In his nearly 40 years in the homebuilding business, Michael Saba has amassed an almost encyclopedic knowledge of the craft. He can talk you through the finer points of every aspect of construction, from lighting and wiring to plumbing and materials. Like a fount of wisdom, this knowledge flows from him, underscoring exactly what sets him and his business, Artisan Custom Homes – Hilton Head, apart.
But there is one word in the entire lexicon that he simply hasn’t quite mastered yet.
“One of the reasons our clients love us is that we don’t say no,” he said. Sitting in his lofty office, surrounded by stacks of floorplans and blueprints, framed photos of his many amazing homes, and the shelves full of awards those homes have won, you can see the power of not saying no.
Instead, by saying yes, the team at Artisan Custom Homes – Hilton Head have created free-standing works of art. Whether a stunning neo-colonial golf home or a towering modernist beach getaway, each home reinterprets luxury in its own way.
“The homes that we build are all completely custom,” Saba said. “They may start with an existing plan that we’ve built and then get modified to the needs of that individual client. Others start with a blank sheet of paper. And yet others will have worked with an architect and developed a set of plans, and then they’ll come to us, and we’ll build their plan.”
The photos surrounding this story will do most of the talking there. Each home, as a truly customized build, is an elegant representation of the owner’s dream home. And while some owners will come to Artisan with plans, it is when the entire team gets involved that the real magic happens.
Changing lives, four at a time
Having spent 35 years of his career in large, massive homebuilding firms, rising to a division president for one of the nation’s largest, Michael Saba has seen how quality and quantity can sometimes go hand in hand. While he never sacrificed quality while living the corporate life, he saw in custom homebuilding a chance to do more.
“I’m only building four homes at a time. Never more than that,” he said. “And that’s important to me so that my project manager, Joel Lewis, can really keep a close eye on everything, and I can get in every house every day. We can give the client the focus and the attention they like through the process.”
Indeed, that tight focus allows for every step to be carefully monitored by the entire team. Saba’s wife of 32 years and co-founder, Jill Saba gets the ball rolling using her expertise in real estate, helping select the perfect lot if it hasn’t already been found. “She is an integral part of the company,” said Michael, adding that beyond her real estate role, Jill also runs, sales, marketing, accounting and the company’s in-house software. “She basically keeps the wheels turning.”
That approach allows for deeper dedication to every aspect of the job. “We put a lot of thought into everything, starting with when we first clear the lot,” Saba said. Painstaking care is taken to preserve specimen trees on property, using their natural geometry to complement the design of the home. And that’s before the first hammer is swung. From there, designer Michelle Bichy steps in to help bring the owner’s vision to life.
“She’s involved as we’re drawing up the plans, looking at the flow of the house and anticipating certain design elements that we can incorporate into the structure of the home,” Saba said. “In many cases, she’ll go beyond what it takes to build the finished home, continuing into window treatments, rugs and art.”
And while they may not do any of the actual work, two key players on the Artisan Custom Homes – Hilton Head team should be recognizable for clients: the Sabas’ two English cream golden retrievers, Jockamo and Pebbles. After all, working with Artisan is about much more than just building a home.
“It’s more gratifying to get to know each client personally and deeply,” Saba said. “And pretty much everybody we build for ends up becoming a friend.”
Following the dream
While Artisan Custom Homes – Hilton Head was founded just a few years ago—just in time for the pandemic to begin a land rush of new residents to the area—its roots go back to a promise Michael Saba made to himself shortly after graduating from Texas’ Southern Methodist University. He had his degree, he had the love of his life, and he had his whole future ahead of him.
“I took a job with a national home builder but with a dream to one day build custom homes by the beach,” he said. That job led him to a tremendous career, moving up from project manager to land development director to sales manager and eventually VP of construction before it brought him to Hilton Head Island in 2007. And it was here that he saw a path to fulfilling that dream. “Having built a very successful career, I said, ‘Wait a minute, I’m not getting younger. And I’m already at the beach.’”
He achieved that dream in 2018, having already served a term as president of the Hilton Head Island Homebuilders Association and receiving their Keystone Award in 2017. While he was serving his second term, Artisan hit the ground running, earning Builder of the Year accolades in 2018, being named Southern Living’s exclusive custom builder partner for the area, and pulling in the first of many Lighthouse Awards.
“In the short period that we’ve been out, we’ve been able to really develop a brand quickly,” Saba said.
And that brand, ultimately, is quality. It’s a dogged determination to create nothing less than the most beautiful custom homes in the Lowcountry, fueled by decades of experience and informed by one simple rule: Never say no.
Learn more at artisanhomebuilder.com/communities/hilton-head-island.
