H&N CUSTOM HOMESCustom Home Builders · LBI
H&N CUSTOM HOMESCustom Home Builders · LBI
H&N Custom Homes is an owner-operated custom home builder and general contractor working in Long Beach Island and across Ocean County. 2 homes here, photographed as we finished them.
Long Beach Island builds are their own discipline. Flood elevation, pilings, dune setbacks, CAFRA review and a construction window shaped by the season all decide what is possible before a single line is drawn. We build to those constraints rather than around them.
Design and construction sit under one roof, so the elevation certificate, the framing and the finish schedule are all being handled by the same accountable team. On an island where trades book out months ahead, that is what keeps a schedule real.
Photographed on completion. Every one designed and built by the same team.
Tell us about your lot, your vision and your timeline. We personally reach out to begin, with no obligation.
Request a ConsultationEighteen miles of barrier island, ocean on one side and bay on the other, and the two sides build very differently.
Almost everything structural. This is a barrier island between the Atlantic and Barnegat Bay, so flood construction is the normal case rather than the exception — new homes here are typically elevated on pilings with the living space above the flood elevation and the ground level left to parking and storage. That single requirement drives the stair and elevator layout, where the kitchen ends up, which rooms get the water view, and a meaningful share of the budget.
Yes, and people are often surprised by how much. Oceanfront parcels face wave action and are generally held to a more demanding flood construction standard than bayside parcels, which contend with still water rather than breaking waves. Dune areas carry their own rules on top. Bayside and lagoon lots bring bulkheads into the conversation, which is a separate condition to assess and a separate cost. Get the flood zone for the exact parcel before you assume anything.
It makes it harder to run, which is different from harder to build. Lots are tight, there is one road on and off, and deliveries, crane picks and material staging all have to be planned rather than improvised — particularly in season, when traffic and neighbours are both a factor. Most island towns also restrict when work can happen. Confirm the current hours and any seasonal limits with the township, because they differ between municipalities on the same island and they do change.
More than one authority, and they do not run in sequence unless somebody makes them. Locally you are dealing with zoning and the construction office, and often a land use or zoning board if anything needs a variance. At state level, building near the coast commonly brings in NJDEP — CAFRA for coastal development, freshwater wetlands where they are present, and Tidelands where the property touches or has historically touched tidal water. Inland and to the west, parts of Ocean County fall under the Pinelands Commission, which is a separate review again. Which of these apply depends on the parcel, not the town, and the honest first step on any lot is finding out which ones you have.
Approvals, not construction. Framing a house is predictable; getting to the point where you are allowed to frame it is where schedules move. Anything requiring a state permit or a board hearing runs on someone else's calendar, and hearings are monthly rather than on demand. This is the single biggest difference between a shore build and an inland one, and it is why we start the approvals conversation before the design is finished rather than after.
Flood zone and base flood elevation come from FEMA's Flood Map Service Center for that specific address — not from the street, and not from what the neighbour was allowed to do ten years ago. Zoning, setbacks, height and coverage come from the township's own code and its zoning officer. Ask us and we will pull it with you before you commit to anything; that hour is the cheapest hour in the whole project.
