A family-owned contractor in Laurel, MD since 1993

Modern Home Design is Harry Ellinger’s family business. We have built, added on to and remodeled homes in Laurel and the towns around it since June 1993.

Owner: Harry Ellinger
Working since: June 1993, 33 years
Based in: Laurel, Maryland
Licenses: MHIC No. 45987 · MHBR No. 1230

Raised in the trade, building since 1993

We grew up in and around the construction trade, and that is where our love of building and remodeling homes started. The business has been ours since June 30, 1993, and it became Modern Home Design, LLC in 2018.

The work has always been the whole house. The van says it best: new homes, additions, kitchens, bathrooms and much more. Over the years that has meant decks and screened porches, garages and second stories, finished basements, roofs, siding and windows, paint and floors.

What we have always said sets us apart is old-fashioned customer service: you call us, we come out, we tell you plainly what the job involves and we put the price in writing.

A basement being framed, with new stud walls in front of pink foam insulation — A basement of ours, framed and insulated, before the drywall.

Four things we do on every job

We look before we price: Every estimate starts with a visit to the house. We would rather see the wall than guess at it.
It goes in writing: The scope, the price and our license number are on paper before any work begins, the way Maryland expects.
The permits are ours to get: The permits for the jobs we build are taken out in our name, from the City of Laurel or the county, and inspected along the way.
One contractor for the whole house: Because we do the roof, the walls and the rooms inside, the parts of a job that sit between trades are still ours to get right.

Our Maryland licenses

Both are held by Harry L. Ellinger, trading as Modern Home Design, and both are active. Check them yourself before you sign with anyone; we would.

Maryland Home Improvement Commission license: MHIC No. 45987Check it on the Maryland Department of Labor license search
Maryland Home Builder Registration: MHBR No. 1230Check it on the Maryland Attorney General’s list of registered builders

Some of the jobs on our record

A partial list from the building permits taken out for our work, newest first. Towns only: the homes are our clients’ business.

Permitted jobs by Modern Home Design: year, town and what was built
Year	Town	What we built
2021	Columbia	A 25 × 8 open front porch
2020	Linthicum Heights	A screened porch built over an existing deck
2020	Columbia	An attached two-car garage addition
2019	Columbia	A 16 × 14 screened porch
2018	Ellicott City	An 18 × 16 deck, replacing the old one
2018	Laurel	A 16 × 17 screened porch with an open deck extension
2017	Columbia	A full bathroom added in a partly finished basement
2015	Savage	A 12 × 16 screened porch with composite decking
2015	Clarksville	A detached three-car garage
2014	Jessup	A 10 × 14 deck, replacing the old one
2012	Laurel	A 22 × 16 covered porch and two 16 × 16 decks
2010	Laurel	A basement rec room with a wet bar
2007	Columbia	A 22 × 12 second-story addition
2006	Laurel	An 18 × 12 deck on a townhouse
2005	Laurel	An 8 × 10 sitting room addition
2002	Laurel	A finished basement with a new powder room

Where we work

We are based in Laurel and most of our work is within a short drive of it, in Howard County and Anne Arundel County.

Home base: Laurel, inside the city and out
Howard County: North Laurel, Scaggsville, Savage, Jessup, Columbia, Ellicott City, Clarksville
Anne Arundel County: Glen Burnie, Linthicum Heights, Pasadena