Do you have a site plan with the house shown? Otherwise, almost impossible to comment. Springtime makes a good point: you have one chance to do this right...

This is beyond this forum. You need an architect to make sure your house is designed with the property in mind, you need a builder that has a crew to manage the site prep andyour septic system goes where it is best sited and that will be decide with your perc test . Think about decks , a pool if you want one those things need to considered when planning septic systems. My advice is get props involved now .

Springtime and Patricia: I will be hiring a professional grader once rough in of driveway is completed. I am not grading or laying gravel myself. As stated above, site prep is required to be done by ME, and then the builder will come and construct house and do the plumbing etc. I am awaiting a perc test to determine septic location so I am aware of things having to revolve around that location. All I am doing right now is clearing brush and small trees out for the driveway leading to the house. Once the rough clearing is done (so I can mark where the driveway goes) then I will have the grader come out and do final grading of driveway and home. I’ve worked erosion control and landscaping so I have experience in clearing. I will contact the builder to send the guy out to ask what the best path for the water and electrical to run is.

Virgil: I have a site plan drawn up with the house and drive marked, showing the distances from property corners etc.

I was just wondering if the water or electrical could be run nearby the driveway so that the brush and trees I am clearing can be contained to one side of the lot. My goal is to leave the the lot as wooded as possible.

Have you gotten a dollar amount on running utilities? No gas?

Is electrical above ground in your area?

So you have city water + septic?

I have seen huge costs per foot after a certain number of feet but that is usually for gas. I would think that the water authority (and probably electrical) will pay for 50 feet (random guess) from the road but everything after that is on your dime. The concern here is that you don't have a site plan presumably to save money but you may be spending large amounts of money based on that site plan (or lack there of).

2.5 acres and a 450 foot driveway? Is your lot 100 feet wide and 1000 feet long? Flag lot?

But yes - you typically run electric and water next to a driveway. Have you asked the county if gravel driveways of that length are allowed? Have you checked to see how much insurance would cost if fire trucks can't get to you?

If your only concern is how and where to lay utilities between the main road and your house, why don't you talk with your local utility company and your local building official?

Following.....

Like others have said, it's worth the investment to hire an expert to answer your questions. It will save you frustration down the road. Your builder should be working with you already on these questions and should be helping you find the appropriate experts if they can't answer them.

I would think you'd just ask the builder what the path is that they want to run the utilities. They will know the "from" and "to" and could tell you what their preferred path would be.

We are just now "in-flight" building a custom home. As others suggest hire an architect! Our architect for a somewhat unique and (hopefully cool) home, was less than $25,000. Considering cost of building materials and probable mistakes it's well worth it. Further, our architect is available during building and if any questions the engineer and builder work with architect, which is hugely valuable. Planning is MOST critical step and a good architect is worth it! Finally, we live in an expensive area to build so you may find an architect for less than $25K.

For example, the picture shows idea of complexity of our build & why an arch. is important. That metal was welded and will be all glass, 40 ft. of glass patio doors. The white plastic is a covering over decorative beams & that all had to be carefully planned.

I think I'd ask the local building inspector for the regs and constraints about where you can hook into and run water and electrical lines.