About Us

Custom Home Building and Remodeling

Meet the Builder

John Hartwell

Founder, Owner

The hands-on principal owner, with 33 years of home building experience in Washington, Oregon and California. John has built homes ranging from multi-million dollar ornate custom homes to affordable residences. No matter what price range you are building in, John treats your project as though it were his own home.

Quality. Value. Trust.

The essence of your personal Hartwell Homes Experience. Unlike many out-of-town national builders, you will work directly with owner John Hartwell. In addition, the team of contractors and suppliers utilized by Hartwell Homes have decades of experience in all areas of the building process.

Hartwell Homes delivers superior home construction on time, in budget and with exceptional customer service.

Our base in the Pacific Northwest provides access to excellent materials and skilled craftspeople.

Our 30+ years of experience building homes from affordable residences to multi-million dollar estates ensures that your home, addition or remodel is built to our exacting standards and your unique needs.

Building your dream home or addition should be a dream. With Hartwell Homes, it is. We pride ourselves on finely crafted homes and top quality service.

Our skilled work and attention to detail combine with our open style of communication and dedicated project management to provide you with the home building experience you expect and deserve.

Resources

We've proudly worked with the same core group of subcontractors for over 20 years.

Building Supplies / Hardware

From conception to completion, building a new home or undertaking a remodeling project is considered complex by a lot of people—largely because there are so many decisions and options are available. As an added value to you, we have compiled a list of local Portland area resources and providers that can assist you in your home building endeavor. We truly value the opinions and insights of our customers and therefore it is our belief that an educated customer is one who can most enjoy and appreciate the home building process.

We stand by these companies for the home building and construction services they provide.

References

See what people are saying:

"My wife and I chose to work with John Hartwell, owner of Hartwell Homes for several reasons. In the initial phases of the project, John describes process, timing, cost, design and accounting factors in great detail as if he is undertaking his own project. He set a high expectation that his team was able to deliver. He worked closely with us in advising on the choice of materials and was exceedingly patient. John is the consummate professional who aligns himself with quality subcontractors who deliver quality work, are on time and respect their mutual clients needs. As with any project, there are bound to be issues that arise. John and his team were always available to adjust to our needs whenever they could be satisfied. An example was the masking off of the master bedroom from the bathroom was inconvenient and he put in a zipper in to maintain the separation while making it simpler for us to use our room even while our bathroom was inaccessible. John remains available for punch list items well after the completion of the project. We couldn’t give a higher recommendation to this team. Please feel free to use us a reference for your capabilities and service."

— Mike Holzgang

"In January 2004, I was looking for a new home, found some townhouses under construction near Forest Heights, and decided to buy one. But I wanted a long list of changes inside, and asked to meet the builder to see if this was possible. So the realtor arranged a meeting, and that's how I met John Hartwell.

He was a bit surprised by the length of my list (over 25 major items), which resulted in a completely custom townhouse, but he worked with me patiently and built me a "dream" townhouse. He is efficient, particular, meticulous, responsive and scrupulously honest. After I moved in, we stayed in touch, and we have become good friends.

Nine years later, my wife and I decided to build a new house, and of course we immediately contacted John. He was a huge help in helping locate and evaluate potential properties, but when we eventually bought an existing house, he is our choice to re-model it extensively.

I would wholeheartedly and unabashedly recommend John Hartwell to build your dream house."

— Ajit Limaye

"We had the fortunate opportunity to work with John Hartwell of Hartwell Homes in building our dream home. From the very first meeting with John, we found him to be knowledgeable, friendly, easy to talk to and work with and a great source of practical solutions. His only agenda was helping our dreams become a reality.

Over the past thirty years, John has cultivated excellent relationships with his many subcontractors. A quality work ethic was demonstrated by all. Each were true craftsmen. They treated our project with respect and consideration for our neighbors. We received many compliments about how little our project impacted their day to day living.

Our home was completed above our expectations on time and on budget. John's high quality work ethic, effective multitasking, attention to the finest details and terrific working relationship we experienced makes him someone we would highly recommend to anyone hoping to build the home of their dreams. "

— Pamela & David Richardson

"John Hartwell is a fantastic builder and I would recommend him to anyone planning to build their dream home. John has built 2 houses for us – the first was a spec home he built when my wife and I moved to Portland 10 years ago, and the 2nd was a custom home he finished for us in 2012.

After working with him on the new house, and previously living in the spec house for 7 years, we developed a very strong trust. I think this is the single more important quality in selecting a builder… We trusted John 1) on the negotiations with the subcontractors, 2) with the quality and attention to detail in all aspects of building, and 3) on costs and schedules. John is constantly looking for opportunities to provide better value during the construction process – from negotiating with a subcontractor to suggesting alternatives that can either lower costs or provide even higher quality for the same cost.

My wife and I interviewed many of Portland’s top builders prior to selecting John. Not only was the quality of both homes first class, but he stands behind his work. There were very few things over the course of 10 years and 2 houses that needed any attention… but when the occasional thing popped up, John would always take care of it. I give John Hartwell my strongest recommendation as a builder."

— Brad & Lisa Graff