James Engle Custom Homes

Jim Engle founded James Engle Custom Homes in 2000, and they have become the builder I think of first for teardown-and-rebuild projects in Prairie Village, Fairway, Leawood, and Mission. They have roughly 20 active addresses in Prairie Village alone, starting from about $700K, and they took first place for Distinctive Plan and Design at the 2026 Spring Parade with a $1.395 million home in Fairway. They also work across the state line in Kansas City, Missouri, in Beacon Hill, Waldo, and West Plaza, from around $400K, which makes them one of the few builders equally at home in an older neighborhood on either side.

What sets them apart is how much they put in writing. There are about 27 named plans with published base prices from $315K to $765K, plus your lot. An in-house architect personalizes the plan to your site, which on an infill lot in Prairie Village is the whole game. During the build you get six on-site meetings with the builder, an online portal, and a 600-item quality checklist, plus a $550 allowance for your own independent inspection. After closing there is a one-year warranty with 24-hour emergency service and walk-throughs at 60 days and 11 months.

James Engle fits the buyer who wants a new house on an established street with mature trees, or who already owns a lot and wants a builder used to working with client-owned land. Beyond the infill work they build at Century Farms from $600K, The Sanctuary, and Chapel Hill in Overland Park, Cedar Creek in Olathe, and the Enclave at Manchester Park in Lenexa. All in, their homes land roughly between $400K and $1.4 million depending on where the lot is. If you are eyeing a 1950s ranch in Prairie Village and wondering what a rebuild would cost, this is the conversation to have.