Verified record
Hawthorn Builders is a Needham luxury home builder that says it has constructed or renovated more than 250 properties in Greater Boston since 2005, when neighbors Mathew Roth and Ryan McDonnell started the company on Hawthorn Avenue — their first project, per the company's own account, was tearing down and rebuilding a Needham house in January 2007. BuildZoom now places the firm in the top 3% of Massachusetts contractors by its scoring, and both a Massachusetts Construction Supervisor license and a Home Improvement Contractor registration were verified active as of mid-2026. The written record backs that up with real specifics, not just praise. In a November 2025 Google review, a family described a complete basement renovation — turning unfinished space into a rec room with a new bathroom — naming three team members by role and calling the process free of surprises and well managed to budget. A November 2024 review described a barn restoration and master bathroom renovation that stayed on budget with constant communication and met deadlines, and an August 2023 review detailed a Wellesley Zero Net Energy new-construction project that kept moving through COVID-era disruptions. A June 2023 reviewer, who said they had run five similar renovations with other contractors over the prior decade, wrote that Hawthorn's project management made procurement and construction actually enjoyable by comparison. Older Houzz reviews from 2012 describe a master bathroom renovation praised in detail for its carpentry and plumbing work, down to daily cleanup and a curbless shower done with care. The firm has picked up recognition alongside the reviews: two Houzz Awards, IFDA wins for best bath and kitchen design in 2016, NKBA wins for best sustainable and best small kitchen, and Best of Boston Home honors in 2019 and 2022. BBB has accredited it with an A+ grade since May 2018. Hawthorn reads like the call for a large, high-end custom build or whole-home renovation — Houzz lists a typical job cost of $250,000 to $5 million — rather than a small repair; the consistent theme across a decade-plus of reviews is steady communication and staying on budget and schedule through complex, multi-trade projects.
Typical Greater Boston range for this kind of work, from regional averages — not a quote from Hawthorn Builders. 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
Hawthorn helped us with a complete basement renovation where they took our unfinished space and transformed it into a hangout space and rec room, including the addition of a bathroom, for our family. From our initial meeting with Matt, the financial updates with Ryan and our day to day interactions with Adam, the whole team was wonderful to work with. They were professional, skilled, punctual and transparent throughout the process. There were little to no surprises and they did a great job helping to manage to our budget. We absolutely love our new space, and appreciated the creative solutions and design that the team offered. We had an incredibly positive experience throughout the 5 month project and would highly recommend Hawthorn to anyone looking for an excellent contractor/builder.
Hawthorn is amazing to work with. We worked with them to build a new custom home, have used their home management services, and also are working with them on a renovation to a vacation home. The quality and durability of their work is unmatched and they are extremely responsive. We appreciate that everyone at Hawthorn is great to work with as well, they truly partner with the homeowner on all work and everything is very transparent. Cannot recommend highly enough.
We recently completed a master bath remodel, along with an extensive garage and barn project. From beginning to end everyone at Hawthorn was great to work with. After having a not so great experience with another contractor it was a breath of fresh air to work with Hawthorn. Highly recommend them!
We just completed a barn restoration and master bathroom renovation with Hawthorn Builders. From start to finish, we thoroughly enjoyed working with each member of the Hawthorn team. The project remained on budget, there was constant communication throughout, and deadlines were met. The work is truly top notch. We couldn't be happier with the final product and would absolutely recommend Hawthorn to any potential clients. We look forward to working with them again in the future.
We discovered Hawthorn as we were searching for a builder for our renovation. They had been working on another project in our town so we decided to reach out. From the first meeting onward, the level of service and honesty were outstanding. Every member of their team, whether the owners or others on the team, were all fantastic to work with. They helped us find a best-fit architect for our needs, matched us to designers, and exhibited a ton of patience as we worked through a multitude of decisions, both big and small. Our project manager, Sean, was amazing. Not only was he a strong project coordinator, he was a trusted advisor. His background in carpentry and his experience with builds showed throughout. All of the vendors they brought in were highly coordinated and excellent craftsmen. We were thrilled with the result; they transformed our old coastal colonial into a beautifully crafted traditional home, with attention to detail on historically accurate high-quality elements. We're super happy with our decision to work with Hawthorn and highly recommend them to others. They're small enough to provide the highly personalized service we were looking for, and big enough to tackle high-end large scale programs.
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1 change recorded — last scanned Aug 2, 2026.
Owner named across years of reviews5.0
Bathroom renovations4.8
Detailed craftsmanship4.7
Full remodels4.6
Project communication3.8
Big-budget renovations4.4