project owners in the Greater Houston Area of Texas call Frankel Design Build. The company provides building services so comprehensive that Frankel is the only name they need to know for projects completed on time, on budget, and to a superb standard.
As Houston’s most comprehensive full-service design-build firm, Frankel Design Build offers its customers every service they need to make their new home a reality—all under one roof. From full, skillfully executed architectural drawings and sophisticated interior design to construction, swimming pools, and stunning outdoor living areas, the Frankel team leads in green design and home care complete with warranties.
For over ten years, the company has delivered “LEED for Homes®” standards while giving clients what they want in terms of style, design, finishes, and function—and all of it a pressure-free experience. And that’s not just talk. The company’s work features in the Earth Month Clean Building and Energy Efficiency Project that’s being headlined by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) this year.
With family values at its core, clients become part of the Frankel Design Build family on every project. “Our project owners are all unique people who come to us because they typically know other people we’ve worked for. They know we’re good listeners. We’re good problem solvers. And we’re here to help them come up with something that they may not have thought of themselves,” says Scott Frankel, President.
Part of this preliminary ideation process is a beautifully appointed showroom where interior designers consult with clients to help them curate an ambiance for their homes that reflects style and glamour and suits their lifestyle.
Excellence rarely goes unnoticed. In 2021, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) awarded Frankel Design Build one of the highest honors in the industry—its Custom Home Builder of the Year Award—a well-deserved recognition of service quality that exceeds expectations.
The company has also won a host of awards for its sought-after LEED-certified green building projects. Frankel prides itself on designing these energy-efficient dwellings that are as comfortable in winter as they are in summer.
These homes also provide better air quality thanks to fewer allergens being circulated inside and improved water consumption which also means a healthy reduction in cost as well as a significantly lower power bill. Add to that the fact that LEED-designed homes have a higher resale value, and this important feature becomes less of a luxury and more of a necessity for any prospective homeowner.
Ensuring customers’ ease and comfort is a big part of the Frankel Design Build commitment. The company works within a forty-mile radius of its hometown, putting all projects within easy reach of all collaborators. It’s also gaining popularity in Washington County.
In addition to customers receiving professionally rendered 3D representations of their proposed homes, making wise and informed design decisions easy, clients also benefit from a comprehensive warranty offer that protects homeowners from construction faults in workmanship and materials.
Frankel Design Build also offers home maintenance that includes keeping clients’ swimming pools clean and beautifully blue. Cementing its relationships with customers in this way allows the team to continue evolving its offerings as customers get to order its home-owner maintenance services online at the click of a button.
As part of its commitment to excellence, the company also belongs to several industry associations. These include the Greater Houston Builders Association (GHBA), the Texas Association of Builders, the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), and others.
Established in 1988 by Jim Frankel, the company evolved from a one-man contractor outfit to a construction leader with over thirty employees. Today, the company includes a construction department, home care and maintenance, architecture, and interior design departments, together with purchasing and estimating.
It also offers its expertise as a full-service pool company that custom-builds every pool in-house. “The company has adapted and evolved to the demands of our clients. Our ability to work together makes our team great. Each person plays a key role in our success,” says Alexis Guillory, Brand Manager and Construction Selection Coordinator. Since Jim Frankel’s sons, Scott and Kevin, joined the company in 2015 as co-presidents, the firm’s revenue also grew by over 500 percent.
And the expansion continues. “I know this is a difficult time for many companies, but we’re actually hiring. We’re moving in a positive direction, growing every year,” Guillory adds.
Not the sort of company that ignores everything but the bottom line, Frankel Design Build is a generous patron of charitable events and efforts that benefit local schools. It constantly encourages clients with school-going children to share news of such opportunities with the team, so, naturally, the schools and recreational centers it builds are particularly close to its heart.
And the company is always looking for ways to support the work these schools do once they’re up and running. “If we’re going to be building beautiful homes there, we want to make the entire community better for our clients,” says Guillory.
Familiar with the current climate of local construction, Frankel Design Build is more aware of the transient nature of economic turns than most.
A case in point is how COVID-19 changed the way people view and use their personal home environments. Spending more time at home, good aesthetics, and more space suddenly went to the top of everyone’s wish list, together with much more emphasis on outdoor entertainment areas. Home offices flourished and swimming pools became more desirable as local recreational centers closed.
Of course, as architectural trends evolve, so do people’s dreams for their homes. And, as the company expands further into Washington county, local preferences will also dictate changes in its designs to adapt to regional tastes and the particular environment.
Guillory points out that the company’s target market of second-home, ranch-style projects set on generously proportioned land around Houston is also growing. The team is charged up and vigorously exploring this relatively new market.
Guillory outlines the opportunity: “It’s really rare for builders to do all their designing in-house. Most times the process involves the client going to an architect, taking the plans to a home builder, and then bringing in an outside interior designer. Instead, we offer all those services under one roof,” she says.
The beauty of this company’s design capabilities is how dynamic and versatile its creatives are. In both its architecture and interior design, it might work in a modern European mode, or in traditional, contemporary, and transitional styles, bringing a freshness to more typical styles.
Priding itself on curating its team as carefully as it does its design principles, Frankel Design Build is confident that its professionals not only meet the high standards its clientele expect but often—pleasantly—surprise them. Above all, project owners know that they can rest assured, with their luxury home projects in exceptionally capable hands.
