ABOUT
US

WHO WE ARE

Quality, integrity, and service

Quality, integrity, and service; these are three of the pillars on which Dovetail Construction is built. Over the years, we’ve also earned a reputation for managing a custom-home building process that is as enjoyable as it is efficient. We take construction very seriously, but our experience has proven that a positive, organized, team-based approach is the ideal way to get the results we’re all after at the end of the day.

It’s for these reasons that we only employ the top craftsmen and subcontractors in the region, to ensure your vision becomes reality. We pride ourselves in clear communication and strong company ethics, so your expectations are always met or exceeded. Just ask our past and current clients — after all, they’re living in real-world examples of our dedication to relationships and a job well done.

 

Tim
Rote

Founder

Where We build

Montana

Dovetail offers an outstanding reputation in Montana for both construction and community involvement, while now also bringing to each project Big-D Signature’s global-scale resources and deep expertise in nearly every sector of the industry.

Our more personalized, more committed approach to building isn’t a goal, it’s fundamental to who we are, and to everything we do. Always has been, always will be.

It’s easy to think that the conventional approach of design, bid and then build is still the way to go—but at Dovetail, we know that a successful outcome requires a fun, creative, and forward-looking process driven by a broad range of preconstruction services that can change as design and client needs and priorities evolve.

Kevin
Sullivan

Founder

How we build

Where Quality Joins Integrity

Dovetail Construction brings decades of experience in custom residential and commercial building to every project and, working on some of the country’s most demanding construction projects, we’ve learned firsthand the right way of doing things. That means taking a non-traditional approach like utilizing commercial-building strategies while appreciating the fine craft in what we build.

But experience without care doesn’t assure success—that’s why we begin with a conversation, listening closely for your goals and priorities right from the start. Our client said it best: You have treated the design and construction as if you were building your own home.

We also firmly believe that our experience and advice during the preconstruction phase helps produce invaluable ideas and recommendations that can result in lower project expenses and a superior end result. Acting in close collaboration with architects and engineers brings a shared ‘design build’ perspective to every project we take on.

building process to your project

Preconstruction Services

  • Meeting and Listening

    Meeting with you to listen to your hopes and dreams in building in Montana. Providing feedback and asking questions to make sure we set up our preconstruction efforts to serve your interest best to make your dreams come true.
  • Collaborating as a Team

    Providing years of experience as builders for the design and engineering experts to consider as the design unfolds. Yet avoid getting in the way of creativity. When a great approach or a really unique detail is tossed around incorporating it early always suits your project best.
  • Detailed Estimating

    Ongoing advice to evaluate, maintain focus, and provide options to achieve design intent while appreciating budgetary and scheduling goals.
  • VALUE ENGINEERING

    Collaborating and creating beauty with design and engineering professionals to provide best construction value in design documents.
  • Subcontractor Coordination

    Coordinating the critical systems such as mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (in conjunction with the architectural, engineering and structural design).
  • Project Scheduling

    Collaborating with design and engineering team to assess systems and material costs to provide the optimal cost/benefit ratio to the owner.
Our History

Tim and Kevin

Dovetail Construction is the realization of a childhood dream among two lifelong friends. Ever since Kevin and Tim met back in kindergarten, the two things they always wanted to do was to live in the mountains, and to build. As adults, both obtained degrees in engineering and construction management, and, for many years, followed their own paths working on major construction projects across the country (Kevin in New York City; and Tim in Boston, Hawaii, Alaska, and Washington).

Kevin was the first to begin chasing that dream, by escaping from New York to the Rocky Mountains of Montana. Whenever Kevin and Tim got together to reminisce, they’d always come back to that childhood fantasy of building a business together. In 2004, Tim decided it was time to stop just talking about it and moved with his wife to Montana—and that’s when Dovetail Construction was founded.

After more than a decade of building a reputation for quality work within a proven process, it was another friendship that opened the next chapter of Dovetail’s story.

Tim met Mike Kerby while working together on a large construction project in Hawaii when they were in their early twenties. Their paths would cross again a few year later in Seattle, just before Mike moved to Park City, Utah, solidifying a lasting friendship. Adding Kevin to the friendship was a natural next step, and the three pursued memorable mountain adventures and successful joint-venture projects in Big Sky Country. In 2017, they realized that their work ethic and approach to construction were very much aligned, and that friendship became a business partnership. Mike was Sr. Vice President of Big-D Signature—the residential and resort construction arm of the Big-D Family of Companies—and together they realized the potential for a special partnership.

Today, Dovetail offers an outstanding reputation in Montana for both construction and community involvement, while now also bringing to each project Big-D Signature’s global-scale resources and deep expertise in nearly every sector of the industry.

Over the years, these guys have learned many things, but two things they learned way back in kindergarten still provide the foundation for their business today: do what you say you’re going to do; and if you do something, do it right.