Michaels Custom Homes is a Class A custom builder serving Central Virginia. We build on the land you own — with the plans you bring, or plans we'll design with you.
A custom home is not a product on a shelf. It's an investment in the way your family lives — the mornings, the meals, the quiet hours. Building one properly demands attention, judgment, and a builder who genuinely cares how it turns out.
Michaels Custom Homes is built around that standard. We take on a limited number of homes each year so every project gets the focus custom work requires — the drawings read line by line, the specifications discussed decision by decision, the finishes chosen for the way they'll perform in twenty years, not just how they'll photograph next month.
The trade partners we work with have been with us for years. The materials we specify are chosen for longevity and craftsmanship. The result is a home built to endure — and a process that feels like a partnership from the first conversation through long after move-in.
For me, a custom home has never been about plans, finishes, or square footage. It's about earning a family's trust and building a home they'll be proud of for generations.
I started sweeping floors on job sites at twelve years old. What began as a job became a career, and eventually a calling. Over the past three decades I've worked in nearly every corner of this industry — from residential construction and commercial exterior envelope work to leading a national top-100 homebuilder into a new market as division president. Every step taught me something valuable. But it also confirmed what I love most: sitting down with a family, walking their land, and building one exceptional home at a time.
That's why I founded Michaels Custom Homes.
When you build with us, you won't get handed off from a project manager to a customer service department. You work directly with me — from the first conversation, through construction, to your final walkthrough, and long after you've moved in. I believe the builder who makes the promises should be the one who stands behind them.
Along the way, my work has been recognized by peers and press: two-time Builder of the Year by the Home Building Association of Richmond, Style Weekly's 40 Under 40, and multiple wins at Parade of Homes and Homearama for homes I've built and led. I've served as President of the Home Building Association of Richmond, on the state association's board, and as our region's representative to the National Association of Home Builders.
Those recognitions matter, but they aren't what I'm most proud of. The homes we've built, the relationships we've formed, and the families who continue to call us years after move-in — those are what matter most.
My goal isn't to build the most homes. It's to build the right homes, for the right people, with craftsmanship, transparency, and a level of personal involvement that's becoming increasingly rare. When you choose Michaels Custom Homes, you're not just hiring a builder — you're partnering with someone who will be invested in your home from the first sketch to the day you receive your keys, and long after through our warranty and continued support.
We are a build-on-your-lot custom home builder. Bring us a property — and a set of plans, or just an idea — and we'll do the rest.
Already own the land? Already have plans? Bring them to us. We'll review feasibility, study the site, and price the build with the partners and specs you've chosen — or recommend refinements where they'll matter most.
No plans yet? We'll connect you with a Central Virginia architect we've worked with for years — one whose work fits your style and your site. We stay involved through design so the drawings reflect a build we can actually deliver.
A clear, scope-by-scope budget. A schedule built around real trade availability. A dedicated point of contact — with ownership directly involved — from groundbreaking through warranty. No surprises engineered into the contract.
Custom isn't just a floor plan. It's the millwork return at the corner, the flashing detail behind the brick, the radius on a stair tread, the way a kitchen feels at 7 a.m. Done right, you stop noticing the build and start living the home.
Designs that read coherently from the curb to the trim line — not a collage of magazine details forced onto a shell.
Decades of relationships with Central Virginia's strongest masonry, stone, and exterior trades — the work that defines a custom home from the street.
The same superintendents, framers, and finish carpenters we've built with for years. Continuity is what produces consistent quality — not slogans.
We specify materials and assemblies for the way they'll perform in twenty years — not just in next month's photographs.
Kitchen
Owner's Bath
Living · Built-Ins
Entry
Kitchen · Calacatta & Brass
Front Portico
Kitchen & Breakfast
Stair
Powder Room
Aerial
Owner's Bath
Scullery
Owner's Bath
Walk-In Closet
Covered Porch
We don't sell developments. We build on land you already own — or are about to. Our work begins with the site, not a model home menu.
DPOR License #2705191929 — Class A with Commercial and Residential Building classifications. Properly insured, properly bonded.
Bring your own architect's drawings, or build with a designer we'll match you to. Either way, the drawings stay yours, and we build to them precisely.
You will know the people responsible for your home. Direct ownership involvement on every project — through contract, construction, and warranty — is a line we hold no matter how the company grows.
We schedule what we can deliver — not what sounds good in a sales meeting. Communication is weekly, predictable, and direct.
Submit warranty requests through our homeowner portal — tracked, time-stamped, never lost in an inbox. But every item is handled by the team that built your home, with ownership staying accountable until it's resolved.
Yes. Michaels Custom Homes is a build-on-your-lot custom home builder. We build on land you already own — or are about to purchase — anywhere in Central Virginia. We don't sell developments or model homes; every project starts with your site.
We are based in Chesterfield, Virginia and build throughout Central Virginia, including Chesterfield, Henrico, Hanover, Powhatan, Goochland, Amelia, Dinwiddie and Prince George counties, and the Richmond, Midlothian, Petersburg and Colonial Heights areas.
Absolutely. Bring your architect's drawings and we'll review feasibility, study the site, and price the build scope by scope. If you don't have plans yet, we'll connect you with a Central Virginia architect we've worked with for years and stay involved through design.
Yes. Michaels Custom Homes, LLC holds Virginia DPOR Class A Contractor License #2705191929 with both Commercial Building (CBC) and Residential Building (RBC) classifications, and is properly insured and bonded.
You work directly with founder Shane Burnette from the first conversation through construction, final walkthrough, and warranty. We take on a limited number of homes each year so ownership stays personally involved on every project.
Every custom home is priced to its specific plans, site, and finishes, so there's no single number. Most of the homes we build fall between roughly $750,000 and $2.5 million or more. After reviewing your plans and lot we provide a clear, scope-by-scope budget with no surprises engineered into the contract.
Founder Shane Burnette has more than 30 years in Central Virginia construction and has delivered 600+ homes and units across his career, including leading a national top-100 homebuilder's expansion into Virginia as division president. He is a two-time HBAR Builder of the Year, past President of the Home Building Association of Richmond, and a Home Builders Association of Virginia state board member.
Whether you're holding plans, holding land, or holding an idea on a napkin — we're glad to talk. The first conversation is straightforward, no pitch, no pressure. Just a builder, listening.