The Village at Willow Grove

Highlights from Parade of Homes 2025

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Thank you to everyone who visited Bardwell during the Parade of Homes weekend! It was a pleasure to share our latest homes and designs with you. A special thanks from Scott Bardwell, owner of Bardwell Homes—we’re grateful for your support and hope you left feeling inspired by what’s possible when thoughtful design and quality craftsmanship come together.

Move-In Ready Homes in Harveston

Located in South Baton Rouge, Lakes at Harveston offers scenic views, walking trails, a clubhouse, pool, and pickleball courts—perfect for a connected, active lifestyle.

Bardwell Homes is a featured builder in the community, offering move-in-ready and semi-custom homes starting in the low $600s. With timeless design, quality materials, and flexible floor plans, Bardwell makes it easy to build a home that fits your life.

Now available: Naples A (Lot 56), Bruges A (Lot 55), and Nice B (Lot 100).

Available Now! Lot 100
Move-In Ready! Lot 55
Move-In Ready! Lot 56

The Village at Willow Grove Townhomes

Located in the heart of Baton Rouge, The Village at Willow Grove offers upscale townhome living with walkable access to restaurants, shops, and The Dunham School. These 3-bed, 2.5-bath homes are thoughtfully designed with open floor plans, ground-floor primary suites, and high-quality finishes, starting in the $500s.

With three townhomes pending, only one move-in ready, and another under construction, availability in this sought-after neighborhood won’t last long. These homes fit perfectly for those wanting low-maintenance living without compromising style or location.

Custom Homes with Bardwell

Working with our team to build your custom home offers you a unique opportunity to create a space that truly fits your family’s lifestyle, needs, and personal style. With a custom home, you get to choose everything from the floor plan to the finishes, ensuring your home truly reflects you.

We focus on thoughtful design, expert craftsmanship, and making the process clear, inspiring, and enjoyable.

Ready to get started? Contact us to schedule a consultation and begin planning a home that’s built just for you!

Semi-Custom Process with Bardwell

Love the idea of a custom home but want a simpler process? Our semi-custom option lets you personalize key features while relying on the expertise and established process of the Bardwell team. Choose your community, select your lot and floor plan, then make finish selections that match your style. It’s a seamless way to create a home that fits your family—without starting from scratch.

Building a Custom Home in the Village at Willow Grove: Part 2

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Welcome to our second installment following an in-depth, behind the scenes look at building a custom home with Bardwell Homes in Willow Grove. In Part 1, we explored the inspiration, excitement, and challenge of the initial planning phase as prospective homeowners collaborate with architects and builders to settle on a plan that captures the ideal vision within the desired budget. Now, we take a closer look at the design details and personal choices available when you build a custom home.

1. Can you describe the inspiration behind the home’s style and layout?

My husband and I have traveled all over Europe, and we’re very drawn to timeless, old-world design. As we were looking through exterior images, we kept coming back to this modern Tudor look, which blends the classical elements of a Tudor home with contemporary design features and materials, creating a look that feels both historic and modern. This defines what we were hoping to achieve, so we’re continuing the blend of historic and current through the new house and landscaping.

2. What elements of your custom home are you most excited about?

We chose to go the custom route because there are a few things in our current house that don’t work well with how we live. First, we have an open concept living area with no place other than a bedroom to visit or watch a movie. So, we are bringing back the family den, which is going to be a comfortable place the family can be in the evenings (or if my husband and I need to get away from a house full of kids).

building a custom home - family den

Second, we currently have our sink in our island. And, with a husband who is always cooking for people, it makes it difficult to host gatherings when there’s stacks of pots and pans on the island, where people naturally want to congregate. So, we have added a scullery to our new house, which has a second sink and dishwasher, double ovens, the pantry, and plenty of countertop space to prep food and/or stash dishes. There’s a door on it too, so it can all truly be out of sight, out of mind, until we’re ready to tackle it. Many people didn’t know what this was at first, but I’ve seen a few articles saying sculleries are making a comeback, so we may start to see more of these!

3. How has Bardwell guided you through the design and materials selection process?

It can be very tempting when looking online at pictures to want a specific look, but unless we can source it locally AND can find a trade to install it, it’s going to be tricky to achieve certain looks we see on the internet. So I looked through many of Bardwell’s pictures of past jobs to see what’s been done before.

building a custom home - scullery

Even though we are building a fully custom home, I’ve learned it’s best to stick with the builder’s trade and vendor base as much as possible, which helps alleviate hiccups and unknown costs that may arise by going too far out of the sandbox.

4. What personalized features or unique details did you prioritize in your home design?

We had limited space to work with for the master bath, so the architect presented an option for barrel arches above the vanity and tub to give some architectural interest to the room, which is one of my favorite details in the house. 

Sometimes limitations can produce beautiful results.

custom home building process in baton rouge - primary bathroom progress and design

5. Do you have any reflections you’d like to share about the journey of building a custom home?

Building a custom home is a big undertaking, whether you’re in the business or not. Even though I’ve been in the industry for over 12 years, when it’s your home, you want to make sure you’re making the right decision. So, I have spent many late nights researching, scanning Pinterest, and sketching out ideas. It’s a lot of work, but it is incredibly rewarding.

Build for the Long Run with Bardwell 

From notable architectural features to uncommon practical spaces like family dens and scullery kitchens, this custom build reflects the family’s vision for a timeless yet functional space that offers a sense of retreat, space to connect, and the freedom to entertain well. Thoughtful design and attention to detail are what transform a house into a home you could have only imagined.

Custom Home Building Process in baton rouge

Parade of Homes 2025 

Every year, Bardwell Homes is proud to participate in the Home Builders Association of Greater Baton Rouge for the Parade of Homes. Come and tour Emily’s completed custom home in Willow Grove and learn about the thoughtful design and innovative home building that makes Bardwell a Baton Rouge pillar.  Whether you’re a first-time home buyer, scoping out local vendors for your custom home, or just looking for inspiration, it’s an unique event that offers variety, style, and community.

April 26-27 and May 3-4 
1:00-5:00 pm

In the meantime, stay tuned for our final installment, where we’ll share insights from the construction phase and celebrate the most exciting milestone yet: moving into the new home. 

Building a Custom Home in the Village at Willow Grove: Part 1 The Inspiration and Process

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What is it like to create a custom home?

It’s a culmination of countless decisions, intensive planning, and personal expression. While every custom home journey presents challenges, it’s an incredible process that yields exceptional results. And, it all begins with a spark of inspiration.

For Emily, building a custom home with Bardwell was no debate, as she and her family have loved living in their current Bardwell home for nearly a decade. Not to mention, she’s part of the family business. In this series, Emily will take us behind the scenes to share her insights, influences, and experiences, offering a rare look at what it takes to build a custom home in Baton Rouge from the ground up.

1. What inspired you to build a custom home?

We have lived in our current Bardwell home for almost 10 years and we absolutely love it. But we needed to be closer to my daughter’s school, we needed more space, and there were a few particular changes we wanted to make to our floorplan that may not be considered “standard,” so we knew the custom route was the right one for us.

2. How has the process been so far? Can you share a moment that felt particularly significant or rewarding?

This was a completely custom home, from choosing the lot, creating the house design, and picking every single finish.

It’s been a slow and steady marathon, but having professionals help us along the way has been invaluable.

Even though I used an outside architect, I was able to bounce ideas off of the Bardwell team to make sure I was on the right track with budget, buildability, and available materials. We are still early in construction, so I would say the most significant moment I’ve felt so far was when the architect presented “the” plan to us. As I walked through the house, room by room, in my mind, I knew this was it. And, it was such an exciting and rewarding feeling to have created our home.

3. What role did the Bardwell team play in balancing your vision with practicality?

By having Bardwell partner with me as we were developing the plans, I was able to review preliminary plans with them so they could provide insight on costs before we got to the final plan set. It’s a check and balance to have the builder involved, because vision and practicality (a.k.a. cost) often conflict when it comes to custom homes. People can get to the finish line with the architect and find out the plan they thought they could build is out of range. In our case, we used JDE Designs, which is one of the trusted architects Bardwell often works with, so it was an efficient feedback loop as we worked toward the final plan set.

4. How does this build reflect your long-term goals and vision?

We wanted to make sure we built a home with longevity in terms of style, materials, and overall value, so that has played a key role in many of our decisions. Being close to our daughter’s school, I also wanted this house to have an open-door policy to all her friends as they make their way through middle and high school. So we kept that in mind as we created different spaces to eat, visit or play.

5. This home will be in the Willow Grove neighborhood… What drew you to this location for your custom home?

First, its central location in Baton Rouge. I’ll be within 15 minutes of work, family, and school. And second, we love the amenities of the neighborhood – from the pool and nature preserve to the commercial district with pizza, coffee and cocktail places – we will have so many options at our fingertips.

6. How do you think this home will grow with you and your family over the years?

We thought about different spaces we could host people and that our daughter and her friends could enjoy as they got older. With the layout of the home, we will have opportunities to sit and visit in intimate settings, both inside and out, and also have opportunities to open everything up to host large parties. I’m so thankful to be building a home that can do this, and we’re all so excited to grow in this home together.

7. What are you most looking forward to about living in your new custom home?

Hosting friends and family!

Build for the Long Run with Bardwell

Building a custom home is a test of endurance, and it requires meticulous planning, creativity, and collaboration. For Emily, it’s been an opportunity to bring her family’s vision to life while leveraging her expertise in homebuilding and new construction with the guidance of the Bardwell team. As construction progresses on this beautiful home in the Village at Willow Grove, stay tuned for the next chapter, where we’ll explore more details of the build and discover how this vision transforms into a home built for the long run.

Why Now is the Best Time to Build Your New Home

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Are you considering building a new home?

Whether you’re planning to buy new construction or looking for a move-in ready home, moving is always a big decision, and it’s often a question of timing.

  • Is now the right time for my family?
  • Will we find a home that meets our needs in the long run?
  • Are we ready to make this large investment of money, energy, and resources?

Real estate market conditions also play a substantial role in making an informed decision that you can feel good about.

Right now, we’re experiencing a unique combination of limited housing inventory, stabilized  mortgage rates, and attractive financial incentives. So, if you’re looking to invest in new construction, this is a great time to explore the benefits of building a new home.

Navigating the Current Housing Market

The current housing market does not have enough supply to meet the demand, with a national shortfall of approximately 2 million homes. Since the pandemic, this imbalance has intensified competition and inflated prices for existing properties. And it’s increasingly difficult to find and secure a home that works for your family.

Given the environment, building a new home is a smart move.

Opting for new construction allows you to create a home that aligns precisely with your vision and needs while also avoiding the limitations of existing inventory. Partnering with a reputable and experienced home builder enables you to ensure the highest standards of quality. With access to premium materials and a proven process, Bardwell Homes will tailor your new home to your lifestyle.

Financial Incentives and Falling Mortgage Rates

Recent trends in mortgage rates highlight another compelling reason to consider new construction. After hitting a 20-year high, mortgage rates have recently declined, creating better opportunities for prospective homeowners. Lower interest rates, combined with rising home prices, create a better financial landscape for building a new home.

In addition to lower interest rates, potential buyers can take advantage of various financial incentives, such as tax benefits and lower closing costs. These factors make new construction a more affordable, accessible option, enhancing its value as an investment compared to purchasing an existing property.

Building Equity and Ensuring Long-Term Value

Your home is likely to be the most significant purchase you make in life, and making an informed choice is important for securing long-term value. If you build a new home at this time, then you benefit from favorable financing conditions and lock in a price that reflects current market trends.

As property values continue to rise, your investment is well-positioned for appreciation. 

Custom homes and semi-custom homes offer distinct advantages in this context. A custom home allows for a meticulous alignment with your lifestyle requirements, ensuring that your residence balances your functional and aesthetic preferences. Alternatively, a semi-custom home strikes a balance between personalization and convenience, providing pre-designed options that still cater to your individual tastes. 

The Advantages of New Construction

New construction offers a range of benefits that will significantly enhance your living experience. One of the key advantages is the reduced need for maintenance. When every element of the home, from the roof to the appliances, is brand new, the likelihood of unexpected repairs and maintenance issues is greatly diminished. This not only offers peace of mind but also contributes to a more predictable and manageable living environment.

In addition, new construction gives you the opportunity to design a home that precisely suits your family’s needs and desires. Whether through custom design or semi-custom modifications, you can ensure that every detail aligns with your vision, resulting in a new home that truly reflects your lifestyle and aspirations.

The Distinction of the Custom and Semi-Custom Home Experience

Choosing the right home builder is fundamental to your experience, and Bardwell Homes stands as the choice for excellence in Baton Rouge and beyond. With our proven process and meticulous attention to detail, we cultivate custom home-building experiences that marry luxury and practicality. Our approach ensures that each home is a testament to superior craftsmanship and personalized service.

For those seeking a fully customized experience, you can build a custom home with Bardwell and design a home that is uniquely yours, tailored to every specification and preference. Alternatively, our semi-custom homes offer a curated selection of designs with room for personalization, combining elegance with efficiency.

Discover The Bardwell Difference

So, if you’re considering new home construction, the current market does present you with a good opportunity. With the ongoing shortage of existing homes, favorable mortgage rates, and attractive financial incentives, now is an opportune time to invest in a new, custom-built residence. In partnership with a trusted home builder, like the team at Bardwell Homes, you ensure that your new home will not only meet but exceed your expectations in terms of quality, design, and long-term value.

Whether you opt for a custom home or a semi-custom home, the benefits of new construction are definitively substantial. Enjoy reduced maintenance, the potential for equity growth, and the ability to create a residence that aligns with your lifestyle. It’s a good time to buy new construction and build the home you’ve always envisioned. So, embrace this opportunity to secure a home in one of Bardwell’s communities and experience the beauty and intentionality of traditional neighborhood living.

If you’re looking for a new home in Baton Rouge, peruse our selection in Clark’s Ferry, Willow Grove, Harveston, or Inniswylde for beautiful communities conveniently located to city life amenities. For those interested in a move to Covington, learn more about our recent acquisition of new lots in TerraBella.

Just Announced: 16 New Lots coming to The Village at Willow Grove

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Bardwell Homes closed on 16 townhome lots in the Village at Willow Grove with groundbreaking set for early Spring. 

Townhomes start at low $500k price point and include many luxury features while offering buyers the chance to express their style through numerous selections and upgrade options.

The Village At Willow Groove

This sale has come full circle for Scott Bardwell and Richard Carmouche as Richard is a long time mentor and friend of Scott. Back in the early 2000s when Scott was exploring the construction industry, Richard provided sage advice that is still followed to this day – first, build beautiful homes; it’s worth hiring a skilled architect.  

And second, invest in estimating; know your costs.  Scott heeded this advice and continues to build homes designed by skilled architects including Erin Demma with JDE, Remson Haley, Lionel Bailey, Mike Sullivan with LRK, Mike Hogstrom with OnSite, and Bill Powell to name a few.  Scott also immediately audited a residential estimating class at LSU and continues to focus on watching costs to pass the value on to customers.  Since those early days, Richard has successfully developed many communities in Baton Rouge, most notable The Village at Willow Grove.  

The Village At Willow Groove

Over the years they have served together to improve our city through the Growth Coalition and today, Scott was able to purchase lots from Richard to continue both of their vision as Community Builders in Baton Rouge.

Thank you Richard for entrusting Bardwell Homes to build out a final piece in your prized community of Willow Grove.

Pictured are Cathy Carmouche (realtor and wife of), Richard Carmouche, Scott Bardwell and Chris Lee with Resource Bank. 

Special thanks to Jason Dupree and Cypress Title for another successful closing.

Call 225-325-0707 to learn more or visit The Village At Willow Grove – Bardwell Homes for more information

A Peek into What’s to Come in The Village at Willow Grove

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Come Home. Live Easy in Willow Grove. 

Bardwell Homes is excited to begin construction on 16 new homes in The Village at Willow Grove community located off of Perkins near Bluebonnet Blvd. and Siegen Lane. This community is the ideal choice for those seeking a fantastic blend of size, build, location and convenience. Willow Grove offers: 

• Luxury homes nestled in the heart of Baton Rouge, with easy access to restaurants, cafes, shopping, and more. 

• Thoughtful designed homes that make the most of every square foot. 

• Spacious 3-bedroom, 2.5 bathroom layouts with a master suite on the ground floor. 

• Attached one-car garages for added convenience. 

Design in The Village at Willow Grove

When it comes to the design of these homes, you can expect the same great well-thought-out homes that Bardwell Homes is known for. 

To make these special homes even more enticing, we’ve joined forces with Albert Nolan, a well-known interior designer and owner of Nolan-Kimble Interiors. His distinct and recognized point of view on the design and finishing touches adds an extra layer of charm to these homes. 

Albert Nolan is highly skilled at finding the right elements that make a house a home and ideally combines “not too modern but not too trendy.” We can’t wait to see what unfolds with this partnership.

Semi-Custom Home Building Process

At Bardwell Homes, we want you to be able to build a home that is customized to your specific needs and preferences. From choosing your lot to selecting from our curated collection of unique finishes and features, the Bardwell team is your trusted partner throughout the home-building experience.

Surrounded By Convenience

One of the best parts about the Willow Grove community is that you have everything right at your fingertips. Picture this with us! Start your day off with the sun shining through your beautiful home’s windows. Get your energy for the day with a fresh cup of coffee and a delicious pastry from Rêve. After finishing a cup of joe, sweat it out at Evolve Studio! Afterward, feel refreshed and brand new by visiting Avant Tous Beauty Bar and Spa. 

By this point, your jam-packed day has caused you to work up quite the appetite for lunch. Don’t worry! You can stop by Bistro Byronz or Pizza Byronz for a tasty meal. If you’re in the mood for some retail therapy,  you’re just a few steps away from Designs by Grace Jewelry Co. 

Now’s the time to unwind for the day and end your night with a bang. Create the perfect cheese board with Bites and Boards, or grab a sweet-tasting bowl from Everbowl. Forgot to get something today? No problem! The Mulberry Market has everything you need, from bottles of fine wine to gourmet desserts and  food. 

Living at The Village at Willow Grove means you can tackle your to-do list without leaving your own backyard! 

Looking to get out of your house and venture around Baton Rouge? Lucky for you, Willow Grove is within proximity of a variety of places that are great for spending time with family, retail therapy, and more! Here are some of our favorite landmarks near Willow Grove: 

We invite you to Come Home and Live Easy!

Discover more about the soon to be available homes in Willow Grove and fall in love with a community that is just right for you! Visit our website or give our agent, Heather, a call to get started on your journey to living in Willow Grove today! 

For more information call Heather Kirkpatrick at 225-325-0707 or email us at [email protected]