What We Do
Black Swan Build is a residential developer, custom home builder and landscape firm on Long Island, New York. The work falls into four parts — the land, the residence, the interior and the ground. Most clients come for all four; some come for one.
Where does Black Swan Build work?
On Long Island, New York, and on sites within reach of it. Commissions have run across Nassau and Suffolk counties, from the North Shore to the South Shore and east toward the ocean. We prefer to walk a site before we say anything about it, which is why the map stays tight: land we can reach in an hour is land we can supervise properly every day of the build.
What does a residential development commission include?
It begins with the land and ends with the ground. We assess a property and its constraints, work with the engineer and the architect on what the site will allow, then build the residence — foundations, masonry, enclosure, millwork, joinery, stone and the full interior — and finally the landscape around it. Because one firm is answerable for all of it, decisions about grade, water, light and access are made before the house is drawn rather than corrected afterwards.
Do you build houses you did not design?
Yes. Some clients arrive with an architect and drawings already in hand, and want a builder who can hold a detail and price it honestly. We build from another architect's drawings when the architecture is serious and the drawings are complete, and we will say so plainly when they are not.
Can landscape work be commissioned on its own?
Yes. Landscape is available as a separate commission, with or without a house from us. An existing residence whose grounds have gone quiet, a garden that never worked, an acre left unshaped: grade, drainage, walls, planting, irrigation and light are drawn and delivered as one answer. Our own crews do that work, and we return season after season to keep the garden shaping toward the drawing.
How many residences do you take on?
A handful. The firm builds roughly four residences a decade, and every one is supervised by a principal. That number is deliberate — it is the limit at which the same hands can stay on the same site, and the reason the work still looks like work rather than inventory.
How does cost work?
There is no catalogue, no specification sheet and no menu of finishes. A budget is built from the drawings and the site, line by line, and gone through with the client before anything is signed. We would rather lose a commission at that table than discover the difference halfway up a wall.
How do I begin?
With a private briefing. Write to us with the land, the town, or the intention, or telephone +1 516 724 6779, and a principal will reply within two working days. Nothing is shared, and nothing is built until we have walked the ground together.