What to Know Before Building in Belle Meade, Forest Hills, or Green Hills
Three of Nashville's most established addresses sit within a few minutes of each other — and each asks something different of a custom build. Here's what to know before you commit to a lot in Belle Meade, Forest Hills, or Green Hills.
Belle Meade: the original estate address
Belle Meade is Nashville's original estate address — mature hardwoods, deep setbacks, and streets like Chickering, Page, and Jackson that have carried old money and new money in equal measure for a century. It's close to Belle Meade Country Club and Cheekwood, but the streets themselves are quiet enough that you'd never know it.
What to know before building here:
Lots are large and private — often with a house on them that has outlived its floor plan. A Belle Meade build frequently starts with a dated house being replaced rather than renovated. That's a normal start for us; a site walk and feasibility review come before anything is designed.
The scope is almost entirely estate-scale. Buyers move here for the pedigree and the privacy, then build something that finally matches both — homes built to match the neighborhood's pedigree without losing the warmth of a family home.
Deep setbacks shape the plan. The neighborhood's character comes partly from how far homes sit from the street — placement and massing matter here as much as square footage.
More on the Belle Meade page, including current typical budget ranges.
Forest Hills: wooded acreage, minutes from everything
Forest Hills sits between Belle Meade and Green Hills — a small, mostly residential city known for wooded acreage, winding roads, and a level of privacy that's hard to find this close to town. Many lots back up to Percy Warner Park or run along Tyne Boulevard. There's no through-traffic and no retail corridor.
What to know before building here:
It's a quiet build environment, and the homes tend to disappear into the tree line rather than announce themselves from the street. Designing to the trees — not through them — is the point.
Lots are often held by a family for years before they build. Client-owned land is common here; the site walk confirms what the acreage and setbacks actually allow.
The wooded acreage can carry more house than the neighborhood's quiet reputation suggests — when the site calls for it, a larger build fits without crowding the land.
More on the Forest Hills page.
Green Hills: Nashville's most convenient rebuild
Green Hills is Nashville's most convenient upscale address — the Mall at Green Hills, Whole Foods, Belmont, and Vanderbilt are all a short drive. Streets like Tyne and Hobbs carry a mix of decades-old homes and recent custom builds, often side by side.
What to know before building here:
Most builds here are teardown-and-rebuilds. The neighborhood's older ranch and Cape Cod lots are prime candidates — most buyers are trading a smaller, dated house for a new one on the same footprint. Building on your own lot is the most common path in Green Hills, and we handle the demolition, permitting, and site work as part of the build.
It's less about acreage and more about the street. Homes here are sized to fit the neighborhood's smaller, in-demand lots rather than stretch past them — earning your place on a street where everyone already knows the neighbors.
A rebuild on an existing footprint keeps scope more predictable than a raw-land build — one reason Green Hills is a strong first custom project.
More on the Green Hills page.
What all three share
The lot decides more than the brochure does.
Setbacks, grade, trees, and what's already standing on the land shape the budget and the plan. Every May project in these neighborhoods starts the same way: a site walk and a feasibility review before anything is designed.
Schools are confirmed by address, not by neighborhood. School zoning changes street by street, even within each of these areas, so we don't publish specific assignments. It's one of the first things we confirm during a lot review.
Owner lots and acquired lots both work. Bring us land you own — or a dated house you're ready to replace — or ask us about lots we've identified ourselves.
If you're weighing these neighborhoods, walk the lot with us before you decide. Start a conversation, or read how a May build runs on our process page.