Top: Jimmy’s Jazz & Blues Club in Portsmouth after renovation; bottom: during the renovation. The Auger team used old postcards and photos to restore it to its original form. (Courtesy of Auger)
For more than four decades, Ben Auger has built a reputation as one of the Seacoast’s leading high-end home builders with an approach rooted in craftsmanship, relationships and trust.
As principal of Auger in Greenland, he leads a firm known for multimillion-dollar luxury homes, historic restorations and complex custom projects. Founded in 1984, the company has earned national recognition, including being named among Remodeling Magazine’s Top 50 contractors, while being selective about the projects and clients it takes on each year.
“We only work with nice people,” Auger says. “That’s the qualification. These projects are long-term relationships—two, three, sometimes four years—so trust is everything.”
Building is in Auger’s blood. He grew up on a 200-acre farm in Nottingham, working alongside his father, a skilled carpenter who relied almost entirely on hand tools. “We were always working with our hands,” Auger recalls. “My dad was a remarkable craftsman.”
By age 10, Auger knew where he belonged. “We’d drop off lunch to my dad on job sites, and I wouldn’t want to leave,” he says. Those early years were defined by traditional techniques, including hand-planed cabinetry, custom-built doors and even a spiral oak staircase crafted by hand. “It was the same method used 150 or 200 years ago,” he says.
Auger later pursued architecture studies while working full time, but left school to support his young family. That pushed him to think beyond the tools. “I said, ‘I’m not going to just be a carpenter working out of my truck,’” he says. “I want to build a business.”
Through peer networks and experience, Auger taught himself the fundamentals of running a company. “I didn’t know what P&L was or markup versus margin,” he says. “I started as a craftsperson and had to figure out what business meant.”
Today, that business generates roughly $25 million annually and employs more than 40 people, including project managers, designers and specialized tradespeople. The firm emphasizes sustainability, incorporating geothermal systems, solar energy and high-performance insulation into many projects.
A luxury home project located in Portsmouth along Sagamore Creek on Little Harbor Road. (Courtesy of Auger)
While many of Auger’s most prominent residential projects remain private, his commercial work is visible across the Seacoast. One standout is the restoration of Jimmy’s Jazz & Blues Club in Portsmouth, a historic 1904 YMCA building.
During the project, Auger’s team uncovered architectural details hidden for decades and located a long-defunct brick manufacturer to recreate the façade.
Auger says community involvement is central to the company’s identity. “Marketing is giving,” he says. “It’s giving time, expertise, resources, whatever you can.” That ethos extends to board service and philanthropy across the region, as well as mentoring younger employees entering the trades.
For Auger, the work itself has become part of a larger mission. “The craft is the fun, easy part,” he says. “Guiding clients through the process—that’s the real responsibility.” For more information visit augerbuildingcompany.com.
