Meet the father-son duo crafting Olsen Built Homes’ beautiful homes across Connecticut
For more than three decades, Olsen Built Homes LLC has built beautiful family homes across Fairfield and New Haven counties in Connecticut. With a commitment to quality and helping customers throughout the homebuilding process, the company stands apart from its competitors and has gained a strong reputation across the region.
Olsen Built Homes was established by Peter Olsen, who has been involved in the construction business from an early age. Having gained hands-on, valuable knowledge and experience in several trades like roofing, framing, siding, and excavation, Peter began his own business shortly after graduating from Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island.
Fast-forward 30 years or so and Peter has grown to be an outstanding homebuilder with an excellent reputation, now with his son, William (Billy) Olsen, by his side as co-owner. To learn more about the business and its capabilities, we sit down with both Peter and Billy, who occupies the role of Project Manager.
“I started the company when I was about 21 years old after working for a framing company for most of my teenage years,” Peter confirms. “In our almost 40 years in business, we’ve built close to 200 houses across southern Connecticut. It was great to have my son join me full time around six years ago, following his graduation from the University of Connecticut.
“In my experience, most builders spend very little time rolling up their sleeves and getting their hands dirty, and some don’t spend any time on site at all. We’re totally different – Billy and I are constantly on our jobsites, whether it’s overseeing the subcontractors or ensuring our customers’ vision and expectations are being met.”
“Not only does this make for happy customers, but it also reduces mistakes, which saves our customers both time and money,” Billy adds. “My father was a framer by trade, and I have spent years working in excavation, so together, we know the intimate ins and outs of the construction process and we’re always on hand to help, rather than sitting behind a desk all day.”
Turning to the company’s capabilities, Billy continues: “We specialize in the new construction of single-family homes. While we build spec houses from time to time, an overwhelming majority of our projects are custom projects for a homeowner.”
Peter continues: “We recently started work on a house in Long Island Sound in Milford, Connecticut, and we’re also preparing to demolish a waterfront house for another customer. Working on the beach is always a challenge; having to manage material and workers on small lots, dealing with high and low tides during excavation, and protecting jobsites from the elements are all things we must consider when working close to or on the water.
“We completed a special project a few years ago that stands out as a particular source of pride, as we built a brand-new home on the same land as the family’s previous home. This family had lived on the site for hundreds of years across several generations, but they had to demolish their house due to zoning regulations. The family were very emotional about their family home being demolished, but we were able to help by having the new homes’ architect incorporate characteristics and features from the original farmhouse. We also tried to use materials that were reminiscent of the old farmhouse during the building process, eventually delivering a beautiful, brand-new home that paid homage to their old farmhouse.”
To deliver such aesthetically pleasing, yet functional homes, Peter has established an extensive network of partners and suppliers to support Olsen Built Homes
with its custom projects. “Having been in this industry as long as I have, I’ve been able to work with dozens of different suppliers and identify which companies share my expectations of quality, scheduling, and specifications,” Peter explains. “It’s also important to maintain different suppliers for the same type of materials or products. This was particularly useful during the supply chain disruptions we faced throughout the pandemic, as I was able to exhaust my network of reliable suppliers to get products or materials that others struggled to find.”
As we wrap up our conversation, Billy turns to the innovations and trends they are currently seeing in the Connecticut markets. “More customers are increasingly interested in solar energy and battery storage systems, due to both rising energy costs and an overall societal shift towards more sustainable living,” he shares. “Increased demand has driven down the cost of solar panel technology, meaning it is becoming far more affordable to install solar panels than ever before.
“Aside from solar panels, we’re seeing increased demand for other sustainable solutions, such as electric vehicle (EV) chargers, which we’re installing dozens of every year. We’ve even installed geothermal heat systems in the past, but unlike solar, this is still a relatively expensive system that turns off most customers. However, I imagine this technology will evolve over the next five-to-ten years with the cost of installation in mind.
“High-quality insulation and energy efficient HVAC systems are dominating conversations about sustainable homes,” Billy continues. “While this often results in a greater cost during construction, our customers get peace of mind by being energy efficient as well as enjoying savings on their energy bills.”
Offering his thoughts on the future, Peter concludes: “Looking to the future of Olsen Built Homes, I see us continuing our commitment to customers and delivering high-quality, innovative, and sustainable custom homes. Since Billy started managing projects, we’ve been able to increase our bandwidth and take on additional work. Over the next five years, we will continue to focus on growing the company and incorporating innovative technology as it evolves while ensuring that our customers enjoy a stress-free home building process.”