Discover how Artisan Built Communities harmoniously blends nature with urban comfort
With over 50 years of combined experience, Artisan Built Communities (Artisan) is Atlanta’s quiet residential real estate giant, widely recognized as one of the nation’s top home builders and developers. With an impressive portfolio of over 1000 homes, the company specializes in crafting spectacular personalized homes within planned communities. In fact, Artisan has received the Home Builder’s Association Gold award for Master Planned Community of the Year, a Gold accolade for Best Use of Natural Landscape, and several of its customer-focused floorplans also brought top awards. Stephen Haines, President, retraces Artisan’s inspiring journey as well as his own.
“Founded in 2010 in Paulding County, Georgia, Artisan is a production builder that provides quality housing and develops amenitized neighborhoods strongly connected to nature. Before joining Artisan, I had spent approximately 25 years working in home building, mostly for public companies. My roles included reporting to the CEO of John Wieland Homes and acting as president of a couple of national homebuilders for five years. I subsequently started my own consultancy firm, which is how Artisan discovered me and my services. As a result, Artisan hired me as a consultant in 2019, a role that quickly turned into a full-time position as President and Managing Partner by 2020. Upon taking on the new position, the first task I assigned myself was to improve the company’s efficiencies, profitability and most importantly, customer service. I believe that customer service can always be enhanced, no matter how good it is. Once I deemed Artisan to be in a healthy position and had improved enough, I shifted my focus towards expanding our footprint. To that end, Artisan embarked on a path of acquisitions and opened more neighborhoods. Notably, we opened one new neighborhood last year, and this year alone, we are set to unveil at least four additional locations,” Stephen begins.
Award-winning homes
Artisan’s unique approach to homebuilding and community-making significantly separates it from its competitors. “The company was originally established as a semi-custom homebuilder, meaning that we would go to great lengths to accommodate our customers’ requests for specific options, modification, and customization. Over time, we have transitioned towards a production model, offering a thoughtfully defined suite of selections. Nevertheless, amidst this shift, we have not lost sight of our initial mission to deliver homes with more distinctive architectural features and curb appeal than other properties in our price point. I adopted a philosophy from the former CEO of John Wieland Homes and Neighborhoods, and it’s one I have wholeheartedly embraced. It is that when Artisan creates new neighborhoods, it strives to give them a soul. In other words, our neighborhoods are much more than a mere combination of streets and houses; they have their own unique character. Our neighborhoods achieve this uniqueness by being well-connected to nature. This approach makes our locations stand out and has been rewarded with several awards. The success we have encountered building neighborhoods close to nature in Seven Hills has played a pivotal role in shaping Artisan’s identity going forward. Indeed, we have built around 600 homes in that area thus far and have plans to construct up to 1000 more. Seven Hills offers a range of amenities such as tennis courts, pickleball facilities, and even a water park for families to enjoy. Furthermore, this community also features paved trails running alongside the creek. Artisan’s work in Seven Hills has truly reinforced our commitment to connecting our neighborhoods with nature, enhancing residents’ living environments,” Stephen explains.
Naturally inspired
He goes on to elaborate on how Artisan 
establishes a strong connection to nature within its neighborhoods. “Artisan’s first neighborhood is fortunate enough to have a large creek, similar to a river tributary. This unique feature enables residents to just step out of their front door and find themselves just a few steps away from nature trails that lead directly to the creek. They are surrounded by tall trees, birds, and the gently rolling water. For residents, it feels as though they’ve driven a few hours to go on a retreat, even though they are only a few minutes away from their home. Another good example is the townhome neighborhood we opened last year in Hapeville, next to Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson airport. Rather than merely constructing a neighborhood, we incorporated a pocket park around which all the townhomes are built. Consequently, once again, residents have the opportunity to forget that they are in town and immerse themselves in nature. Still, they retain the convenience of being near urban amenities such as pubs, restaurants, and even the very first Chick-fil-A,” Stephen describes.
The same type of design will be implemented in one of Artisan’s upcoming projects in Salacoa, where two stunning lakes have been incorporated. “I am particularly excited about this project. Salacoa is in Calhoun, Georgia, a charming town halfway between Atlanta and Chattanooga, Tennessee. Besides the beautiful lakes we are enhancing in the area, we will also provide introduce Calhoun with to its first residential waterpark as well as walking trails. Our goal is to offer residential access to these amenities at an affordable price. Although we haven’t disclosed pricing details for our homes in the area yet, we estimate some houses will sell for around $300,000, which is unheard of considering the array of amenities provided,” Stephen adds.
“Finally, opening in March of 2024, is Gainesville Township, a sprawling community built on 1122 acres, brings our award-winning floorplans, world-class amenities like tennis, swimming, pickleball and more. There’s even a park complete with baseball, soccer, and football practice fields all nestled among the natural landscape of wooded vistas and distant mountain peaks.”
By emphasizing the importance of natural environments within communities, Artisan continues to craft unparalleled neighborhoods, enabling future homeowners to enjoy the outdoors without compromising on urban comfort.