Fred L Deschenes Construction

No one has written a word about F.L. Deschenes Construction — not on Houzz, not anywhere else that turned up. What exists instead is a portfolio, and it points in one direction: all three of the projects on its Houzz page are in Marblehead, filed under names like Carriage House, Clean Lines and Victorian Splendor. The company works out of Essex on the North Shore and describes itself as a design-build outfit — custom homes, additions, whole-house remodels, decks and porches, custom millwork — working alongside architects and designers rather than selling off a menu. Its own About text says the business is "built on the 25-year success of Fred Deschenes"; that is a claim about the owner's career, not a company founding date, and it isn't verified anywhere. BuildZoom lists a Massachusetts construction supervisor licence for Fred L Deschenes. That is the directory's listing, not a confirmation, and a construction supervisor licence is a separate thing from the home improvement contractor registration Massachusetts requires for non-structural residential work — worth asking about both. The practical gap here is customer history: there is nothing written by anyone who hired them. The portfolio and permit activity are real, but they say what the company builds, not how it was to work with. Ask for references from recent jobs in your town, and pin down the licence and registration numbers with the state before signing. One small thing to sort out on the phone: Houzz lists 781-631-7188 while the company's BuildZoom profile carries 508-470-0507. Same Essex base, same owner name, two numbers. If you have an older North Shore house and an architect already involved, this is the kind of shop that fits the brief. Just go in expecting to do the reference-checking yourself.