Explore A Better Way To Build A Home
Why manage a dozen different contractors when you can partner with the Eastern Shore’s premier all-in-one luxury design-build firm? True luxury isn't just found in the flawless symmetry of a finished home; it's found in a seamless, stress-free process.
WATCH
The All-In-One Advantage
A dedicated team by your side every step of the way.
On-Staff Interior Designers & Selections Coordinators
We guide you seamlessly through fixtures, cabinetry, and premium finishes right here in our on-site interior showroom.
Award-Winning Architectural Designers and On-Staff Draftsmen
Tailoring floor plans specifically to your lifestyle and the natural topography of your land.
Dedicated Land Development & Procurement Division
We are Pre-construction professionals who can develop & prepare your site for our coastal conditions, from day one.
Master Craftsman & Professional Build Installation
Our award winning master craftsmen and carpenters ensure your home is built to withstand the coastal elements of the eastern shore, and stand the test of time.
A Journey Built on Clarity, Transparency, and Care.
The Benefits of Hiring an Established Design/Build Firm
You dream it, we build it. Start to finish. It's that simple. By working with one dedicated company instead of multiple contractors, you'll benefit from streamlined communication and overall project management.
Each of our builds is assigned a dedicated project manager who oversees every detail of the project from start to finish! This ensures a more timely and cost-effective delivery of the homes we build.
Our advanced project management software, CoConstruct, provides 24/7 access to project updates and information.
We prioritize cost control by monitoring budgets and assisting with finish selections, eliminating unexpected expenses.
With our in-house design and construction team, we significantly reduce project timelines, delivering reliable completion estimates. Plus, our comprehensive approach minimizes risk—should any issues arise, we take responsibility and resolve them efficiently.
Locally Trusted. Nationally Recognized.
Locally voted the #1 Best Home Builder in our area for 5 consecutive years, our reputation is anchored in community trust and long-standing architectural excellence.
Luxury Ambiance: Building Pools Along the Water
Installing a pool on a waterfront lot introduces heavy lot-coverage restrictions and requires separate environmental permitting that can clash with your home’s main footprint. We plan for your entire estate, mapping out pool placement, hardscaping, and lot coverage concurrently during the initial architectural phase.
Living Shorelines/Coastal Landscaping
Standard turf grass often fails near brackish water, and local jurisdictions frequently mandate native plantings or "living shorelines" to prevent erosion. We connect you with premier local landscape architects and manage the implementation of native, eco-resilient vegetation that honors the local landscape.
Navigating Complex Waterfront Financing
Securing a construction loan for a multi-million dollar waterfront build is vastly different from a standard mortgage. Draws, inspections, and land equity require meticulous financial structuring. The Paquin Solution: We connect our clients with the region’s top, highly trusted financial advisors and lenders who specialize in luxury coastal construction loans.
Flood Elevation Certs. & High Insurance Rates
Building in a designated flood zone requires strict adherence to FEMA's base flood elevations (BFE). Failing to design the home high enough can lead to astronomical insurance premiums or permit denials. Our architectural team designs your home’s lower levels and mechanical systems to sit safely above required flood heights, optimizing both your safety and your insurance rates.
Impervious Surface Limits
(Lot Coverage)
Counties strictly limit the percentage of your lot that can be covered by "impervious" surfaces (roofs, driveways, walkways) to prevent runoff into the bay. We use innovative building sciences (permeable pavers and custom-engineered submerged gravel wetlands) to maximize your allowable build space while remaining fully compliant.
The Answers To All Your Questions
Waterfront lots are governed by unique setback rules that dictate exactly how close a structure can sit to the water, roads, and property lines. Our on-staff draftsmen maximize the unique layout of your lot, designing your custom floor plans to fit perfectly within the legal boundaries while preserving your unobstructed water views.
Strict Architectural and Critical Area Setbacks
Storm Water Management and Sourcing Civil Engineers
Before you can lay a foundation, a civil engineer must design storm water management, grading plans, and sediment controls. Finding a reliable engineer on your own can stall a project for months. We maintain close relationships with the finest civil engineers on the Shore, looping them into the design phase immediately to streamline site engineering.
Navigating Critical Area Buffer & Wetland Regulations
Maryland enforces strict regulations regarding construction near the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. Building near protected wetlands or within the 100-to-200-foot Critical Area buffer requires rigorous environmental reviews. Our land development division has extensive expertise in wetland delineations. We ensure your home's footprint perfectly satisfies state environmental laws without delaying your build.
Even The Questions You Didn't Know You Had!
Navigating County Specific Waterfront Regulations
Building on Maryland's shorelines means masterfully navigating the highly nuanced, localized laws of the target county. Because the state’s Chesapeake Bay Critical Area Law (governing all land within 1,000 feet of mean high tide or tidal wetlands) is implemented and enforced directly at the county level, a design that is fully approved in one county could be completely denied in another. At Paquin Design Build, our 25+ years of coastal experience means we possess specialized, street-by-street expertise in the strict regulatory differences between Talbot, Queen Anne’s, and Anne Arundel counties.
Talbot County: Strictly Protected & Highly Sought-After Shorelines
Talbot County features some of the most strictly protected and sought-after shorelines in the country (including St. Michaels, Oxford, and Royal Oak).
-
The Major Hurdle: While Maryland's baseline Critical Area buffer is 100 feet from the Mean High Water (MHW) line, Talbot County enforces a strict 200-foot setback from MHW for any new parcels or lots subdivided after July 1, 2010. For grandfathered lots created before that date, a 100-foot setback applies.
-
Marine Construction & Piers: Talbot County requires fully executed state licenses from the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers before it will issue local zoning certificates for marine projects like docks or bulkheads.
-
The Paquin Advantage: We design your estate's structural footprint to perfectly account for your lot's specific subdivision date. We align our in-house architectural team with our land development team from day one to maximize your water views without violating the 100- or 200-foot buffer.
Queen Anne’s County: Impervious Surface Limits & HPA Restraints
Home to beautiful coastal landscapes like Kent Island, Grasonville, and Centreville, Queen Anne's County heavily penalizes unpermitted land disturbance or clearing.
-
The Major Hurdle: In Resource Conservation Areas (RCA) and Limited Development Areas (LDA), Queen Anne's County strictly caps your total lot coverage/impervious surface at 15%. This includes your roof, driveway, walkways, and patios. Furthermore, the county actively maps Habitat Protection Areas (HPAs). The baseline 100-foot buffer can automatically expand up to 300 feet if your lot features steep slopes, hydric soils, or highly erodible shorelines.
-
The Paquin Advantage: Because our headquarters are in Grasonville, we have ironclad relationships with Queen Anne’s County regulators. We know exactly how to leverage modern building science—utilizing permeable pavers and custom submerged gravel wetlands—to help you maximize your outdoor living space while staying fully compliant with the 15% lot-coverage limits.
Anne Arundel County: Front Yard Twist & Steep Slope Expansions
Building on the Western Shore or near Annapolis brings a completely different set of structural challenges, governed by the Anne Arundel County Department of Inspections and Permits.
-
The Major Hurdle: Anne Arundel County dictates that on waterfront lots, the "legal front yard" faces the shoreline, not the street. This completely flips standard architectural rules regarding where accessory structures like pools, detached garages, or guest houses can be placed. Additionally, the county strictly expands the 100-foot Critical Area buffer to include all land within 50 feet of the top of a steep slope. Any disturbance under 5,000 square feet requires a highly scrutinized, standard lot sheet or Buffer Management Plan.
-
The Paquin Advantage: Our award-winning designers and on-staff draftsmen are deeply well-versed in Anne Arundel's unique "front yard" rules and steep-slope triggers. We ensure your site plan is engineered perfectly from the start, saving you months of architectural rewrites and thousands of dollars in potential county zoning fines.
Hundreds of Homes Designed & Built Since 2004
With decades of experience in home construction, the Paquin family has established itself as a trusted leader in waterfront home building on the Eastern Shore. Since 2004, Paquin Design Build has been dedicated to crafting exceptional homes across Queen Anne's County, Talbot County, St. Michaels, Oxford, Anne Arundel County, and Dorchester County. Our commitment to quality and client satisfaction has made us the preferred choice for homeowners seeking to create their dream residences along the shores of Maryland.
By Your Side Every Step Of The Way.
The Traditional Headache
For most families, building a custom waterfront home becomes a grueling second full-time job. You buy the land, hire an architect, wait months for designs, and then shop those plans to multiple local builders for bids. From there, you are left to independently source land developers, interior designers, and civil engineers. It is a daunting, exhaustive process prone to communication breakdowns and budget overruns.
The Paquin Standard
At Paquin Design Build, we eliminate the friction. We are a true one-stop shop. From the moment you sign a design/build agreement until the day we hand over your keys, our in-house team handles everything. We specialize in multi-million, luxury waterfront builds and bring decades of coastal building expertise, directly to your project. Because we understand the exact nuances of local jurisdictions, we can secure critical environmental and construction approvals quickly and easily, moving your project from paper to groundbreaking smoothly.