Builders Guild

Mike Telich started as a finish carpenter before becoming a builder, and that background still shows in how Telich Custom Homes operates — hands-on, detail-first, unwilling to cut corners. The firm builds exclusively with top-tier architects, designers, craftsmen, and lenders, and leans into the South Louisiana vernacular: antique brick courtyards, reclaimed wood floors, reclaimed doors sourced specifically for a project. As their Instagram puts it, "our specialty is attention to detail."

Russell Alleman founded Manchac Homes in 2014 after leaving the corporate world, and has since built it into one of Baton Rouge's most decorated custom home firms — named 2026 Best Homebuilder in Baton Rouge by community vote, with a run of Parade of Homes wins and a spot on the LSU100 list of fastest-growing companies. The team builds across the greater Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and Northshore markets, blending timeless architecture with contemporary sensibility. Their philosophy, in their own words: "we don't just build custom homes; we build relationships that lead to extraordinary homes."

Jeremy Vasquez spent years managing intricate projects alongside some of Louisiana's best architects and designers before founding Element Construction in 2012. That project-management background is central to how the firm operates today — comprehensive planning, real-time project tracking, and close collaboration with clients from first consultation to final walkthrough. Based in Baton Rouge, Element specializes in custom new construction, additions, renovations, and multi-family work, built around what they call their core values: quality, integrity, and accountability.

Brandon Craft heads the homebuilding arm of Craft — a Baton Rouge company that also runs a full-service real estate brokerage and an interior design studio under one roof. Each year Craft builds four to six high-end spec homes in premium South Baton Rouge neighborhoods, every one designed by Brandon alongside Craft Interiors, plus semi-custom builds done in partnership with Onsite Design. Brandon frames the whole operation around the team rather than himself — his hope is that people see, in his words, "a bunch of high-producing people excelling in their passions."

Bernhard Normand Construction is a third-generation, family-rooted building company with a roughly 50-person in-house team, which gives them unusually tight control over quality and timelines compared to firms that lean on subcontractors. Co-owner Todd Normand built his side of the business from a flooring company that grew into remodeling and eventually full custom homebuilding, and the firm handles residential, commercial, renovation, and pool/outdoor-kitchen work across Baton Rouge and the surrounding parishes. As Normand put it in a recent profile, "we're building a brand here" — and he still goes back to homes built years ago just to see how they've held up.