Our Story

I’m Jesse Pfammatter, the founder of Craft Builders. We help Madison families make the home they have fit the life they want, and we treat every home the way we’d treat our own.

How Craft Builders began

I moved to Madison in 2007 for graduate school, earned my PhD at UW–Madison studying the ecology of Wisconsin’s pine forests, and stayed on as a postdoctoral researcher in neuroscience. During my postdoc I met my wife, Rachel, and she’s a big part of why I never left. We love Madison. It’s a special place to raise a family, and the community here is like nowhere else. We didn’t want to leave, so I chose to step away from academics to support our soon-to-be family.

My dad shaped who I am more than anyone, from how I run this business to how I show up for my family. He was a mechanic who owned his own auto repair shop for 25 years, and in all that time he never stopped pushing himself to learn something new and get a little better, which is exactly what it takes to run a business people trust. I grew up watching him figure out almost anything, working through each problem until he found the real fix. When he died, I found myself wanting to feel close to him, and solving problems with my hands was the most natural way to do it.

Rachel and I renovated our own home, lived in it, and eventually sold it. Friends and family started asking me to work on their houses, then their friends did too, and Craft Builders was born. We didn’t get here alone. Family, friends, neighbors and early clients all pitched in along the way, and we’re grateful to every one of them.

What that means for your project

My science training taught me to be analytical about building: understand the problem before you start, plan carefully, keep good records, and change course when the evidence says so. That’s why every Craft Builders project starts with a real plan, a clear scope and a firm budget, and why our crew logs every working day.

Our people

The community that kept us in Madison is the same thing we’ve tried to build at Craft Builders. Today we’re a family of builders and project managers, and they are the heart of the company. We pay well and offer health insurance, because skilled, well-treated people do their best work. They’re the ones in your home every day, solving problems and caring about the details. When you work with us, you become part of that community too.

Old houses, done right

Our specialty is older homes, the kind that need extra care to look right and work well for another hundred years. We’ve worked all over Madison, from the Arboretum neighborhood to Maple Bluff and up to Lake Wisconsin. We’re big enough to take on whole-home renovations and additions, and small enough that you’ll know everyone working in your house.