Michele and Chris Caruana were ready to move out of their rural area so their two young sons could have playmates close by. Rather than buy an existing home, they decided to embark on the adventure of homebuilding, starting from their vision of the right place, neighborhood, and home.

As native Western New Yorkers, the couple researched custom homebuilders in the area. After looking through each website, the couple narrowed the choice down to three, they called each one and considered the options. Sarah Hubbard called them within minutes of posting an online inquiry on the builder’s website.

“Sarah was great,” Chris said. She talked to Chris about their wish list. They wanted a town with a good school district for Ben and Silas, and a family-friendly neighborhood. Sarah set up an appointment for them to meet with Steve Converse, a Forbes Capretto Homes sales consultant.

“We chose Forbes Capretto Homes based on reviews and how easy they made the process from start to finish,” said Chris, who owns a real estate and finance company. Michele is a marketing professional who works at home.

Initially, the couple was interested in a Forbes Capretto Homes’ Northwoods community in Clarence, NY. The neighborhood was sold out at the time, so Steve suggested Hidden Meadow in Lancaster, NY. The town was known for its good schools and the Caruana's liked the area. And by choosing Hidden Meadow, they could have a larger yard than they expected.

With that decision happily made, Michele and Chris browsed the floor plans. Steve showed them the various designs and the variety of elevations and options for each one.

“Steve did an excellent job listening to our needs and what we were looking for and narrowed the floor plan recommendations down for us to choose from. This made it easy for us to decide how to move forward.”

They decided on The Ryley, a 4-bedroom home with plenty of space for an active family.

Chris explained, “We chose The Ryley design because we wanted a completely open floor plan with lots of light and the ability for us to host for the holidays without having to silo people in different rooms.”

He admits they were “a little overwhelmed” with the thought of picking out all of the details. The Caruana's made all their design choices with the help of Forbes Capretto Homes’ Selections Coordinator in the Design Center. “Forbes Capretto made it easy by having the open floor plan design we were looking for. The customization and design process was made easy with the design center and the outside vendors we were able to coordinate with.”

Construction on their Hidden Meadow home began in January 2021. The family was excited to see the steady progress as their new home grew from the ground up. In August 2021, the Caruana's moved in.

“Communication was clear throughout the entire process and everyone was very accommodating. The project was completed within a timely manner and everyone was working hard to get us in the new home as soon as possible.”

Through it all, Michele and Chris Caruana were pleasantly surprised by the fun and ease of the homebuilding process, at least the way Forbes Capretto Homes handled it. The family is happily relaxed in their new home. Ben and Silas love the big yard. Their dogs, Russell and Chuck, are pretty happy there, too.

Does the Caruanas’ one- of- a- kind experience sound like what you’re looking to find? Visit Forbescapretto.com. Reach out to Sarah Hubbard and get started on a path to purchase that is as satisfying as the home that you discover at the other end.