Best Home Builder: 3 Pillar Homes
3 Pillar Homes
Point to any standout feature in a home designed by 3 Pillar Homes, no matter how exceptional, and someone at the company will be able to explain how its process made that feature possible.
Keeping much of its team in-house, rather than relying on outside contractors, is a key part of 3 Pillar’s approach to homebuilding. An in-house architectural designer puts together a plan, and an in-house interior designer keeps the process on track, with both serving as checks on the project’s budget and ensuring everything keeps moving at a good pace.
3 Pillar Homes
“We make a complicated process an easy one,” says Rachael Durant, 3 Pillar’s vice president of sales, marketing and design. “Trying to make the process as streamlined and easy (as possible) for the client is what sets us apart.”
The company has built communities and developed its own properties, but will also work in multi-builder developments and locked-in site developments, beginning work with clients as early as the vacant lot stage of the process if that’s what they want, Durant says. 3 Pillar’s goal is to provide a premium product that can be customized to the client’s preferences, she says.
“Every client gets that same level of customer service and process,” Durant says.
A dedicated construction services team is responsible for building out custom features. The customizations the company has built in recent years include:
- Sauna spaces, in response to a recent increase in demand
- Specialized foundations with drop-downs to accommodate golf simulators
- Hidden vaults for storage or security
- Two-story walk-in closets
- Multigenerational living features such as main-floor in-law suites
- Combination indoor-outdoor spaces
- Wine and bourbon rooms
Though 3 Pillar does not build pools, it partners with pool contractors so clients can have their pools built at the same times as their houses.
“Pretty much anything that they can dream of, we can create,” says Durant.
The company builds maintenance-free living and patio homes, and is working to add townhomes to its repertoire in the near future.
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The company’s current work is most exemplified by its presence in Evans Farm. 3 Pillar is the main builder for the southern Delaware County community designed in the New Urbanism style, which emphasizes patio living and walkability.
“That’s really the vision of what Evans Farm is: a walkable, livable community where you can have (all) the conveniences right outside your doorstep,” says Durant.
Every Evans Farm home is required to have a large front porch, and the builder has put together some impressive ones there, many of which can be easily spotted during a drive through the neighborhood, Durant says. 3 Pillar’s design studio is on-site there, which means Evans Farm clients have immediate access to the in-house interior designer.
Best Remodeling Company: Dave Fox Design Build Remodelers
The work that put Dave Fox Design Build Remodelers in the No. 1 spot this year can be seen in a pair of kitchen remodel projects the company recently completed around central Ohio.
Project No. 1: Powell
Ashton Onesko/Prestige Pro Photo
This project, completed in late 2023, focused primarily on the kitchen, along with work on the nearby stairs, and a refinish with some custom stain for the floor.
The homeowners did not care for the old kitchen’s layout, says Andrea Conley, a Dave Fox senior interior designer who worked on the project.
Ashton Onesko/Prestige Pro Photo
The long island did not leave much room to work or maneuver in the narrow kitchen space, so Dave Fox removed it, installing a more functional U-shaped counter instead. While seating at the island once made it difficult to navigate the kitchen, the minimal counter seating suits the space just right, Conley says.
“Everybody wants an island and is getting rid of the (counter) peninsula, but … it really works better to design the kitchen to the space that you have,” she says.
The company took advantage of the long wall opposite the counter to relocate the refrigerator and freezer, and added a coffee station with retractable doors.
Also capturing attention in the new-and-improved kitchen are a full-height granite backsplash, a new range hood and quartzite countertops that meet the owners’ aesthetic expectations.
“We looked high and low for that stone,” Conley says. “It took a long time to find the right material.”
Other highlights of the project include:
- Quarter-sawed white oak cabinets, with a custom combination stain, to replace a set that was showing its age
- A large lazy Susan in one of the corners to improve function
- A pantry cabinet on the long wall to add more storage
- A unique LED light fixture
Ashton Onesko/Prestige Pro Photo
Ashton Onesko/Prestige Pro Photo
Ashton Onesko/Prestige Pro Photo
Ashton Onesko/Prestige Pro Photo
Project No. 2: Hilliard
Ashton Onesko/Prestige Pro Photos
This kitchen had been adequate for the homeowners’ needs, but as their family grew to include grandchildren, it no longer got the job done, says Courtney Maher, a Dave Fox design consultant who oversaw the 2025-completed project.
“It was the traditional Columbus, Ohio kitchen from the ’80s, where you have the drop-down ceiling and the fluorescent lighting,” Maher says.
Ashton Onesko/Prestige Pro Photos
The new pendant lights didn’t just change the lighting situation; they shaped the design of the entire kitchen, says Dave Fox Interior Designer Rachel Broadstone. The company also added can lighting, as well as dimmer switches for all the lights.
Though the clients originally wanted a more standard black-and-white color scheme, the palette they eventually chose has a lot more green, giving the space a unique look.
Dave Fox also gave the kitchen’s functionality a significant boost, adding accessories and drawer storage, as well as some space for shallow cabinets under the window, without ever having to reframe the window space. The company removed the soffits above the cabinets, making it possible for the cabinets to reach all the way to the ceiling.
Other highlights of the renovation include:
- A new buffet area that improves the flow of the kitchen and prevents bottlenecks
- Full-depth shelving in the pantry to add more space for storage and appliances, including the microwave and toaster
- A new island with detailed wainscoting and deep drawer storage for mixing bowls – an important element for one of the homeowners, an avid baker
- A full-height backsplash utilizing tiles that are designed to look handmade, with minor imperfections
“We wanted to have a nice focal feature,” Broadstone says.
Ashton Onesko/Prestige Pro Photos
Ashton Onesko/Prestige Pro Photos
Ashton Onesko/Prestige Pro Photos
Ashton Onesko/Prestige Pro Photos
Garth Bishop is a contributing editor at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
