Verified record
Typical Greater Boston range for this kind of work, from regional averages — not a quote from F.H. Perry Builder. Use it to sanity-check bids, then get the real number in writing.
Estimated range
$23,000 – $35,000
Typical remodeling project around $29,000
F.H. Perry Builder has been putting its name on Greater Boston's harder renovations since 1975 — historic restorations around Beacon Hill, Cambridge and the South End, plus whole-house remodels, kitchens and bathrooms out of its Hopkinton office. President Allison Iantosca, a second-generation builder, has kept the firm collecting industry recognition: a 2021 induction into the New England Design Hall of Fame, a 2025 Pinnacle Award, and a spot on Qualified Remodeler's Top 500 list in 2024. Houzz shows the firm at 4.4 stars, but the number is worth a second look: four of the five ratings behind it were written by an architect, two interior-design firms and the subcontractor who installed a dumbwaiter — professionals describing what it was like to work alongside F.H. Perry, not homeowners describing a project in their own house. The one account from an actual client, a 2025 review, is more complicated. The homeowner liked the finished kitchen and called the subcontractors' workmanship good, but the same review describes a flooring-material shortfall that forced a hard tradeoff between a project delay and a rushed fix, an underspecified radiant-heat system, a site supervisor who got pulled onto a bigger job and stretched the timeline six to eight weeks, and a backyard drain bill that came in five times the verbal estimate before it was substantially discounted — enough that the homeowner said they'd never hire the firm again. The Better Business Bureau gives the company an A+ (it isn't BBB-accredited), and its Massachusetts home improvement contractor registration is active. In a 2021 Reddit thread, a commenter suggested F.H. Perry as the pick for a historic renovation with a deeper budget. Worth asking directly, before signing anything: how staffing changes, material shortfalls and estimate overruns on a project like this get communicated and resolved. The firm's institutional record — five decades in business, a long list of design-world recognition — points to a serious outfit for big, architect-led jobs; the one written client account on file is a reason to get the process for handling mid-project surprises in writing first.
“Might try Gilmore home builders. They’re thing is kind off older American style homes. Pretty sure they do renovations. I know Woodside development has done some renos on earlier period homes. I don’t know what you budget is, but if it’s deeper, FH Perry would be good”
“Allison Iantosca, Partner, President, F.H. Perry Builder”
“2024 was the best year in our 40+ year history, and it was partly due to the continuation of the COVID bubble and partly because some clients committed to larger projects.”
“F.H. Perry Builder pursues a high level of integrity and craft while the company keeps pace with hiring and technological trends.”
“High-end custom home builder F.H. Perry Builder was installing cabinetry at a private residence in Cambridge.”
“We spoke with Allison Iantosca, President and Owner of F.H. Perry Builder, about their synergy in working with NBSS, advice for our graduates, insights from the building field, and more.”
The pros: our new kitchen looks great, in a large part due to the incredible design done by my wife, an excellent architect, and by generally good workmanship from the sub-contractors. The cons: I would never work with F.H. Perry on any future renovation. Here are a few of the highlights: - Flooring mistake - The sub-contractor who put our flooring in underestimated the amount of material required. This left us with two choices: 1) take a big delay in the project (possibly 3-4 weeks) while we waited for more material to come in, while also rescheduling all subsequent sub-contractors, or 2) tile the visible parts and whatever non-visible parts of the floor we could with the available material. Unfortunately we felt we had no choice but to go with #2 and so now have tile in the visible and some of the non-visible parts of the kitchen, allowing us to neither change out the cabinets or floor without ripping up both. - HVAC issue - Our site supervisor said it didn’t make sense to heat under the cabinets and recommended putting floor heat underneath only the visible parts of the kitchen floor. Our previous kitchen had heated floors that spanned the visible and non-visible parts of the kitchen, which worked well. But based on F.H. Perry's feedback, this seemed unnecessary. Unfortunately the loss of the additional piping does not allow the floor heat to keep up when the temperature goes below 20 degrees. - Site supervisor pulled / project overrun - Toward the end of our project, F.H. Perry pulled our site supervisor to work on a bigger project, assigning two people part-time to play this role. We had expected to have a handoff meeting to make sure we had a clean transition, but instead we had two very distracted new people who had very little knowledge of our renovation were rarely here. What was estimated to have been a 10 week project dragged on for another 6-8 weeks with no effective project supervision. - Cost overrun on drain project - As part of kitchen renovation, we had F.H. Perry take on a drain project in the backyard. We received a verbal only estimate for the work that we thought was high but moved forward. We constantly asked for more details during the project and were told only that “the digging took longer than expected.” When we received the bill it was 5X the estimate, the majority of which was for three diggers / unskilled workers to manually dig a hole. The sub-contractor’s bill was completely indecipherable, and it was clear they were charging for work that could not possibly have been done. In the end, I give F.H. Perry some credit for admitting the absurdity of the invoice and being willing to substantially discount the bill - but only after my wife provided all the details on the workers and hours worked by the contractor. Overall we had a very poor experience with F.H. Perry and would never consider or recommend them for a residential project.
"Design Associates has had the great fortune to collaborate with FH Perry Builder on several residential renovation and historic restoration projects in Boston and Cambridge.Their commitment to the finest possible craft along with sound fiscal management and project scheduling is outstanding, as is their admirable sensitivity to the importance and value of architectural preservation in New England. To the benefit of our clients, FH Perry's decades of experience respectfully renovating traditional buildings places them on common ground with us and our clients, advocating for the finest possible project worthy of future preservation. We highly endorse the team of FH Perry and look forward to future collaborations with them."
Bill Moretti and his team were great to work with. The site was ready when they said it would be and the installation of the dumbwaiter went very smoothly. FH Perry’s work is top notch and they went above and beyond for this customer. I highly recommend them.
SLC Interiors has had the pleasure of working with Allison and her team at F.H. Perry on several projects over the years. Their quality of work, attention to detail and professionalism is top notch! They manage each project with honesty and integrity, a common thread among everyone at F.H Perry!
Our office has worked with F. H. Perry on a few projects. Led by Allison Iantosca, a second generation builder, FHP has a commitment to build well imprinted on its DNA. All at FHP place an unusually high value on meticulous project management with concern for the client's best interest their motivation. Jim Foscaldo, a project manager, wears his desire to please on his sleeve. His projects run well - in the quality of construction, the push to get competitive pricing from subs, and the commitment to keeping the project on schedule.
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1 change recorded — last scanned Aug 16, 2026.
On budget, on time4.8
Porch rebuild4.3
On-time renovations4.1
Project depth3.3
Selected to build a Gary Sinise Foundation veteran's home3.3