General Contractor Serving Hamilton and Wenham, Massachusetts
Kitchen remodeling, whole-home renovations, additions, ADUs and decks for homeowners across the Hamilton-Wenham community. Dave Clarke runs every project himself, from the first walkthrough to the last punch-list item.
Why do Hamilton and Wenham homeowners call Clarke?
Because you get Dave. Not a salesperson who hands you off, not a project manager you meet in week three. Dave Clarke walks your house, prices the work, and stays on the job until it is finished.
Hamilton and Wenham share a school district, a train station, a rec department and a good deal of the same housing stock, which is why so many people here say Hamilton-Wenham as one word. Both towns are full of Colonial and Federal houses on generous lots, farm properties around the Myopia and Appleton land, and mid-century homes that have been added onto more than once. The work these houses need is rarely cosmetic.
Clarke Building Company is based at 51 Pleasant St. in West Newbury, about twenty minutes up Route 1A. Close enough that Dave can stop by a Hamilton job on his way home. Far enough that he is not bidding against every contractor in town on price alone.
One more thing worth saying plainly. Clarke is a builder, not a design firm. If you already have an architect, Dave builds what they drew and works alongside them. If you do not have one, he will point you toward people he has worked with. What he will not do is sell you a design package you did not ask for.
What makes a Hamilton kitchen remodel different?
In a Colonial farmhouse, the kitchen was never the room the house was built around. It sat at the back, near the ell or the old summer kitchen, with low ceilings and a small footprint. Two hundred years later people want that room to be the middle of family life. Getting there usually means moving a wall.
That is where the real work starts, and it is why a Hamilton kitchen rarely goes the way a kitchen in a 1990s colonial goes.
The chimney usually cannot move
Center-chimney Colonials carry a masonry mass through the middle of the house. It often sits right where you want the island. We work out early what can open up and what has to stay, so the layout you fall in love with is one you can actually build.
What is behind the plaster
Older Hamilton homes turn up knob-and-tube wiring, undersized panels, and ell additions with no insulation in the walls. We open a small section early rather than finding out in week five. It is the difference between a change order and a surprise.
Floors that do not sit level
Post-and-beam framing settles. A floor can drop an inch across a kitchen and nobody notices until cabinets go in. We shim and scribe rather than pretending the room is square, which is slower and the only way the finished job looks right.
Matching what is already there
Painted inset cabinetry, soapstone or honed granite, and wide-plank floors that pick up the boards in the next room. On a farmhouse the goal is a kitchen that looks like it could have been there a while, with the storage and light of a new one.
Mudrooms come up on almost every Hamilton project. On a property with horses, dogs, or a long gravel drive, the back entry does more work than the front door. We often fold that into the kitchen scope rather than treating it as a separate job.
Dave walks you through the cost of each choice as you make it. Cabinet construction, counter material, whether you move plumbing, whether the wall is load-bearing. Every one of those moves the number, and you will hear how much before you decide, not after.
Planning a kitchen in Hamilton or Wenham?
See Hamilton MA kitchen remodelingMore on our approach: kitchen remodeling services across the North Shore, or Hamilton MA home renovations for projects beyond one room.
What can Clarke build in Hamilton-Wenham?
Residential work only, and only the trades Dave can stand behind. Every job is run by the same person who quoted it.
Kitchen Remodeling
Full kitchen renovations in Colonial farmhouses, capes and newer builds. Layout changes, structural work, cabinetry and finish carpentry.
Hamilton MA kitchen remodeling →Home Renovations
Room-level and whole-home renovations. Structural updates, layout changes, and the finish work that decides whether it reads as new or as patched.
Hamilton MA home renovations →Home Additions
Bigger lots give an addition room to sit properly. We plan around the existing roofline and the way the house meets the yard, not just the square footage.
Home additions →ADUs and In-Law Suites
Massachusetts now protects accessory dwelling units by right in nearly every town. Hamilton and Wenham lot sizes suit them well. We build them and manage the permitting.
ADU construction →Deck Construction
Decks and porches built for New England weather, framed to code and detailed to match the house. Our crew back-jigs the framing, which you never see and always feel.
Deck construction →Siding and Cedar Shake
James Hardie fiber cement and Western red cedar shake, installed by Clarke's own exterior crew, along with the trim, soffit and porch carpentry that finishes the exterior.
Siding and cedar shake →New Construction
Ground-up residential builds on Hamilton and Wenham lots, with Dave on site through every phase from site work to final walkthrough.
New construction →What happens after you call?
Five steps, same on every job. You always know where things stand and who to call.
The first walkthrough
Dave comes out, looks at the house, and listens to what you want. No pressure and no pitch.
Options and costs
Every choice, what it costs, and how it changes the timeline. You see the whole picture before anything starts.
Permits and scheduling
We file with the town building department and line up inspections so the schedule holds.
Build and updates
Same crew start to finish. You hear from Dave regularly, including when something changes.
Final walkthrough
We go through it together and fix the details before anyone calls the job done.
Building in the Hamilton-Wenham community
Hamilton was settled in 1638 and incorporated as its own town in 1793. It has stayed rural on purpose. No industrial zoning, stone walls along the back roads, and the open land around Appleton Farms and the Myopia Hunt Club that gives the town its horse-country character.
Wenham sits directly south and the two towns run most things together. Neighborhoods like Asbury Grove, with its tight cluster of small nineteenth-century cottages from the old camp meeting grounds, sit a few minutes from farm properties on twenty acres. That range is the reason no two projects here scope the same way.
Practically, it means we plan around larger setbacks, longer driveways for material deliveries, private wells and septic on many properties, and houses that have been altered by three or four generations of owners. None of that is unusual to us. It is most of what we do.
Exteriors are part of the same picture. A lot of these houses are still in cedar, and on an open lot with wind coming across the fields, cedar shake and fiber cement siding set over a proper drainage plane is what keeps the wall dry through a New England winter.
Hamilton Town Hall, Hamilton, Massachusetts. Photo by Fletcher6, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Reviews from homeowners and trade partners
Every review below is a real Google review. Nothing here is written by us.
Dave and his team did an outstanding job on our addition. The quality of work was excellent, and you can tell they take real pride in what they do. Dave was also great about working around our schedule, which made the entire process smooth and stress free. Everything was completed on time and came out exactly how we envisioned. I would highly recommend his company to anyone looking for high-quality, reliable construction work.Chris L. Google Review
I've been in the industry most of my life. I've worked with and for 100's of contractors. Dave and his team are top notch and a main referral source for our kitchen and bath design company. Professional, clear communication and beautiful work at a great price every time.Frank L. Google Review
Excellent contractor and work done a fair rate and always top notch end result!Curt D. Google Review
See finished work from around the North Shore.
View our projectsCommon questions from Hamilton homeowners
We do. Clarke files with the town building department, schedules the inspections, and meets the inspector on site. Massachusetts requires a licensed Construction Supervisor to pull a building permit for structural work, and that is Dave. You should never be the one applying for a permit on your own house for work a contractor is doing.
Yes. Clarke Building Company is licensed and insured in Massachusetts and carries both liability and workers' compensation coverage. Massachusetts keeps two public databases, one for Home Improvement Contractor registration and one for Construction Supervisor Licenses, and we would encourage you to look up any contractor you are considering, including us.
No, and that is deliberate. Clarke is a builder. If you have an architect or a kitchen designer, Dave works alongside them and builds what they draw. If you do not have one yet, he can point you toward people he has worked with on the North Shore. Keeping design and construction separate means you get a second set of eyes on the plans instead of one company checking its own work.
Yes. Clarke works in James Hardie fiber cement and Western red cedar shake, installed by our own ten-person exterior crew rather than a subcontracted siding outfit. We also handle the trim, soffit, fascia and porch carpentry that goes with it. What we do not do is market vinyl. You can read how we approach the work on our siding and cedar shake page.
It depends on how much structure moves. A kitchen that keeps its footprint and swaps cabinets, counters and finishes runs shorter than one where a wall comes out and the electrical service gets upgraded. Older homes also add time when we open the walls and find wiring or framing that has to be dealt with. Dave gives you a real timeline after the walkthrough, and tells you which parts of it could move.
Yes. We work throughout the Hamilton-Wenham area and across Essex County, including West Newbury, Newburyport, Ipswich, Topsfield, Amesbury, Newbury, Boxford, Rowley and Salisbury.
We do not publish prices, because a number without your house attached to it is not useful. What we will do is walk you through what drives the cost on your specific project, which options change it, and by roughly how much, before you commit to anything. Most people tell us that conversation was the most useful part of getting a quote.
Also serving these North Shore towns
Clarke Building Company works with homeowners throughout Essex County and the North Shore of Massachusetts.
Ready to talk about your Hamilton project?
Kitchen, addition, ADU or a whole-house renovation. Dave will walk the house with you, go over the options honestly, and tell you what it takes to do it right.