A licensed, multi-trade custom home builder serving Punta Gorda and Burnt Store Lakes - building new construction homes to the same standard, on your lot or from our presale collections.
The area
Punta Gorda sits where the Peace River opens into Charlotte Harbor, on Florida's southwest coast. Fort Myers is about half an hour south, Sarasota about an hour north, and Punta Gorda Airport (PGD) is a few minutes from downtown. It's the county seat of Charlotte County, and it's small: a few blocks of historic downtown, a harborfront park system, and a working waterfront, rather than a resort strip.
What brings most people here is the water and the pace. The harbor is one of the better sailing and fishing grounds on this coast, with deep water and Gulf access depending on where you sit, and the canal communities were built around that. Downtown is genuinely walkable, with the harborwalk, Fishermen's Village, and restaurants you can get into without a reservation in February.
Off the water, the golf is close and plentiful. Courses at Burnt Store Marina, Twin Isles, St. Andrews South, and Deep Creek are all within a short drive, along with tennis and pickleball at several of the clubs. Inside gated communities like Burnt Store Marina, most of that is reachable by cart. Everyday errands are covered without a trip out of town: Publix and the usual grocery and hardware options are minutes away, big box retail sits just north along US-41, and the mall in Port Charlotte handles anything beyond that. It's quieter than Naples or Sarasota, and that's the point for most of the people we build for.
It's also a market where building often makes more sense than buying. Much of the existing housing stock predates current wind and elevation standards, and recent storm seasons have thinned the inventory of homes that meet them. Combined with Florida having no state income tax, that's why most of our clients arrive from out of state planning to build rather than shopping listings.
What it costs, how permitting works, and which flood zone your lot falls in: the Punta Gorda building guide.
Where we build
Burnt Store Lakes is a deed-restricted community in Punta Gorda built around a series of freshwater lakes, with direct access to Alligator Creek and Charlotte Harbor.
It's where Cape Horn, our first presale home, is located - and where our PALMA and Aria collections are ready to build on your lot. Compare all three in our new construction homes in Punta Gorda, or read more on new construction homes in Burnt Store Lakes.
The community plat
The plat runs from Burnt Store Road on the east out to the Charlotte Harbor preserve on the west, with Vincent Avenue closing the south end.
Six named freshwater lakes sit at the center of it, along with the community park. Which lake a homesite sits on shapes the view, the orientation, and how the home is best laid out.
Coastal Collection
Available now
Cape Horn is available now for presale. Reserve it today and move in once construction is complete.
Set on a premium, west-facing lot with lake access and sunset views, it's a modern coastal four-bedroom with two primary suites, a chef's kitchen, and an outdoor lanai kitchen built for Florida living. Finishes can still be personalized with our team.
The lots
Lots inside one deed-restricted community look interchangeable on a listing map. They are not. These are the three differences that change what you can build and what it costs.
Most Burnt Store Lakes homesites run a quarter acre or better, wider than the typical Southwest Florida infill lot. That extra width is what lets a three-car garage and a deep covered lanai sit on the same plan without crowding the setbacks.
The six lakes are freshwater. There is no dock, no lift, and no Gulf access from them. Confirm which lake a parcel fronts and which way it faces before you commit to a plan - the view is the reason to pay for the lot, and the orientation decides whether you get the sunset.
Several sections sit low enough that the finished floor has to come up. That is a survey-stage decision, not something to discover after the plans are drawn - it drives fill, driveway slope, and the flood insurance number for the life of the home.
Send us an address or a parcel number and we will tell you what we find on all three, whether or not you end up building with us.
Deed restrictions
Burnt Store Lakes is deed restricted through its property owners association, and the restrictions are real rather than decorative. Three of them shape the project before anything gets drawn.
Plans go to the association for architectural review before they go to Charlotte County for a building permit. That makes approval a scheduled item at the front of the project rather than a formality at the end. It is the same sequencing as South Gulf Cove over in Port Charlotte: association first, county second.
The recorded restrictions set a minimum living area and govern roof material, so a plan that would be fine on an unrestricted lot elsewhere in Charlotte County may not be permitted here. Confirm the current figures with the association before you settle on a floor plan - they are recorded, and they are enforced.
Setbacks get checked against the plat, and lots backing onto a lake carry additional expectations for what can go between the house and the water. Worth reading against your specific parcel rather than the community summary.
We handle the association submittal and the county permit as part of the build. If you already own a lot here and want to know what your restrictions actually allow, send us the address.
Nearby communities
We build throughout Punta Gorda - on lots in the waterfront and boating communities below, and on land you already own anywhere in the area.
A canal-front boating community with direct sailboat access to Charlotte Harbor, distinct from the lake-oriented Burnt Store Lakes to its north.
One of Punta Gorda's most established waterfront communities, known for canal lots with Gulf access and proximity to Fishermen's Village.
A small, boating-oriented waterfront community on Alligator Creek, with quick access out to Charlotte Harbor.
A gated community built around Southwest Florida's largest deep-water marina, with an on-site golf course and yacht club.
A large, established community on Punta Gorda's northeast side, built around a network of freshwater canals leading to the Peace River.
More ways to build
Already own a lot in Burnt Store Lakes or elsewhere in Punta Gorda? We design and build to your site - and every home we build is engineered for the flood zones, wind loads, and roofing requirements this coast demands.
A custom home tailored to the land you already own - siting, elevation, and plan worked out together before anything is drawn.
Finished-floor elevation, wind-rated openings, roof systems, and drainage are designed in from the first drawing, not added later.
Why Cloud Design Build
James J. Cloud built Cloud Design Build on a credential stack most builders can't match - and it's the same eye that inspects other builders' work, applied to every home he builds here.
Learn more
James put together a complete guide to building a home in Punta Gorda - covering cost, permitting, flood zones, hurricane codes, and what to expect if you're moving from out of state.
Questions
Start a conversation
Whether you're ready to reserve a home from one of our collections, start designing on your own lot, or just want to understand what building here involves, you'll work directly with the people who actually do the work.