How it works

From your photos to your shelf

Four simple steps, and no building experience needed. Here’s exactly what happens after you order.

Order & send your photos

Place your order in our Etsy shop, then send us a few clear photos of the home: the front, the back and the sides if you can.

Tell us about anything special you’d like included, like the red front door, the porch swing or the big maple out front. Have only old photos or real-estate listing pictures? Those often work well too.

Aerial view of a brick-built Cape Cod model on its lot

We design your model

We design your model from scratch, true to its roofline, windows and colors, right down to the driveway and the trees in the yard.

Every piece is a standard part in a current color that you can actually order. Then we break the build into clear steps and illustrate every one of them. If anything in the photos is unclear, we’ll ask.

A customer’s private Hart & Brick web page on a laptop

Receive your plans

Your plans arrive as a digital download: a personalized instruction booklet, 3D step-by-step instructions, studio renderings, a time-lapse video and the complete parts list, all gathered on your own private web page.

Print the booklet, build from a tablet, or both.

Try a 3D instruction viewer

Order the bricks & build

Upload the ready-made parts list to an online brick shop and every piece lands in your cart at once. No hunting for parts one by one. The video shows it for a 1,197-piece model.

When the box arrives, open your booklet to step one and start building. Most homes take an afternoon or two.

The build

One clear step at a time

Each booklet takes you from an empty lot to the finished home. New pieces are highlighted in every step, so you always know what goes where.

Stage 1 of the Brick Cape Cod build: The lot and first walls

Stage 2 of the Brick Cape Cod build: Walls, windows and doors

Stage 3 of the Brick Cape Cod build: Roofs and dormers

Stage 4 of the Brick Cape Cod build: Gardens and trees

What you’ll receive

Everything you need to build it

A complete digital package for your home. Bricks are sold separately, so you choose where to order them.

Instruction booklet

A personalized, illustrated PDF of about 50 pages, with a cover, the story of your home, every step and a full parts inventory.

3D instructions

Step-by-step instructions you can turn and zoom on any screen, so nothing is ever hidden behind a wall.

Parts list & order files

Every piece with its color, count and part number, plus files you can upload to popular brick shops.

Renderings & time-lapse

Studio images of your model from every side, and a video of it coming together brick by brick.

Your private page

All of it in one place on a private web page, easy to share with the family.

Photo tips

Great photos, great models

A straight-on photo of the front, taken from across the street
One from each front corner, so we can see the sides
The back of the house, even if it’s just a quick snapshot
Daylight photos, with as few cars and trees in the way as possible
Close-ups of anything special: a door, a porch, a chimney
No camera handy? Old photos and listing pictures work too

At a glance

A typical home model

15 inSquare, on a 48 × 48 stud base

700+Pieces for a full-size home

3–8 hrsOf happy building

~50Illustrated booklet pages

Want something smaller? Petite editions and ornaments are quicker builds with fewer pieces.

Start your order Read the FAQ

Ready when you are

Let’s build your place

Order your custom plans in our Etsy shop. Send us a few photos, and we’ll design a model that’s unmistakably yours.

Start your order on Etsy Follow @hartandbrick

Digital download · Bricks sold separately