Build on Your Lot in the Texas Hill Country
You own the land. Vanessa and Dan walk it with you, price what the site needs, and run your build from the first walk to handover.
The First Meeting Happens on Your Lot
Call Vanessa with the address of your land. She and Dan meet you there, walk the ground with you, and talk through the home you want, the budget you have in mind, and what the site needs before a house can go on it.
You leave that visit with a price range for the house and a list of the site items your lot calls for, such as rock excavation, a well, a septic system, or a longer driveway. Each of those items carries a working number in the budget before design begins, and surveys, testing, and design refine those numbers before the written proposal.
If the home you have in mind would sit better somewhere else on the property, or needs a different footprint to fit, you hear that on the walk.
Five Things to Bring to Your First Lot Visit
Bring whatever you have. If you do not have your community's guidelines, we pull the current version ourselves.
Your survey or plat
It shows the lot lines and helps us check the easements and setbacks that limit where the house can sit.
Deed restrictions and community guidelines
If an architectural committee reviews homes in your community, its rules on size, materials, and lighting shape the first drawing.
Your property ID
The appraisal district number lets us confirm whether a city, a county, or both review your plans.
Well and septic records
If the land already has a well or a septic system, those records let us check them against the home you want to build.
Plans or pictures
Plans get priced as they stand. Photos of homes you like give Vanessa a place to start the design conversation.
Your Permits Depend on Your Parcel. We File Them All.
Where your lot sits decides which offices review your home: a city, a county, a groundwater district, a septic authority, and any architectural committee in your community. One mailing address can cover more than one jurisdiction, so we start from the parcel itself.
Vanessa and Dan submit the applications your parcel needs and track each approval on your build schedule.
Hays County, Outside City Limits
Hays County Development Services issues the development permit and the septic permit, and the county's Transportation Department issues the driveway permit. Every new home also needs a 9-1-1 address from the county before it is finished. We file the ones your lot needs.
At Least Three Inspections, Arranged by Us
Hays County requires a new home in its unincorporated areas to be inspected at least three times: before the foundation concrete is poured, after framing and mechanical work but before the walls are covered, and when construction is complete. The county does not perform those inspections itself, so the builder brings in a third-party inspector. We schedule each inspection into your build.
A Septic Permit Regardless of Lot Size
If your home needs a septic system, Hays County requires a permit for it whatever the acreage. The county also sets minimum lot sizes for a home on a private well and septic, and that minimum changes with the aquifer zone and the type of system. We design the septic system with the site plan, so there is room on the land for both the house and the drain field.
Your Well, Registered Before It Is Drilled
Inside the Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District, every new well needs the district's construction notification confirmation before drilling starts. A well used solely by one private household can be exempt from drilling and operating permits when it is equipped to produce no more than 25,000 gallons a day, and it must still be registered with the district. We confirm the district's rules for your parcel and file the notification before the driller arrives.
Travis and Burnet County Lots
Outside city limits in Travis County, the county's Development Services office permits a new single-family home, and it permits the septic system where the county is the septic authority. On the Burnet County side of Spicewood, Burnet County Development Services takes the septic application. Close to Lake Travis, a lot can fall under the LCRA septic program instead of the county's. We identify the right office for each approval before design starts.
Inside Bee Cave and Lakeway
Both cities issue their own residential building permits for new homes inside their limits, and a community there can add its own architectural review on top. We file with the city and with the committee, in the order each one requires.
Rules on this page were checked against these official sources in November 2026: Hays County Development Services FAQs · Hays County development process · Hays County septic permits · Hays County septic regulations (PDF) · Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District · Travis County single-family permits · Burnet County septic and development permits · LCRA septic program · City of Bee Cave building permits · City of Lakeway building and development. Rules change, so we confirm the current version for your parcel.
Where We Build on Your Land
Where a town is linked, its page covers the local rules in more detail.
- Dripping SpringsCity, ETJ, and Hays County lots, including Saddletree Ranch and The Ranches at Dripping Springs
- HenlyHays County land along US 290 west of Dripping Springs; we confirm whether your parcel answers to a city or to the county
- DriftwoodHays County acreage south of Dripping Springs
- Wimberley and Mountain CrestMountain Crest is a gated Wimberley community with a private water system and its own architectural committee
- Bee CaveCity lots and gated communities with their own architectural review
- LakewayThe City permits new homes inside its limits
- Spicewood and Spicewood TrailsBurnet and Travis County land; Spicewood Trails has its own design rules
- Johnson City and Cypress MillBlanco County land, with Cypress Mill north of Johnson City
Some communities limit who may build new homes there. We check your lot against the community's builder rules before design starts.
Four Steps From Survey to Move-In
For the full timeline, phase by phase, see how long it takes to build a custom home.
The walk and the site plan
We place the house, the driveway, the well, and the septic field on your survey together, because each one limits where the others can go.
Design and the priced proposal
The architect and interior designer draw the home to that site plan, and we price each round of drawings, so the budget and the design move together. Before you commit, scope, allowances, and exclusions are in writing.
Approvals
We submit the permits and applications your parcel requires, such as the city or county permit, the septic and driveway permits, the well notification, and the plans for your community's architectural review, in the order each office requires.
Build and handover
Dan runs the site and the inspections, Vanessa runs your selections, and a new home typically takes 14 to 20 months from signed contract to handover.
What the House Costs, and What Your Lot Adds
Ground-up
New Custom Home on Your Lot
- The house itself, at comparable finish levels
- 14 to 20 months, signed contract to handover
Priced from your lot
Site Work
- Rock excavation and foundation engineering
- Well, septic system, and utility runs
- Driveway, clearing, and drainage
For a 2,500-square-foot home, the range works out to about $812,500 to $2 million or more for the house alone. Land, site work, utility connections, and the design team's own fees are priced separately from that range. Our guide to the cost to build on a rocky lot covers how we price excavation. For the full breakdown, see what it costs to build a house in Texas.
Prices and timelines last reviewed November 2026.
Vanessa and Dan Walk Every Lot Themselves
Vanessa handles design, selections, and your schedule. Dan runs the field. Both live in Dripping Springs, and every area on this page is within about an hour of home, so they are on your site every week of the build.
Before Riverbend, Vanessa ran construction of resort spas for hotel brands, including the Trellis Spa at The Houstonian and the Hotel Galvez Spa.
Trust was a huge deal for us and we immediately felt the trust to complete a guest house on our property. It's absolutely beautiful and was efficiently done exceeding our expectations.
Building on Your Lot: Questions
Can you build a custom home on land I already own?
Yes. We build custom homes on land you already own, starting with a walk of the property with Vanessa and Dan. The design and the budget follow from what that walk finds.
Does Riverbend sell lots or broker land?
No. We build homes; we do not sell or broker land. If you are weighing a lot before you buy it, we walk it with you and tell you what building there would involve, so the site costs can be part of your decision. Our land buying checklist covers what to check first.
How much does it cost to build on my own lot in the Hill Country?
The house typically runs $325 to $800+ per square foot at comparable finish levels. Site work is added on top and varies by lot: rock excavation, a well, a septic system, the driveway, and utility runs. You get a working number for each on the property walk, refined before the written proposal.
Who issues the permit for a new home in unincorporated Hays County?
Hays County Development Services issues the development permit and the septic permit, and the county's Transportation Department issues the driveway permit. The county does not inspect single-family homes itself, so at least three third-party inspections are required: foundation, framing and mechanical, and completion. We arrange each one.
Do I need a well and a septic system on my lot?
If your lot is outside a water and wastewater service area, usually yes. Every septic system in Hays County needs a permit, whatever the lot size, and a new well inside the Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District needs the district's confirmation before drilling starts. We confirm both for your parcel early in planning.
Can you build in a community with an architectural committee?
Yes, where the community allows outside builders. Communities such as Mountain Crest in Wimberley run their own architectural committee, and some communities limit who may build. We check the builder rules for your lot first, then design to the guidelines and file the submittal ourselves.
I already have house plans. Can you build them on my lot?
Yes. We price the plans as they stand and check them against your survey, your setbacks, and the well and septic locations. If the site calls for a change to the plans, you hear about it before you commit.
How long does it take to build a custom home on my lot?
Typically 14 to 20 months from signed contract to handover, including the approvals and site work scheduled after signing. Design and pricing come before the contract, and the septic permit, the well notification, and any community review each get a date on your schedule.
Tell Us Where Your Lot Is
Call, or send the form with the area your land is in, and Vanessa will set up a time to walk it with you.
Remodeling a home you already live in? See our luxury home remodeling service.
Vanessa answers this number, weekdays 9 to 5.