Vernon Dursley was a man who learned the value of hard work at a young age, its what led him to building such a successive construction company.
It gave him the patience and commitment to help his wife reconnect with her sister, which in turn also gave him a friendship with a rather interesting band of wizards, including a fairly capable werewolf secretary to help manage his growing business. And most of all, it gave him something to pass on to his son and his nephew, so that they could in turn build something even greater.
This is not a story of a young Harry Potter becoming a hero in spite of his neglectful relatives, but rather a tale of a young man who aspires to follow in his uncle's footsteps, and build wonderful and magnificent things. He just happens to do it with magic in addition to good old hard work. Of course, Hogwarts doesn't offer classes in enchanting, but thanks to Dumbledore, he can enter a long term apprenticeship with the Enchanting instructor at Beauxbatons. That this leads to friendships with a number of France's budding enchanters, including a certain Veela, is an added bonus.
(a fit of whimsy born from lamenting lack of fics that the Dursleys as decent people and memories of old house building tv shows. Plus, wizard architect/enchanter, what's not to love?)