MacArthur Construction Company
Local business
Verified record
Highlights
- Old-house remodels — 2016 clients described mid-job surprises explained and re-planned
- Eco-focused building — a 2014 client cited two eco-friendly MacArthur houses
- Long tenure — BBB dates the corporation to 1984, forty-two years
- Green credentials — Houzz lists LEED AP Homes and PassiveHaus
- Dated accounts — the newest homeowner review on file is April 2016
- Review provenance — two five-star Houzz reviews come from collaborating architects
- One employee — BBB lists a single-employee corporation run by its president
- Stated coverage — Houzz names only Middlesex County as the area served
Duncan MacArthur has been building in Cambridge since 1984 — 42 years, and by BBB's count still a one-employee corporation with him as president. The work sits at the high-efficiency end of design-build: custom homes, additions and whole-house remodels, with LEED AP Homes and PassiveHaus credentials listed on the firm's Houzz profile. The praise is specific, and it is old. In 2014 a homeowner who had lived in two MacArthur-built houses wrote that the firm specializes in eco-friendly homes and that the construction team cut no corners. In April 2016 another described a remodel of an old house full of quirks, where surprises behind the opened walls forced revisions to the plan and the team walked them through each one. A third, the same month, said the house MacArthur built for them had been made with unusual care and detail. Read the seven Houzz reviews closely and the picture thins. Two of the five-star write-ups come from architects who collaborate with the firm rather than clients who hired it, and a May 2023 one signs off thanking "McCarter construction" — a different company's name. That leaves four plausible homeowner accounts, running 2014 to April 2016. BuildZoom records 25 permitted projects clustered in Cambridge, Brookline, Newton and Auburndale, Belmont and Chestnut Hill; those are job sites, not a stated coverage list, and Houzz gives the area served only as "Middlesex County". BBB grades the business A+ while listing it as not accredited, and publishes no customer reviews of its own. The licensing picture on BuildZoom is busy: a Massachusetts construction supervisor licence CS-048190 and a home improvement contractor registration #171931 that BuildZoom verified as active in 2026, printed alongside two older Massachusetts HIC numbers and Newton city records it marks cancelled or expired. Ask for the current numbers and check them against the state registry yourself. For a Passive-House-minded new build or a careful old-house renovation around Cambridge and its inner suburbs, the history is long and the early clients were emphatic. Ask for references from the last two or three years, though — the written accounts run 2014 to 2016.
Read the comments
Most recent comments
- 5.0May 13, 2023
Finishing paint trim work was outstanding by Brandon. I also appreciated the attention to detail Brandon displayed even on the high roof line. Thank you McCarter construction.
— H9HU-927775086View on Houzz ↗ - 5.0Apr 30, 2016
The entire team at MacArthur Construction were great to work and we were very pleased with our remodel. We have an old house.with lots of quirks and there were a few surprises once the walls were open that required making revisions from the original plan. They were great explaining options and helping us understand the options and costs based on our choices. They also were able to put extra people on the job to help ensure they finished on time-which they did!
— Kim BernsteinView on Houzz ↗ - 5.0Apr 21, 2016
MacArthur Construction built our house and we could not be happier with it. Since the first time we walked into the house we realized it would be a wonderful home for our family. It was clear the house was built with a lot of care and attention to details, as well as with a unique and modern style. The finishes are of the highest quality, and the choices made during constructions were smart (e.g., the heating system is very efficient and the house is environmentally friendly). We recently had our home office built from MacArthur Construction -- they did again an amazingly wonderful job. Plus, working with their team is always a pleasure
— Francesca GinoView on Houzz ↗ - 5.0Apr 13, 2016
My partner and I have worked with MacArthur Construction on several projects and have always been impressed with them. The team is friendly, industrious and efficient, and the company in general is unusually easy to work with. To us, they represent the perfect mix of budget consciousness, green thinking, and style.
— Farley UrmstonView on Houzz ↗ - 5.0Apr 7, 2016
Duncan MacArthur is a master in his craft. His experience is impressive and the quality of the work at MacArthur Construction is outstanding. As an architect, I have had the pleasure of working on about a dozen new and renovated houses with MacCOCO and always look forward to working with them again. Through the years, I have seen Duncan build a legacy of high quality buildings, starting from a tradition of beautiful craftsmanship to more recently, incorporating energy efficiency of passive house construction. Duncan also has great design sense and knowledge of the real estate market in and around the Boston area.
— Silvana Sawaya ArchitectView on Houzz ↗
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Update history
Added 7 new comments, established rating 3.8
- behind the score: Dated record — newest homeowner review is April 2016
What does a remodeling project cost in Greater Boston?
Typical Greater Boston range for this kind of work, from regional averages — not a quote from MacArthur Construction Company. 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