About

Two decades in. Still building.

Red Oak Builders was founded in 2004 and has been building across Greater Philadelphia and South Jersey ever since — custom homes, complex renovations, historic adaptive reuse, and independent commercial spaces. Here's who we are, and how we got here.

Our Story

How we got here.

Red Oak started in 2004 in North Jersey. Founder Anthony Giacobbe set out to build the kind of houses he'd want to live in himself — designed thoughtfully, built carefully, and finished by people who took pride in the work.

After seven years, the company relocated to the Philadelphia area in 2011 — drawn by the architecture, the architects, and the kind of complex projects that wouldn't fit a typical builder's playbook. Custom infill homes in dense urban neighborhoods. Whole-home renovations of period properties. A stone parish converted into townhomes. Historic restaurants where the building had to be saved at the same time the kitchen was being built. A Michelin star, eventually, on the wall of one of them.

About half of what we build is energy-conscious construction. Most of what we build is design-forward. All of it is done with the same level of care.

Two decades in, we're growing — taking on more work, expanding into new regions, deepening relationships with the architects and trades who do their best work alongside us. The standard hasn't changed since day one. Build with intention. Finish what we start. Hold to the schedule, without taking shortcuts to get there.

Founder

Anthony Giacobbe

Owner & General Contractor

Anthony's path to building started in engineering. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Marine Engineering from the United States Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, where he captained the football team and was a consensus All-American. He served as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy and went on to earn a Master's in Real Estate Development from Auburn University.

Before founding Red Oak, Anthony spent more than a decade running large, technically demanding projects across telecommunications, healthcare, and commercial construction — work where schedule, cost, and coordination across many specialists were the whole game, and where he had the chance to learn alongside some of the best builders and construction managers in those industries. He started Red Oak to apply that experience to a different kind of work — homes and commercial spaces where the details, the materials, and the relationship after handover matter as much as schedule and budget. The company relocated to the Philadelphia area in 2011 to take on more complex, design-forward work, and has been growing here ever since.

Anthony lives in Hammonton, NJ, where Red Oak is headquartered, and is a member of the U.S. Green Building Council, the National Association of Home Builders, and the Builders Industry Association of Philadelphia. He has also served on the Hammonton Environmental Commission's Water Quality Sub-committee. Twenty years in, he still walks every active jobsite weekly. There's no version of Red Oak that doesn't have him in the middle of the work.

In Their Words

Architects, developers, and clients who have built with Red Oak.

A short list of people who know what it's like to work with our team — across both divisions, on projects of every kind.

Anthony and his team handled everything expertly — from the most complex structural decisions to the smallest finish details. Their work turned out beautifully.

Paul Scheaffer

Architect

I have always been impressed with their integrity and attention to detail. Red Oak treats every project as if it were their own.

Ian Toner

Architect

Within minutes of placing a phone call, Anthony was on the way to resolve the problem. That's the kind of responsiveness you don't get from most builders.

Pat Horan

Custom Home Client

They are straightforward and realistic — they tell you what something will cost, what it will take, and they deliver on it.

Alejandro Franqui

Developer

Building something? Tell us about it.

We'll respond with honest feedback on fit, scope, and what it would take to do it right.

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