Washington DC · Maryland · Virginia
An architect and a builder, creating as one.
Architect-designed. Builder-made. Developed as one — so the architecture survives intact all the way to the front door.
Washington DC · Maryland · Virginia
Architect-designed. Builder-made. Developed as one — so the architecture survives intact all the way to the front door.
The Premise
A developer chases margin, design becomes an afterthought, and whatever architecture survives gets value-engineered away before the drywall goes up. Buyers can feel it, even when they can't name it.
Distinct Build is what happens when the architect and the builder develop for themselves instead of for a client — homes built to the standard they'd demand on any commission, made as singular works rather than product. The name says it: each one is distinct — a designed object, not a unit.
Why The Pairing Matters
When the architect and builder are co-owners, no one is incentivized to strip the design for margin. The vision that makes the house worth it is the vision that gets built.
Design at this level normally means commissioning an architect and waiting years. Here it arrives finished — the rarest thing on the market, ready to live in.
A builder with a national AIA Honor Award and a roster of the country's leading architects; a seasoned, award-winning architect with over 30 years designing residential architecture. Two names that are themselves a mark of value.
Recognition
Architectural Digest publishes only a handful of homes a year. For an architect and a builder to have each earned that page — on separate projects, years apart — and then design and build as one is rarer still.
Architectural Digest — Niederhurst Residence, 2016. Also featured in Interior Design, and honored with the AIA Distinguished Building Award and multiple IIDA Red Awards across 30+ years of residential design.
Architectural Digest — Jigsaw Residence, September 2010, for David Jameson, FAIA — one of 25+ publications worldwide across 35+ years of building. A national AIA Honor Award and multiple International Architecture Awards, for Olson Kundig, Allan Greenberg, MODE4, and MKCA.
Proven, Present Tense
Todd and Steve have already built together — Todd's designs, Steve's hand — on commissioned homes for some of the most demanding architects and clients in the country. Two collaborations are underway now, and the first home developed by Distinct Build is in construction.
Selected Work
Custom-Home Standards
A Distinct Build home is developed before you arrive — but it isn't built like a typical spec house. We bring custom-home standards into every decision, from the foundation to the finish.
Foundation drainage, drained-and-dried walls, and standing-seam, mountain-weather detailing.
Stego vapor control, sub-slab and spray-foam insulation, and Pella Impervia windows.
Real wood floors, real tile, curbless showers, and solid hardware — not plastic LVP.
In-house millwork to our own profiles, with kitchens and baths treated as architecture.
No upgrade package. No builder-grade shortcuts. Just a better standard from the start.
View the StandardsThe Partners
Todd Webb designs. Steve Howard builds. They learned each other's standards the only way that sticks — on real projects, where the architect's intent meets the builder's hand.
Two Ways to Work With Us
Architect-designed homes we develop and build ourselves, then offer finished — architect-grade, turnkey, ready to live in.
Have a site or a vision? Put the same architect-and-builder team on your project. We design and build it as one — your home, made without compromise.
Inquire
We work with a small number of homes at a time. Tell us what you have in mind.
Get in Touch