Gilman Guidelli & Bellow

Gilman Guidelli & Bellow builds and renovates high-end houses out of 26 Farwell Street in Newton. The firm says it began in 1990 as Gilman & Guidelli, Inc., when Rick Guidelli and Gary Gilman took on small custom carpentry and renovation work with a millwork shop in Rick's basement; Doug Bellow joined as a carpenter in 1991 and became a partner in 2004, and Bellow is described as the partner responsible for company operations. The clearest evidence of what they do sits in other people's project credits. Residential Design named the firm as builder on a Newton Tudor Modern in 2020, listing Rick Guidelli as founding principal and Doug Bellow as principal alongside their project manager and carpenter. Boston Magazine credited them on a redesigned Cambridge Victorian in 2019, New England Home credited them as builder on a pool house in 2023, and a 2019 New England Home piece described a homeowner turning to builder Rick Guidelli of the firm as a colleague whose work she particularly admired. Architects publish the same relationship: a Ruhl studio project page and a 2021 renovation of a 1920s brick Tudor in Newton both name the company as general contractor. Homeowner-facing signals are thinner but consistent. In a 2021 Reddit thread about renovating a historic estate, a commenter recommended the firm by linking its site and offering to vouch personally. The company also does pro-bono work locally — in 2021 The Heights reported the firm donating time and skills to build a shed for the Newton Food Pantry's community freedge. The caution is the customer record itself. Google shows 3.7 stars from only three ratings, and the one review body on file, from July 2025, is a single word: 'Avoid', with nothing said about what happened. Houzz publishes no reviews at all. That is a very small base for a firm this visible, so ask directly for recent client references and for the specific project manager and site supervisor who would run your job. A fit for architect-led whole-house renovations, additions and historic restorations in Boston, Newton, Cambridge and out to the North Shore; confirm licensing and insurance in writing and ask what the 2025 one-star review concerned.