SERVING GRAFTON, MASSACHUSETTS
Home additions, ADUs, kitchens, baths, custom stonework, and multifamily renovation across North Grafton, Grafton Center, and South Grafton. Which village you are in changes the project, and we know the difference.
Grafton is not really a single place. It is a collection of villages that grew separately around water power, and it still works that way. North Grafton, Grafton Center, and South Grafton each carry their own ZIP code. Beyond those you will hear Farnumsville, Fisherville, Saundersville, Centerville, New England Village, and Axtell Corner, most of them built around mills on the Blackstone and Quinsigamond rivers during the industrial era.
The town sits in the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor, the oldest industrialized region in the country, and it was incorporated in 1735 on land that had been the Nipmuc village of Hassanamesit. The Hassanamisco Reservation is still there, and it is the only state-recognized Nipmuc reservation in Massachusetts.
All of which matters to a homeowner for one reason: the houses in these villages are not the same houses, and a project in Fisherville is not the same project as one on a five-acre lot near the Westborough line.
Andrew Mercurio is a fourth-generation builder who came up in masonry and grew ARM Construction into a full general contracting company. He holds Massachusetts Construction Supervisor License #CS-093044, issued in 2011, and the company holds Home Improvement Contractor Registration #153199. Both are active and verifiable through the Commonwealth.
Kitchen and bathroom remodels are the largest share of the work here, and how involved they get depends almost entirely on the age of the house. Home additions and ADUs and in-law suites work well on the larger lots in the more rural parts of town. Garage, basement, and attic conversions are frequently the better answer in the dense mill villages, where there is no room to build outward.
We also take multifamily work, which matters in a town with this much of it. And we build sunrooms and four season rooms, home remodels, custom masonry and stonework, decks and patios, siding, and flooring. One company, one point of contact, from the first walkthrough to the final inspection.
Farnumsville and Fisherville are both National Register historic districts, and they are the clearest example of what makes Grafton different from the towns around it.
Fisherville grew around a brick mill built in 1831 and 1832, with a densely packed residential area around the complex that reached roughly its current shape by about 1909. Farnumsville centered on the Farnum Mill, operating from the second decade of the nineteenth century, with the main surviving mill building dating to 1844 and housing in the village built across a full century, roughly the 1820s through the 1920s.
What that means on a job site. Lots are narrow and houses sit close together, so setbacks and lot coverage bind long before budget does. A meaningful share of the housing is multifamily, which brings fire separation between units, means of egress from upper floors, and the code requirements that apply to rental dwelling units. Buildings from that era carry knob and tube wiring, cast iron waste lines, plaster over lath, framing on irregular spacing, and little or no wall insulation. And because essentially all of it predates 1978, federal lead-safe work practices apply, while old nine-inch vinyl flooring and its black mastic have to be presumed to contain asbestos until testing says otherwise.
We work on these buildings and we take the multifamily projects, which is worth saying because a lot of remodeling companies will not. Doing it correctly requires a Construction Supervisor License and someone who understands what changes when a building holds more than one unit.
Grafton Center is a different story. The mills went to the villages and the center stayed largely free of them, which is why it still reads as a nineteenth-century New England town center with Early American, Greek Revival, and Victorian houses along North, South, and Worcester Streets. Renovating one of those is a craftsmanship problem more than a density problem.
Grafton spans about 23 square miles, and what is available at the street varies with it. The village centers and denser areas are generally served by town water and sewer. The more rural parts of town rely on private wells and septic systems.
That distinction drives anything that adds a bedroom. On a sewered lot, an addition or an ADU is a straightforward construction project. On septic, Massachusetts sizes systems by bedroom count under Title 5, so the existing system has to be measured against the new load before design is finalized. If it will not carry it, the project becomes a septic upgrade plus an addition, which is a different budget entirely. It is the first thing we check.
The rivers matter too. With the Blackstone and the Quinsigamond running through town along with their tributaries, Conservation Commission review under the Wetlands Protection Act comes up more often in Grafton than in a drier town. Work within 100 feet of a wetland resource area or 200 feet of a perennial stream requires a filing, and that adds weeks. Better to design around it than to discover it.
Any project that changes the footprint or the structure of a house in Grafton needs a building permit from the town, plus electrical, plumbing, and mechanical permits depending on scope. Properties on septic involve Board of Health review of wastewater capacity, and that review shapes what is possible before the building permit issues. Work near the rivers or wetlands goes to the Conservation Commission.
On the historic districts, the distinction worth knowing is that National Register listing on its own generally does not restrict what a private owner does to their own building. Local historic district designation does, and can govern exterior materials, windows, and colors. The two are easy to confuse and only one affects your timeline, so confirm which applies to your address before design rather than after.
We handle all of it. Permits, Board of Health where it applies, Conservation filings, and the inspection schedule.
Shrewsbury borders Grafton to the north. Worcester sits to the northwest and shares a good deal of Grafton's building character in its older neighborhoods. Westborough borders the town to the east. We are based in Princeton, and we also work in Holden, Sterling, West Boylston, Boylston, Leominster, Northborough, and Southborough.
What Our Customers Say
I can't say enough good things! I needed a small finish job done at the last minute, and Andrew made it happen quickly and without any stress. The craftsmanship was perfect and everything looks amazing. I'm extremely happy and would recommend him to anyone!
Andrew and his team are detail-oriented. They are skilled and helped me understand the process of renovating my kitchen. Fantastic communication & high quality service! I am so lucky to have them and recommend them to anyone! When they built my deck, it was so fast & efficient! Call Andrew, you won't regret it
Andrew replaced a garden window in my kitchen, and a sliding door. He did a meticulous job, and went above and beyond to accommodate some special requests that I had. His attention to detail and willingness to do whatever it took to make me happy didn't go unnoticed. Will definitely use him each and every time!
Here is what Grafton homeowners ask us most. If your question is not here, call us at (774) 249-0221.
Yes, all of it. Grafton is really a collection of villages rather than one settlement, and North Grafton, Grafton Center, and South Grafton each have their own ZIP code. Beyond those you will hear Farnumsville, Fisherville, Saundersville, Centerville, and New England Village, all of which grew up around mills on the Blackstone and Quinsigamond rivers. The housing stock differs meaningfully between them, which is why the first question we ask about a Grafton project is which village the property is in.
Density and age. The housing in villages like Farnumsville and Fisherville was built roughly between the 1820s and the 1920s, packed tightly around the mill complexes, and a significant share of it is multifamily. That means narrow lots where setbacks bind before anything else, party wall and fire separation considerations on multifamily buildings, and a century or more of accumulated systems behind the walls. It is genuinely good building stock. It just needs to be opened by someone who has seen it before.
In most cases yes. Since February 2, 2025, Massachusetts allows one accessory dwelling unit by right on lots in single-family zoning districts statewide, up to 900 square feet or half the gross floor area of the main house, whichever is smaller, with no special permit and no zoning hearing. In Grafton the practical answer depends on the village. On a larger lot in the more rural parts of town, a detached unit is realistic if the property is on sewer or the septic system can carry it under Title 5. In the dense mill villages, a garage, basement, or attic conversion is usually more practical than anything detached, because setbacks bind first.
Yes for most projects. Any addition, structural change, or conversion of unfinished space into living space requires a building permit from the Town of Grafton, along with electrical, plumbing, and mechanical permits depending on scope. Work near the Blackstone or Quinsigamond rivers, their tributaries, or other wetlands requires Conservation Commission review, which comes up regularly given how much of the town sits along water. Farnumsville and Fisherville are National Register historic districts, and properties on septic involve Board of Health review of wastewater capacity. ARM Construction handles the permitting and the inspection schedule as part of the project.
ARM Construction & Management Inc
131 Houghton Road
Princeton, MA 01541
(774) 249-0221
Licensed and insured in Massachusetts. MA CSL #CS-093044 | MA HIC Reg. #153199
© Copyright 2026. All Rights Reserved. Terms and Conditions. Sitemap