I've driven past Scott Gilbert's office on Cliff Avenue maybe a hundred times without thinking much about it — tucked into one of those low-slung professional buildings between 57th and 61st that could house anything from accountants to chiropractors. But inside, they're building the kind of custom homes that reshape entire blocks in Whittier and McKennan Park, the ones where you slow down just to look at the roofline.
Scott Gilbert Home Construction has been framing up Sioux Falls for over two decades, and what strikes me isn't the portfolio — though flipping through their site, you'll see everything from Prairie Modern to classic Craftsman — it's how they talk about the work. There's no pretense here. They build what you want, not what wins awards in magazines you've never heard of. New construction, remodels, additions that don't look tacked on. The kind of general contracting where someone actually answers the phone.
I talked to a homeowner in the Cathedral district who said the Scott Gilbert crew showed up when they said they would, which in construction might as well be a superpower. The project ran over budget — they always do when you change your mind about tile halfway through — but he said they walked him through every line item without the usual contractor vagueness. That matters more than people think.
The 4.5-star rating across 22 reviews feels about right. Not perfect, because nothing involving permits and weather and subcontractors ever is. But consistent. Reliable. The kind of builder who knows that in a town this size, your reputation follows you down Phillips Avenue and back.
If you're looking at a teardown lot on 10th Street or finally adding that master suite you've been sketching on napkins for three years, Scott Gilbert's worth the call. They've been doing this long enough to know what actually works in South Dakota — and what's just a Pinterest dream that'll crack by February.
— Grace