Customer Reviews

- Pure gold - - Prof Dan - 1/20/2024 - comment
Our first thoughts about going to an architect vs draftsman or "design-builder" were that a) we would finally get what we wanted, b) the architect would bully us to get their way or create a curbside billboard ad for his biz, c) not know if our designs were going out of budget or not, d) paying way more than the other routes. WHEW What we learned was that architects are supposed to be the Eagle Scouts of the homebuilding process, putting our needs/goals/lifestyle ahead of any other agenda, giving advice free of profit (finally). Our friends have impressive houses but in many places they feel their lifestyle was shoehorned into copycat spaces from other designs, many created by unlicensed/trained "designers". Anyway, we got a totally new creation, tailored to our lifestyle from our elementary sketches, architect meeting notes (some virtual) as well as annotated photo examples of what our goals might be. The budget can be monitored by a college educated (Construction Science is best degree we learned) home builder and the design fees were same/less as unlicensed draftsmen in our area. We were steered away from commercial architects that may assign a neophyte or not have the skills a residential specialist architect has, e.g. a dentist friend from Houston loved his architect designed office but same architect designing his local retirement home ... well, the cars would not fit inside the garage, for starters. In talking to others served by this architect, we found that IF they were forced to move/sell, they either got Asking Price or a Bidding War. Not being a copycat design has benefits when tears form upon packing up. Curb appeal is on tap but we learned most owners prefer to spend their money inside the house ala the Plan/maze, long life, EZ care finishes, enhanced mechanical/plumbing systems, etc. Curb appeal is a two edged sword, as an architect's billboard ad, perhaps more than resale or ego value one may think. VERY HAPPY

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