The Curtice Group Inc

One homeowner has been back four times. In a September 2023 review they wrote that all four major renovations came in on time or under time, on budget or under budget — except where they themselves changed the plan. A December 2025 customer said much the same after finishing their largest renovation: under budget, done early, support responsive the whole way. The Curtice Group is a North Reading design-build firm that keeps design, engineering, permitting and construction under one roof instead of splitting architect from builder. Scott Curtice founded it and runs it as CEO, with his cousin Eric Curtice as office manager and lead drafter, two project managers and a project assistant. The Better Business Bureau grades it A+ and dates the business to 2004, with five employees. The jobs are big. A Houzz reviewer in April 2026 had the firm design, manage and build an addition while remodeling the kitchen, replacing the roof, and painting the inside and outside of both the original house and the new wing. A June 2023 Houzz review covers a full bathroom remodel, outdated electrical pulled out of 75 percent of the house, and a basement turned into living space with a full bathroom, bedroom and mudroom. February 2024 brought an extensive half-house remodel and attic conversion. Houzz puts a typical job here between $150,000 and $750,000. Money gets handled out in the open. An August 2023 customer described Scott running the project on a spreadsheet that showed exactly where the costs sat. A May 2023 Houzz reviewer credited cost transparency throughout a bathroom renovation finished in early April 2023, and said the original schedule was kept and then improved on. A January 2026 customer gave high marks for communication and transparency after a bath, a kitchen, new sliders and a deck. The design side is real work, not a wrapper on construction. A February 2025 customer worked with Eric on an addition design and said he added improvements they had not thought to ask for. A December 2023 reviewer had design work done for a project they ultimately did not build, and still praised the skill and the flexibility. Not every start went smoothly. In an October 2022 Google review headed "WARNING – DO NOT PAY FOR CONSULT – IT IS A SCAM!", a homeowner matched to the firm through Angi's List called the company responsive and flexible at first. On Houzz the same grievance is spelled out: a $250 consultation fee paid against a price quoted by email and in a written contract, and then, the reviewer says, Scott arriving on the day and doubling that price with add-ons cited — a bait and switch, in his words. For a Newton, Brookline, Weston or Belmont homeowner planning an addition or a gut renovation in the six figures, this is a firm built for that job, with the drawings and the build on one contract. Before paying for any consultation, get the fee, what it covers and the design price in writing, and settle what happens if scope is added on the day.