Custom Homes and Renovations in Fairfield County, CT

Halston Builders is an owner-led design-build firm working across Fairfield County, from Greenwich and Southport on Long Island Sound to Ridgefield and Easton inland. Our design center is in Bridgeport, in the county itself, and the same team leads each project from the first meeting through the final walkthrough.

What we build across Fairfield County

We build custom homes, take on whole-home and gut renovations, and plan and build additions. We renovate kitchens and bathrooms, including tadelakt lime-plaster bathrooms and steam showers, finish lower levels, and build pool houses and accessory structures. Our outdoor living work covers terraces, outdoor kitchens and pool surrounds, and we take on waterfront and coastal construction.

Our built work in Fairfield County includes The Black and Pine Kitchen, The Butler's Pantry, The Marble Bath Suite, The Stone Terrace and The Family Playroom, a finished lower level. In New Canaan, The Mustard Kitchen was shown on the 2026 New Canaan CARES Home Tour.

How approvals work in Connecticut

Connecticut dissolved county government in 1960, so Fairfield County has no county building department, zoning board or health office. Land use is decided town by town. The state is divided into nine planning regions, each served by a council of governments, and the towns on this page belong to two of them: the Western Connecticut Council of Governments and the Connecticut Metropolitan Council of Governments, whose members include Easton, Fairfield and Bridgeport. These councils plan at a regional scale, while the approvals for a house come from the town or city.

Which reviews apply depends on the property and the work. Items to confirm early with the town:

• Zoning. Each town's planning and zoning office explains how its regulations apply to the lot, and variances go to a zoning board of appeals. Villages are reviewed by their municipality: Southport by the Town of Fairfield, Rowayton by the City of Norwalk.
• Building permits. The Connecticut State Building Code is the building code for every town, city and borough, and each appoints a building official to administer it.
• Inland wetlands. Each of Connecticut's 169 towns has established an inland wetlands agency by ordinance. Depending on the town, the planning and zoning commission, the conservation commission or another body acts as the agency, and many towns also regulate a review area around wetlands and watercourses. The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) explains how municipal wetlands permitting works.
• Health, septic and wells. Local public health is a mix of town health departments and regional health districts. Westport, Weston and Easton, for example, share the Aspetuck Health District. Where there is no public sewer, the Connecticut Public Health Code requires the local director of health to confirm that a code-complying septic area remains before an addition, garage, pool or accessory structure is permitted.
• Coastal site plan review. Landward of the coastal jurisdiction line, shoreline towns carry out coastal site plan review. Waterward of it, including docks and seawalls, work is regulated by DEEP's coastal permit program.
• Historic districts and demolition. Several towns have local historic districts, where a commission reviews exterior changes, and several have notice or delay rules for demolishing older buildings.

Our permits and approvals guides follow the process town by town, including Greenwich, New Canaan and Westport.

Towns we build in

Each town below has its own page on its houses, approvals and site conditions.

Along Long Island Sound

• Greenwich: a town of distinct sections, from Byram and Cos Cob to the backcountry north of the Merritt Parkway. Thousands of its buildings date from 1940 or earlier, and demolishing a pre-1940 building starts a public notice process.
• Old Greenwich and Riverside: two of Greenwich's villages, each with its own style and history, and both reviewed by the Town of Greenwich. Old Greenwich is home to Greenwich Point Park, the town beach known locally as Tod's Point.
• Stamford: a city whose conditions change by neighborhood, from wooded, hilly North Stamford, where septic systems are common, to Shippan Point on a peninsula in the Sound. Its Environmental Protection Board handles inland wetlands review and regulates development in flood hazard areas.
• Darien: a shoreline town between Stamford and Norwalk, cut by tidal estuaries such as the Five Mile River and the Noroton River. Most new houses come from redeveloping existing lots.
• Rowayton: a village on the Five Mile River within the City of Norwalk. It has its own taxing district, but zoning, building permits and wetlands review run through Norwalk's city departments.
• Westport: the town's 2017 plan found more than half of its housing at least 60 years old, with more houses built on teardown sites than on vacant land. It has seven local historic districts, and about half the town falls under its waterway protection rules.
• Fairfield: about five miles of shoreline, six tidal estuaries and three local historic districts: Greenfield Hill, Southport and Old Post Road. The Town Plan and Zoning department is also the town's floodplain administrator.
• Southport: a harbor village in the Town of Fairfield whose local historic district is mainly Greek Revival and Victorian, with many houses built for families in shipping, commerce and banking. The town's Harbor Management Commission reviews proposals affecting Southport Harbor.

Inland towns

• New Canaan: antique houses, including those in the God's Acre local historic district established in 1963, alongside more than one hundred modern houses built after World War II. On a septic property, the Health Department needs a code-complying reserve septic plan on file before a building permit for an addition.
• Wilton: the setting of Weir Farm National Historical Park, once the home and studio of the Impressionist painter J. Alden Weir, and of local historic districts such as Lambert Corners and Georgetown. The National Register's Silvermine Center Historic District extends into Wilton from New Canaan and Norwalk.
• Ridgefield: a town with a historic Main Street and two local historic districts, where the Historic District Commission's review reaches new construction, fences, walkways and driveways as well as alterations.
• Weston: five local historic districts, among them Weston Center, Lyons Plains and Kettle Creek. Septic systems and private wells are approved by the Aspetuck Health District, which Weston shares with Westport and Easton.
• Easton: most of the town lies within a public water supply watershed, and sewer service is not available anywhere in Easton, so houses rely on septic systems. The town plan calls for keeping the stone walls, major trees and winding character of its designated scenic roads.

Additions and kitchens by town

Some towns also have pages on a single type of project: home additions in Greenwich, Stamford, Darien, New Canaan, Westport and Fairfield, and kitchen renovation in Greenwich, Darien, New Canaan and Westport.

How a project runs with us

Our design-build process keeps design, approvals, budget and construction with one team, so town reviews are planned from the start. During pre-construction budgeting, we price the design as it develops, which lets you adjust the scope before construction. If you already have an architect, we build to your architect's drawings and join the existing team. The same people stay with the project from the first meeting to the final walkthrough.

Questions Fairfield County homeowners ask

Is there a county permit office in Fairfield County?

No. Connecticut dissolved county government in 1960, so zoning, building permits, wetlands review and health approvals come from the town or city, or from a health district that serves several towns. A house in Southport or Old Greenwich is reviewed by the Town of Fairfield or the Town of Greenwich, and a house in Rowayton by the City of Norwalk.

Our house is on septic. What does that change?

On a lot without public sewer, the local director of health must confirm that a code-complying septic area remains before an addition, garage, pool or accessory structure is permitted, and soil testing is needed if there is no soil data. In a town such as Easton, where sewer service is not available anywhere, that review is part of every addition, so we gather the septic records early.

Do wetlands rules apply if the wetland is not on our lot?

They can. Many Connecticut towns regulate a review area around wetlands and watercourses, and New Canaan notes that the buffer of a wetland on a neighboring property may extend onto yours. In Greenwich, the regulated area is larger in public drinking water supply watersheds. In towns such as these, wetlands staff can look at a description of the project and say whether an application is needed.

We are on the water. What changed in 2025?

Since October 1, 2025, under Public Act 25-33, Connecticut towns may no longer exempt single-family houses from coastal site plan review, and applications with work in coastal flood hazard areas are referred to DEEP. In a FEMA flood zone, a large renovation or addition can count as a substantial improvement, which can require the whole house to meet current flood standards.

Is our house in a historic district?

Check with the town. Fairfield, Westport, Ridgefield, Weston, Greenwich, New Canaan, Wilton and Stamford all have local historic districts, where a commission reviews exterior changes, while Darien's 2016 plan noted that the town had not established any. A National Register listing on its own does not prevent changes, but several towns have demolition notice or delay rules for older buildings.

Can you build from our architect's drawings?

Yes. We review the drawings with your architect before pricing and agree at the outset who is responsible for drawings, approvals, selections and site decisions. Our guide to hiring a builder when you already have drawings covers what to bring to the first meeting.

Can we live in the house during the work?

It depends on the scope and whether living areas can be safely separated from construction. We discuss phasing, a temporary kitchen, dust control and access early. Our guide to living in your house during a renovation covers the trade-offs.

How do you approach the budget?

We price the design as it develops, so scope decisions are made with cost in view. Our guides to what drives whole-home renovation cost and kitchen renovation cost in Fairfield County explain the main factors.

Start with a free consultation

We can meet at the house or at our Bridgeport design center, 46 Beatrice St, Unit 2, by appointment. Bring any drawings, surveys or septic and flood records you have. Request a free consultation.