SERVING HOLDEN AND JEFFERSON, MASSACHUSETTS
Home additions, ADUs, kitchens, baths, and custom stonework for Holden homeowners. ARM Construction is based in neighboring Princeton, a few minutes up Route 31, and works in Holden every week.
ARM Construction is based in Princeton, directly north of Holden, which makes Holden one of the towns we work in most. That proximity matters more than it sounds on a project that runs three to six months. It is the difference between an owner who stops by regularly and one who manages your job by phone from another county.
Andrew Mercurio is a fourth-generation builder who started 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. The Construction Supervisor License is the credential that legally covers structural work, which is what lets us take on additions and ADUs that a lot of remodeling companies cannot.
Holden is the largest of the towns bordering Princeton, with roughly 20,000 residents spread across several distinct villages. Jefferson has its own ZIP code and its own character. Chaffins, Dawson, Quinapoxet, and Springdale are the other names you will hear. The housing stock runs the full range, from nineteenth-century farmhouses along the older roads to postwar ranches and colonials to newer subdivisions, and the work reflects that spread.
We build home additions, ADUs and in-law suites, sunrooms and four season rooms, and garage and basement conversions. We also handle kitchen remodeling, bathroom remodeling, whole home remodeling, custom masonry and stonework, decks, siding, and flooring. One company, one point of contact, from the first walkthrough to the final inspection.
Holden sits inside the Wachusett Reservoir watershed, and that is the single most distinctive thing about building here. The reservoir is a source of drinking water for roughly 2.7 million people in eastern Massachusetts, and the state protects it accordingly. The Massachusetts Watershed Protection Act regulates land use and activity within critical areas near tributaries, wetlands, and surface water throughout the watershed, and Holden is one of the communities where those rules apply.
Whether it touches your project depends entirely on where your property sits. On a lot well away from a stream or wetland, it usually never comes up. On a lot near one, it can affect where you are allowed to build, how much impervious surface you can add, and what happens with a septic system. It is not a reason not to build. It is a reason to know before you draw plans, because redesigning around a constraint discovered at permitting is far more expensive than designing around one you knew about in week one. We check this at the site visit.
The reservoir shapes the town in a more visible way too. A significant share of the land in and around Holden is protected watershed property that will never be developed, which is part of why the town feels the way it does and why the lots that exist are worth building on rather than leaving.
Holden is a mixed picture on wastewater, and it determines a great deal about what is possible on a given property. Parts of town are served by sewer, and the trunk and relief lines that carry it are owned and operated by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation rather than by the town, a legacy of the state protecting the watershed going back more than a century. Other parts of Holden are on private septic.
That distinction matters most on additions and ADUs. If you are on septic, Massachusetts sizes those systems by bedroom count under Title 5, so any project that adds a bedroom has to be checked against your system's rated capacity before design starts. Exceeding it turns the project into a septic upgrade plus an addition, which is a different budget entirely. If you are on sewer, that constraint disappears and an ADU becomes considerably more straightforward. Knowing which side of the line your address falls on is the first question we answer.
Any project that changes the footprint or the structure of a house in Holden needs a building permit, and depending on scope you may also need electrical, plumbing, and mechanical permits. Work near wetlands goes to the Conservation Commission, and in watershed-regulated areas there can be an additional layer of review beyond the town.
We handle all of it. We pull the permits, coordinate the inspections, and deal with the town and any state review the project requires, so you are not the one filling out applications or sitting through a meeting. On a Holden project the permitting picture is genuinely more layered than in most Massachusetts towns, and knowing that going in is what keeps a schedule realistic.
Holden sits between our home base and the city. Princeton is directly north and is where we are based. Worcester borders Holden to the south and is the largest market in the region. We also work in Sterling, West Boylston, Boylston, Shrewsbury, Leominster, Westborough, Northborough, Southborough, and Grafton.
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 Holden homeowners ask us most. If your question is not here, call us at (774) 249-0221.
Yes. Jefferson is a village within the town of Holden with its own 01522 ZIP code, and we work there regularly. Chaffins, Dawson, Quinapoxet, and Springdale are the other village names you will hear in Holden. Whichever one your address falls in, permits and inspections go through the Town of Holden.
It can. Holden sits inside the Wachusett Reservoir watershed, which supplies drinking water to roughly 2.7 million people, and the Massachusetts Watershed Protection Act regulates land use within critical areas near tributaries, wetlands, and surface water in that watershed. Whether it affects your project depends on where your property sits relative to those resources. On a lot well away from a stream it usually does not come up. On a lot near one it can restrict where you build, how much impervious surface you add, and what happens with your septic system. We check this early, because finding out late is expensive.
In most cases yes. Since February 2, 2025, Massachusetts allows one accessory dwelling unit by right on lots in single-family zoning districts statewide, with no special permit and no zoning hearing. The unit can be up to 900 square feet or half the gross floor area of your main house, whichever is smaller. In Holden the two things that most often decide the project are whether your property is on town sewer or private septic, and whether the site falls within a watershed-regulated area.
Yes for most projects. Any addition, structural change, or conversion of unfinished space into living space requires a building permit from the Town of Holden, along with electrical, plumbing, and mechanical permits depending on scope. Work near wetlands requires Conservation Commission review, and in parts of town the Watershed Protection Act adds another layer. 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
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