Journal · 2 Oct 2026
What Building a Custom Home in Hampton Roads Actually Looks Like
A new house in Hampton Roads can mean two different things. It can mean a production home already started on a lot the builder owns. Or it can mean a plan you choose, set on land you own or land you are about to buy. Custom Homes of Virginia is the second kind of builder. Fit Realty is the brokerage that sits next to that work, for the family that also needs to sell a house or compare a resale before they commit to a build.
The showroom is at 3345 Bridge Road, Suite 908, in Suffolk. The showroom phone is (757) 774-5818. That visit is the useful first hour. You can walk elevations, see how a kitchen opens to the living room, and find out whether the house you have in mind is a ranch, a two-story, or a main level with a room over the garage. Plans are at chov.com/models. We do not hand out plan sheets on this page. The sheets belong in the showroom, next to the lot you are actually using.
If a model page shows a starred price, treat it as a starting base. It is not a finished home on a lot. The base does not include the land. It does not include clearing, a driveway, a well, a sewer tap, or an engineered system if the soil calls for one. It does not include the finishes you will pick once you are in the room. Families who add those numbers later are not doing anything wrong. They were reading a starting base as a turnkey price. Those are different figures.
Most projects start in one of two orders. Some families already have a lot, or a relative's parcel, or a contract on dirt. The first question is whether that ground can take the house. A full soil report covers the foundation, septic, and well. We work with engineered systems and can arrange that with our vendors or the client's. A lot that looks level from the road can still need a different foundation, a different drain field, or a different place for the well. That is a site question, not a cabinet question.
Other families have the plan in mind and no land yet. In that case the search is for a lot the plan can sit on, not for the prettiest acre on a map. Width, the buildable pad, access for a driveway, and whether sewer is in the street or the house will be on a well all change which model fits. Fit Realty can help look for that land. Call (757) 500-8803. Brian Simon is principal broker. This is not an MLS search page. It is the building path, and land is a separate conversation from a house that is already standing.
The plans families use most often are straightforward. The Ashlynn is a three-bedroom ranch of about 2,000 square feet, with a room-over-garage option that takes it toward 2,500. The Decklan is a compact three-bedroom plan around 1,556 square feet, often the one we look at when the pad is tight or the household wants a simpler main level. The Kenston is about 2,540 square feet over two stories, with an optional third floor. The Jamison is about 2,920 square feet, with the main living on one level and a finished room over the garage. The Ava is a four-bedroom ranch of about 2,824 square feet. The Ava 2 Story is a larger six-bedroom plan of about 4,350 square feet when the household needs two floors. The Kellan Gen-FLEX is about 2,986 square feet and is built for a second suite. The Glendan is about 3,260 square feet with five bedrooms.
You do not need to arrive knowing which of those you want. You do need to know who is living in the house in five years. A parent downstairs changes the plan more than a backsplash does. A household that entertains wants the kitchen and the living room in one view. A household that wants quiet wants the primary suite away from the room where the television stays on. Those are showroom conversations.
Building also has a calendar. Site work, permits, and the house itself do not share one clock. A lot that needs an engineered system takes longer to release than a lot on public sewer. A family selling a current house needs the sale timed so they are not paying for two places longer than they planned. Fit can run the sale. Custom Homes of Virginia can run the build. The two should talk before either contract is treated as final.
If you are early, come see the models. If you already own the lot, bring what you have — a survey, a soil report if one exists, and any note about sewer or a well — and we will tell you whether a plan fits. If you need land first, say that. We would rather find the lot before we price a house that the pad cannot hold.
Next step: see the models at the showroom, (757) 774-5818. If the next move is finding land or selling the house you have, call Fit Realty at (757) 500-8803.