Author: Michael Fisher – Operations Manager & Part Owner
If you’re researching outdoor living contractors in Chester or Lancaster County right now, you’ve probably noticed there’s no shortage of options. Within about an hour of our shop in Gap, you can find one-truck hardscapers just getting started, established family companies that have been around as long as we have, national deck-building franchises, and big regional operations with multiple divisions and offices scattered across three states. Every one of them will tell you they’re different. So I want to be specific about what actually sets us apart — not just say it.
We Started as Stone Masons. We Never Stopped.
Most outdoor living companies get into this work from one of two directions: a landscaping company that added hardscaping as an upsell, or a deck or remodeling company that expanded into patios. We came at it backwards. Dutchies started in 2005 as a stone masonry outfit — real, full-depth stone veneer on custom homes — and grew into full outdoor living design-build from there, not the other way around.
That order matters more than it sounds like it should. Our crews were trained to understand how a stone is supposed to sit, not just how to snap a manufactured panel into place. It’s enough of a point of pride around here that when the crew ends up working with manufactured stone on a job, you’ll hear someone joke that they “aren’t fake stone masons.” Twenty-one years later, that’s still the foundation everything else is built on.
One Team, One Price — The Advantage of Design Build in Outdoor Living
A lot of homeowners taking on an outdoor living project end up acting as their own general contractor without realizing it: a designer here, an excavator there, a mason, an electrician, a lighting guy, all hired and coordinated separately, each one adding their own markup on top of the last. That’s still how plenty of local hardscapers and larger multi-division operations work behind the scenes, even when the sales pitch sounds seamless.
With us, it’s one team from design through the final walkthrough, and one price for the whole project — not markup stacked on markup. Every job also gets a dedicated project manager on site daily, so you have one person to call with a question or a concern, not a rotating cast of subs you’ve never met.
Will Dutchies Help with Zoning and Permits During My Project?
This is the part of the process nobody sees on Instagram, and it’s also the part most likely to save your project. Before we lock in a design, we work through the zoning ordinances and building codes that actually apply to your property: setbacks, impervious surface and lot coverage limits, height restrictions, easements, frost line footings, railing and stairway rules, and the electrical, plumbing, and stormwater permits that go with it.
Skipping that step is exactly how a project ends up redesigned mid-build, or worse, flagged by a township inspector after the concrete’s already poured. We’d rather do the unglamorous legwork up front than hand you a surprise later.
Pricing You Can Actually See
Here’s something worth knowing as you compare contractors: the more upmarket an outdoor living company positions itself, the less likely it is to show you any real numbers at all. Plenty of local competitors publish nothing more than a “starting at” figure, if that. And most high-end design-build firms — regionally and nationally — don’t publish pricing at all, and a growing number ask for a paid design fee or a minimum project budget just to have a real conversation with you.
We’ve made a different call. Our pricing page shows actual dollar ranges by project type, and a free exploratory call is still how every relationship with us starts — no design deposit required just to find out what’s realistic for your yard and your budget. We think you should be able to tell whether a project is in your ballpark before you’ve invested anything beyond a conversation.
The Same People, Start to Finish
Between the exploratory call and your final walkthrough, you’re working with us — not a call center that hands you off to a field crew you’ve never spoken with, and not a big regional operation where your project gets passed between departments. Dave, our owner, is genuinely reachable during your project, not a name on a truck. That’s a real trade-off of staying the size we are, and it’s one we’ve made on purpose.
A Track Record You can Actually Check
Talk is easy. Here’s what you can verify yourself: 21 years in business, a 5.0-star rating across 85 reviews, and projects ranging from a single patio to full backyard transformations — including multiple stone installations at Aronimink Golf Club, home of the 2026 PGA Championship.
One story sums up what we’re going for better than any of the above. The Falco family in Kennett Square hired us for a fifth project — after we’d already done kitchen and family room stonework for them — to build a backyard patio and pool cabana from a yard that had nothing in it before. We listened to what they wanted (an outdoor kitchen was the priority), designed around it, and built it. Their words afterward: “It’s like a little mini vacation.” That’s really the whole point. Not just installing stone, but building something you and your family actually use for years.
Dutchies vs. Other Outdoor Living Companies
If you are comparing contractors right now, I’d genuinely encourage it. Ask every company you’re considering how pricing works, who you’ll actually be talking to during construction, and whether they’ll walk you through the zoning and permitting on your property before you sign anything. Those three questions tend to separate the companies pretty quickly.
If you’d like to see how we stack up firsthand, reach out — (717) 407-2240 or www.dutchiesstoneworks.com/contact-us. We’re happy to walk your property and give you an honest read on what it would take.