Where We Build
Every project within about an hour of our own front door, run in person by Vanessa and Dan.
A budget range and a straight read on scope, at no cost and with no obligation.
Why We Stay Within an Hour of Dripping Springs
Vanessa and Dan live in Dripping Springs, and they run every project themselves. An hour of driving each way lets them be on your site every week of the build.
Everyone around Dripping Springs kept telling me to call Vanessa and Dan, and now I see why.
Your budget and your timeline start with which town your lot sits in, and then come down to the parcel itself. What we check on a lot, and what drives the site work cost, changes from town to town.
New construction runs $325 to $800+ per square foot at comparable finish levels, and whole-home remodels $325 to $650+ per square foot of remodeled area. Land, site work, wells, septic, utility connections, and the design team's own fees are priced separately. If your town is not named here, ask us anyway, and if you have not bought the land yet, we walk a property with you before you close, so the cost of building there is part of your buying decision.
Choose Your Town
What Changes Town by Town
Four things drive the budget.
We check which apply to your property, in person, before anything is drawn.
Who reviews your plans
City hall or Travis County in Bee Cave depending on the parcel, Hays County in Driftwood, a village office in Briarcliff, or your community's own committee where it has one. A lot in the review zone between a city and its county, the ETJ, can answer to both. The same offices permit your septic system and any floodplain work. We identify the right ones on the first visit and file with each of them ourselves.
Where the water comes from
City service, a utility or water district, a water supply company, or a private well. A well is not always available: the Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District restricts new permits during drought stages, and some subdivisions ban private wells outright in their recorded rules. We confirm your source and price the connection or the well before design starts.
How deep the rock sits
Shallow limestone is one of the largest site costs on a Hill Country lot, and it runs closest to the surface around Dripping Springs and Bee Cave. We read the rock on the first walk and carry a priced allowance in the budget. If the excavation runs past that allowance, you get the options and the numbers in writing before anyone digs further.
What the community requires
Design review, lighting standards, exterior materials, and site restrictions. These differ from one community to the next, and each one costs less to meet when we design around it from the first drawing than when we redraw later.
Service Area Questions
What areas does Riverbend Hill Country Homes serve?
We build custom homes, whole-home remodels, casitas, and large additions within about an hour of Dripping Springs, Texas. That covers Dripping Springs, Wimberley, Driftwood, Bee Cave, Lakeway, West Lake Hills, Spicewood, and San Marcos, plus Woodcreek, Blanco, Johnson City, Buda, Kyle, and west Austin.
Why only within an hour of Dripping Springs?
Because Vanessa and Dan run every project themselves, and weekly site visits are part of the job. Past about an hour that stops being possible, so that is where the service area stops.
Will you take a project outside these towns?
If the property sits within about an hour of Dripping Springs, yes. That hour covers Woodcreek, Blanco, Johnson City, Buda, Kyle, and west Austin as well as the eight towns we work in most. Riverbend takes work within about an hour of town because that radius is what keeps Vanessa and Dan on your site in person.
Does the process differ between city lots and county acreage?
The permitting and the site work differ. City lots bring municipal review and utility connections. County acreage brings wells, septic, and long access runs. A lot in the review zone between them, the ETJ, can answer to both, and we confirm which before design. The build itself runs the same way, and in both cases we handle the offices and the paperwork.
How does the land itself change from town to town?
Enough to change the budget. Who reviews your plans, where the water comes from, how deep the rock sits, and what your community requires all shift town by town, and any of them can put a line in your budget. We walk your lot, pull the rules that govern that address, and price the site work your land actually needs.
Tell Us Where the Property Is
Any of these towns, or one you are not sure about.
Call us, or send the form and Vanessa will call you. She asks where the property is, what you want to build or remodel, and what budget you have in mind. By the end of that call you know whether Riverbend can take the project.
Vanessa answers this number, weekdays 9 to 5.