Our History
Founder Michael A. Wood was born into custom home building. The second son of a highly respected custom home builder. Michael was sizing up home construction and hammering nails at preschool age. Trailing alongside his father, Arthur F. Wood, Michael observed carefully as his Dad solved the usual home construction obstacles. His brothers Arthur N. Wood and Brian T. Wood are also builders in the area.
When the home building industry was slow Arthur would purchase and refurbish older homes. This spurred an interest in Michael for remodeling, and at the age of 23, he purchased and renovated several of the old dilapidated row homes in the Federal Hill area of downtown Baltimore. At that time, Michael traded as Michael A. Wood Enterprises. While renovating the homes in Federal Hill he would subcontract work from his future competitors to generate income while he rehabilitated his latest project. Having the ability to design, draft, and construct with the utmost attention to detail, Michael soon ceased his subcontract work due to the demand of his ever growing home improvement clientele.
In April 1986 Handcraft Home Improvements was established. By 1990, the year Handcraft was incorporated, the company was constructing $500,000.00 in home improvements per year. In 1992, Handcraft built its first custom home and changed the company name to Handcraft Homes and Improvements, Inc. in order to reflect their new direction.
Handcraft has been building custom homes and remodels in Baltimore and Harford counties since 1986, and takes pride in its continued success year after year with its talented and valued employees, suppliers, and subcontractors. Michael's design talents from his renovating & subcontracting years, and a lifetime involvement with new construction has resulted in a product of outstanding quality at a price to fit all individual budgets.
