Designing and building a custom home is challenging enough when the only eyes scrutinizing your work are those of the homeowners. So how does a project change when millions of eyes are watching your every move, week after week, on a television show?

For architects and builders used to working with high-end clients, meeting high expectation levels should be nothing new. The main difference working on the HGTV Dream Home project is the priority placed on being a good neighbor. 

“When you start construction, excavation’s the first thing, so it’s gonna create dust. So you want to keep the dust down, especially when the neighbor that’s next to this lot has a swimming pool. So we try to minimize the dust so it doesn’t get in the swimming pool or even fly around to a neighbor’s house. That’s the first thing we do,” says Bruce Lee, 2009 HGTV Dream Home builder.

Lee keeps dust to a minimum by running sprinklers over the site, he says. Noise is another side effect of construction so Lee’s team strictly adheres to the time schedule the city has allotted. Keeping the site clean, not letting papers fly around and getting materials cleaned up help create a professional atmosphere for people who drive or walk by, Lee adds. “They don’t want to have a messy job site. They don’t want to be looking at that. And it’s also great to have that because it keeps the job safe, too,” he says.

Developer Steve Ledson likes to approach each job as if he was the neighbor next door. “We make sure that we keep the grounds clean, make sure that we don't have excessive noise, we don't play loud music. I just think about it as if I'm the guy that's living next door and somebody else is building. That's kind of simple in life. Don't do something to somebody else that you wouldn't want done to yourself,” Ledson says.

Publicity isn’t bad, either

Builder Bruce Lee is following his passion in life – building custom homes. However, being chosen to build the 2009 HGTV Dream Home adds a special element to his work. The architectural style of the home is one Lee is familiar with, he says, so it was a good fit when HGTV approached him for this job. “Yeah, it's exciting. You know, building these types of homes are really a passion for us because you can be creative,” he says.