Louisville’s residential building market looks different than it did several decades ago.
In Louisville neighborhoods such as Hurstbourne, Plainview, Douglass Hills, Lake Forest, Owl Creek, Locust Creek, and other developments, local custom builders helped shape the area one home at a time. Homeowners worked closely with builders and designers to create houses suited to their property, lifestyle, and architectural preferences.
Today, national and regional production builders have become a larger part of the market. Their growth has created more housing options, but it has also made truly custom design and construction less common.
For P.L. Lyons Architectural Builders, that shift has reinforced the importance of an approach the company has practiced for more than 50 years: bringing architectural design and construction together around the individual homeowner.
“Design-build” has become an increasingly common term in the building industry, but for P.L. Lyons, it is not a new trend. It is a process the company has refined through decades of custom homes, renovations, additions and complex rebuilding projects throughout Louisville.
Two projects being featured in major Louisville home events this year demonstrate what that approach can accomplish.
More Than a Set of Plans
Design-build brings the design and construction sides of a project together from the beginning.
Instead of completing an architectural design and then determining whether it can be built within the desired budget, the homeowner works with a coordinated team that considers design, cost, materials, and construction requirements throughout the process.
That collaboration is especially important for custom residential work.
A successful project must do more than look beautiful on paper. It must respond to the property, complement the surrounding neighborhood, function for the homeowner, and remain practical to construct.
For renovations, the process becomes even more complex. The team must understand how new spaces will connect to the existing home, what should be preserved, and what must change to support the homeowner’s future needs.
Reimagining a Traditional Anchorage Home
P.L. Lyons’ project in the 2026 Tour of Remodeled Homes provides one example of that process.
Located in Anchorage, the home has been thoughtfully updated over several phases. An earlier kitchen renovation laid the groundwork for a larger transformation that now includes a new primary-suite wing, a full first-floor remodel, and expanded outdoor living areas.
The goal was not to make the home feel entirely new. It was to help it function better while respecting the character that made it special in the first place.
The project preserved important historical and architectural elements while introducing spaces that better support modern life. The new primary suite also incorporates aging-in-place considerations, allowing the homeowners to enjoy the property more comfortably for years to come.
That balance requires more than drafting a larger floor plan. It requires understanding the existing architecture, anticipating how the homeowners’ needs may change, and finding ways to integrate new construction so it feels natural to the home.
Visitors will be able to see the completed transformation during the Tour of Remodeled Homes on August 8 and 9.
Rebuilding After Fire Destroys a Lake Forest Home
P.L. Lyons’ 2026 Homearama project in Lake Forest presents a very different design-build challenge.
The previous home was lost to a fire. Rather than simply reproducing what had been there before, the project required the team to determine how the property could be thoughtfully put back together for its next chapter.
The rebuilding process began with extensive evaluation and planning. Engineering assessments informed decisions involving the existing property, including a new crawl space and new basement piers. The design also transformed the former two-story residence into a custom single-story ranch.
Every decision had to consider the realities of the site, the structural requirements of the rebuild, and the homeowners’ vision for the new home.
The result is not a standardized house placed onto an available lot. It is a highly personal response to an unusual and difficult set of circumstances—the kind of project that demonstrates what custom design-build truly means.
The completed home will be featured during Homearama in September.
Custom Building in a Changing Market
Louisville will continue to grow, and national builders will remain an important part of that growth. At the same time, homeowners are placing greater value on homes that reflect how they actually live.
Some want to remain in an established neighborhood but need their home to function differently. Others are rebuilding after an unexpected loss. Some are preparing for retirement and want to age comfortably in place, while others are creating a new home around a highly specific property or lifestyle.
Those situations cannot always be solved with a standard plan.
They require a team capable of listening, adapting, and seeing the entire project—from the first design conversation through the final details of construction.
P.L. Lyons has watched Louisville grow from early developments in Hurstbourne, Plainview, and Douglass Hills to later communities such as Lake Forest and Locust Creek. Throughout those changes, the company’s work has remained centered on creating homes that belong to their owners and their surroundings.
The tools, materials, and expectations may have evolved, but the foundation of custom building has not: understand the homeowner, understand the property, and bring design and construction together to create the right solution.
See Design-Build in Action
The Tour of Remodeled Homes and Homearama give Louisville residents an opportunity to see two distinct sides of P.L. Lyons’ work.
The Anchorage project demonstrates how thoughtful remodeling can preserve a home’s story while preparing it for the future. The Lake Forest home shows how architectural design, engineering, and construction expertise can come together to rebuild after loss and create something entirely personal.
Together, the two projects reflect how design-build must function in Louisville’s evolving housing market—not as a package of predetermined options, but as a truly custom process built around the home, the property, and the people who will live there.
P.L. Lyons Architectural Builders has been providing that kind of coordinated, custom work for more than 50 years.
To learn more, visit P.L. Lyons during the Tour of Remodeled Homes on August 8–9 and Homearama on September 11–13, 18–20 and 25–27.