Custom Home Design Awards

Franklin Mountain House by Hazelbaker Rush in El Paso. Photo: Casey Dunn

2016 Builder's Choice & Custom Home Design Awards

The winners of the 2016 Builder’s Choice & Custom Home Design Awards use thoughtful planning and innovative details to advance the notion of what makes a house a home.

Native dune grasses spread over the roof, helping the building blend with its surroundings.

The 2014 Custom Home Design Awards

The jury looked at almost 500 entries. Here are the over-arching trends.

Deep glass soffits cast watery reflections overhead.

The 2012 Custom Home Design Awards

Our four-member jury sorted through more than 400 projects to select just 29 winners for this year's design awards competition.



Strong geometrical forms and soft, muted colors give this new house an assertive yet respectful presence in its rural landscape.

The 2011 Custom Home Design Awards

Custom Home's 2011 jury picks 24 winners in the magazine's 19th annual design awards contest.

The house occupies a ridge with a clearing and view to the south.

The 2010 Custom Home Design Awards

Introducing the 18 winners of our annual design competition...

Our Custom Home of the Year employs familiar Western forms to create something that feels completely new yet perfectly at home in its Rocky Mountain setting.

The 2008 Custom Home Design Awards

There is no lack of talent or craftsmanship at the highest end of the housing market, if the entries in the 2008 Custom Home Design Awards are any indication. Nearly 500 entries competed for this year's honors, judged by an independent panel of distinguished custom home professionals. Don't miss our web-exclusive photo slideshows of the winners ....

In an effect inspired by the forest that surrounds it, views through this new lakeside home shift with one’s perspective. Its unfinished red cedar siding will gray to blend with the tree trunks.

The 2007 Custom Home Design Awards

These 23 projects represent the best in custom home design.

Project of the Year

The 2006 Custom Home Design Awards

Our independent panel of four judges (two residential architects and two custom home builders) cited 24 projects to receive awards from a record 487 entrees this year, and nearly every one of those winners has a Modernist bent. While these beautiful award-winning projects certainly represent the sensibilities of the judges, they also mark a growing interest in mid-20th-century design among consumers and building pros.

Sliding glass doors open up the corner of the master bedroom to views of the vineyard and mountains beyond. Ample terraces establish a close connection between house and site.

The 2005 Custom Home Design Awards

The winners hail from every region of the country and represent a wide range of architectural styles and solutions. The common thread running through all of these projects is a disciplined approach to design, respect for the site and the client's program, and the kind of careful craftsmanship that distinguishes custom home building performed at the highest level.

Masterful control of form, material, and stylistic reference made this house the prime head turner among an outstanding crop of entries.

The 2004 Custom Home Design Awards

The homes presented in this feature are some of the most beautiful you are likely to find anywhere. They are the winners of the 2004 Custom Home Design Awards, CUSTOM HOME's annual competition to honor excellence in custom home design and building. Click here to read about the 20 projects that took top honors in this year's competition.

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