CornerStone Homes

We purchased property in a beautiful golf course community in 2020 and were ready to build our custom dream home. We searched and did our due diligence and ended up choosing CornerStone Homes of Jacksonville. We have now been living in our new home for 4 months and really appreciate the architectural beauty and fine construction that went into it. From CornerStone Homes owner, Mark Downing, who is accessible, diligent and a pleasure to deal with (he has been building homes in the area for over 30 years), to Candy Harvison who is their New Home Consultant/Designer and Mark's right hand. Candy brings years of architectural and interior design experience to the table and we valued and depended upon her fine design ideas and discerning eye for detail and flow/continuity. Our construction team was incredibly skilled, headed up by Chad Renfro our construction manager, who worked with us to get everything perfectly and well done. Our experience was a very smooth one with only minor glitches in spite of the global pandemic and the issues that it caused with the supply chain. CornerStone construction work and their work ethics is above reproach. They build a solid, fine home with everything done correctly, professionally and well. We hired an outside inspector during the build and upon completion to ensure that we were getting the quality expected at this price point. Our inspector could not find anything of significance amiss and wound up raving (geeky) about what a fine construction job this was and look at this and look at that in comparison to what other builders did. We feel fortunate to have had the pleasure of building our home with CornerStone and their entire team and recommend them to anyone looking to build a superior home product.

We are on our second build with Cornerstone. Our last build was 4 years ago. Candy Harvison, Mark Downing, and Darold have been a pleasure to work with both times. We had a few relatively minor issues when we moved into our first home. Both times we contacted them someone was over within minutes and happy to help. We’ve also been through 2 hurricanes over the last 2 years. Both times we watched our house outperform others in the neighborhood without a stitch of damage. Last year we decided to build again for location reasons. We looked at resale first, then other builders when we couldn’t find anything that compared to our Cornerstone house. The only reason we didn’t initially turn to Cornerstone is because it seemed crazy to build the same house so shortly after the first. After talking with several other “preferred” builders in the neighborhood Cornerstone still stood out miles above the rest. We started the building process again with them several months ago and couldn’t be happier. Our only negative, and it was a minor one, the first time around was that the design center rep was not as knowledgeable as I would have liked. Cornerstone now uses an award winning designer, one whose work I’ve admired for awhile, and the process has been so much better, even fun! I have also so appreciated Candy and Mark’s candidness about things that would be better to complete after the fact to save on cost. While never trying to talk me out of things they are also very upfront about function over design when I’ve gotten a bit overzealous with ideas. In this way they’ve also saved us money as well. I truly cannot say enough positive things about this company and their team.

Cornerstone built us a beautiful home but has refused to deal with remaining issues, including a lot that floods and also floods neighbors yard (they installed a drain pipe that floated to surface and does nothing) and a bathtub that was ruined by a plumber and unpainted areas on walls, drywall tape falling off walls, overcharged us for square footage on pavers, etc. We have tried for two years to get them to address the issues. in February they suggested we use the builders bond backup warranty but by then the workmanship portion had expired. they also suggested we sue them if we want the remaining items fixed. these are real issues, drainage, a ruined bathtub and money owed.

Cornerstone Homes built our dream custom home. They were a pleasure to work with. Mark, Candy, Darold and Caleb were always very cooperative and able to deliver a beautiful home on time. They were far more transparent than other custom home builders that we had interviewed. We were able to go forward with a full understanding of cost expectations. They were very thorough every step of the process. Excellent quality materials and subcontractors. Cornerstone Homes are easy to work with, honest and very responsive. Our home is wonderful and we could not be happier with the end result. Thank you to everyone at Cornerstone Homes.

My wife and I bought a home from Cornerstone in 2017. It is a beautiful house and we are very happy with it. Cornerstone were a pleasure to work with throughout the process. The work was excellent quality and everything was completed in the timeframes arranged. After completion there were of course a few things that needed to be followed up on but again Mark, Candy, Darold and Kyle were always very helpful and corrected any problems we had. Would recommend them without hesitation!

Candy Harvison and Mark Downing are Great to work with! They take the time to listen to your customers and have the knowledge, work quality, etc to give them what they want!

Cornerstone did a very nice job building my home. They finished on time and budget. At the very start, they listen to what you want and make recommendations that assist in the decision making process. During construction, they kept a close eye on subcontractor work and had no hesitation on making things right. They answered questions promptly.

My house is nearly 5 years old. I have had no issues with the house. My neighbors who have used other builders have had a litany of problems - cracked floor tiles (not the occasional spider cracks in grout), crooked windows, poor stucco application requiring repair and repainting (on a house less than 3 years old), grudging repair of punch list items, etc. My house weathered Hurricane Irma without a missing roof shingle, without a leak from 18 hours of driving rain. Construction time was about 7-8 months. I see other builders completing homes in three months. I remember a conversation with the construction supervisor about "minimum" acceptable curing times and longer times that adds to quality. Time may be money but time is also quality. And this is the understanding I had with Cornerstone from the beginning - a quality product will cost more. And so far it has paid off. During the design phase I made a number of modifications to an existing design. Some were easy to incorporate. Some would have been difficult. I say "would have" because Cornerstone convinced me that it wouldn't be a good use of my construction budget. They could have easily done what I wanted. I really appreciated their candor. And I know of one instance where they signed up to a modification that had to have exceeded their budget yet they didn't come back for more budget. Construction included five phase inspections with myself and Cornerstone. We didn't proceed without passing the inspection. I'm not a construction expert but because of that I have a good understanding of the house, where the quality is, and what the challenges were. I believe there are no hidden issues. If and when I sell the house I will require the real estate agent to list as a feature that it is a Cornerstone home and not a lower quality "xyz" or "abc" home.

Cornerstone built 2 spec homes for me for resale - they did what they said they would do, when they said they would....and there were no (unexpected) surprises. Quality was top notch. I would certainly hire them again! Highly recommended!

I was their on site sales representative for 5 years. They are the most professional homebuilder I have ever worked with. Each client is treated like family . Their entire team is amazing. They are one big happy family. Their homes are beautiful and the quality is wonderful. If their is a problem, the correct it.

My husband and I built with Cornerstone 5 years ago since moving from NY. We had sat down with 5 builders and chose Cornerstone, his team of people working with him are awesome. Any time I had a question about anything I could email or pick up the phone and got an answer from Candy or Mark himself. I am very happy with my home and the relationship we developed with them with no complaints. If you are thinking of building and want an honest and reasonable home Cornerstone is the builder for you he has so many beautiful layouts to chose from

I had a great experience building with Cornerstone Homes. I especially appreciated Candy Harvison's professionalism, responsiveness, and attention to detail during all interactions with her. Mark, Darold, and Caleb did an excellent job overseeing the various contractors, and staying on top of any concerns that came up. I highly recommend building with Cornerstone Homes.