Serving San Marcos, Hays County, TX
Custom Home Builder in San Marcos
San Marcos is where the Hill Country meets the I-35 corridor. Woolsey builds custom homes here that reflect the land and the way you want to live on it.
San Marcos's Premier Design-Build Firm
San Marcos has grown from a college town into one of the most active communities in Central Texas. Directly between Austin and San Antonio on I-35, this Hays County city offers economic opportunity, the San Marcos River, and a culture of its own. For homeowners building a custom home here, the choice of builder has never mattered more.
Woolsey has designed and built custom homes and commercial projects across the Texas Hill Country since 2006, with a team that brings 25+ years of experience to the work. Our headquarters is in New Braunfels, a short drive down the interstate. We understand the building conditions in Hays County, from the state's aquifer rules to a terrain that runs from blackland prairie east of I-35 to limestone hills to the west.
Our design-build model fits the San Marcos market, where clients range from professionals building their first custom home to families creating a multi-generational place on acreage west of town. With design and construction under one roof, the homes we deliver are both architecturally distinctive and practically buildable, a combination that separate architect-and-builder arrangements struggle to reach.
Why Build in San Marcos?
Texas State University, the outlets, and an expanding manufacturing and technology base have given San Marcos a diverse economy that supports demand across the housing market. For custom homes, the most compelling ground lies west of I-35, where the terrain rises into the Balcones Escarpment.
Communities like Blanco Vista and Kissing Tree, and the acreage along Ranch Road 12 and the Devil's Backbone, offer building sites with real elevation, mature live oaks, and views that rival anything in the Hill Country.
Hays County continues to grow as San Antonio expands north and Austin expands south. A custom home built to a high standard on the right site here is built for the decades that growth will bring.
Our Services in San Marcos
Woolsey offers a full range of custom home services in San Marcos. Our custom home building program holds one standard of quality and craftsmanship across every project, scaled to the home and the client.
Our design-build service is the center of the practice. A dedicated design team and project manager are assigned from day one. The design team creates plans that respond to the site, your life, and your budget; the project manager oversees construction and is your single point of contact. That structure removes the finger-pointing and budget disputes that follow when architects and builders work apart.
For clients building on Hill Country acreage west of San Marcos, we handle road and driveway construction, well coordination, sewage system design, and clearing. Building on rural land is a different skill from building in a subdivision, and our team has done it.
We also provide commercial construction in San Marcos, from build-to-suit office to retail and mixed-use, with the same project management discipline that defines our residential work.
Building in San Marcos: What to Know First
San Marcos is a city with a full building department, and the county around it, especially west of I-35, is where most custom homes are built. The two run on different rules.
The county permits development, not buildings. Hays County requires a development permit for any development in the unincorporated county, and there is no zoning there. The permit covers on-site sewage, floodplain, and driveway access, and the sewage system has to be designed for the house and approved before construction. Inside a city's limits, that city reviews and permits the house under its own codes.
Water is the first question on a western Hays County site. The western part of the county sits over the Trinity Aquifer, managed by the Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District. State law lets a district exempt a household well that cannot pump more than 25,000 gallons a day on a tract of ten acres or more, and the district sets its own rules inside that. As of this writing the district is in emergency drought stage and is not accepting new permits for non-exempt wells. A lot with no public water and no qualifying well is not a buildable lot until that is solved, so we settle it before the contract on the land. Hays is also one of the counties where the state regulates construction over the Edwards Aquifer, and the same plan-approval question applies on the eastern side of the county.
The interstate is a geologic line. East of I-35 the ground is blackland prairie, deep clay that moves with the seasons and asks for a foundation designed for it. West of I-35 the Balcones Escarpment begins and the ground turns to limestone, shallow rock that has to be cut for a foundation, a pool, or a utility trench. The two sides of town are two different construction problems, and the site work on each is priced accordingly.
Our Design-Build Process
Our process for building custom homes in San Marcos follows the same four-phase approach we use across the Hill Country, fitted to Hays County.
Phase 1: Discovery and Due Diligence. We start by understanding your vision and evaluating the site. In San Marcos that includes the aquifer question, the county's development permit or the city's building permit, and utility availability. West of I-35 we also evaluate road access, the well, and the sewage system. That work up front prevents the expensive surprises that show up later on a site nobody studied.
Phase 2: Custom Design and Pricing. Our design team creates plans for the site and your life, with homes that step with the land, catch the prevailing breeze, and frame the view. You see the home in three dimensions, and the scope and budget are settled before construction begins.
Phase 3: Permitted Construction. We manage the permits and inspections, coordinate utilities, and oversee daily construction, with regular updates on progress, budget, and schedule.
Phase 4: Quality Delivery. A detailed final inspection, a walk-through of every room with you, and a house that meets our standard before the keys change hands. We stand behind the work after you move in.
Popular San Marcos Neighborhoods & Areas
Building a Custom Home in San Marcos: Common Questions
What is the average cost to build a custom home in Texas?
There is no honest single number, and a builder who gives one on a website is guessing. What we can tell you is what moves the cost on a San Marcos site, in order of how often it surprises people. The land itself comes first, and then what the land needs before a foundation can be poured: in unincorporated Hays County that means a development permit, a sewage system designed for the house, and on the western side a well, where the groundwater district's drought rules decide whether a new well is even available; on the limestone it means rock excavation and drainage across a slope. Then the house: its size, how much of it is glass and steel versus framed wall, the finish level inside, and how much outdoor living it carries. Two homes of the same square footage can be far apart in price on those choices alone. What Woolsey does about it is build the budget before the design is finished, so the number you commit to is one that already accounts for the site and the finishes you actually chose, rather than one that grows after the contract.
What permits do I need to build a house in Hays County?
Outside a city's limits, one permit with several parts. Hays County requires a development permit for any development in the unincorporated county, and there is no zoning there. Under that permit the county reviews the on-site sewage system, which has to be designed for the specific house and approved before construction; floodplain, if any part of the site is in a mapped flood hazard area; and driveway access to a county road. Inside the San Marcos city limits, the city permits the house under its adopted building codes with plan review and inspections. On the west side of the county, the groundwater district's rules on wells run alongside the county's permit. Woolsey confirms the jurisdiction on the first site visit, and the development permit is carried through as part of the project rather than left to the owner.
Can I drill a well for a home west of San Marcos?
It depends on the tract and on the district's drought stage. The land west of I-35 sits over the Trinity Aquifer, managed by the Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District. State law lets a district exempt a household well that cannot pump more than 25,000 gallons a day on a tract of ten acres or more, and the district sets its own rules inside that. As of this writing the district is in emergency drought stage and is not accepting new permits for non-exempt wells, which affects smaller tracts and any well beyond household use. A lot on a water utility's system does not face the question. A lot with no utility and no qualifying well is not buildable until that is solved, so Woolsey settles it before the land contract, not after.
Do I need Edwards Aquifer approval to build a home in San Marcos?
Possibly. Hays County is one of the counties where the state regulates construction over the Edwards Aquifer recharge and contributing zones, and San Marcos sits on that ground; the springs that feed the San Marcos River are the aquifer coming to the surface. Whether one house needs a plan approved before construction depends on where the lot sits and how it was platted; a lot in a subdivision that already went through the state's process is in a different position from a tract of acreage that never has. Woolsey answers this during feasibility, using the state's maps and the subdivision's record, because it can change where a septic field and a driveway are allowed to go.
Ready to Build in San Marcos?
San Marcos is one of the most active places to build in Texas right now. Whether you want a Hill Country home on acreage or a modern house in a planned community, Woolsey has the experience to build it.