From Monticello to the house next door, it is common when planning a construction project, to create a master plan and then build in phases. Phasing a renovation can allow the homeowners to live in the house during construction or spread out the cost over several years. When building a new home, the construction of a guest house or garage before the main house, can create a secure space to store materials and/or establish a home base to [...]
When designing a home or addition, part of the fun for the owner is imagining the project finished without any compromises. When bids come in from the contractors, many home owners are eager look at ways to reduce the price without loosing space or the character of the project. As the architects, our job is to help bring the price down as far as possible without loosing the qualities that the owners loved in the first place. It must be [...]
One of my least favorite parts of a project is it's end. During the process of designing and constructing the home, we have built special relationships with home owners, contractors and craftspeople which inevitably must change. Often those business relationships become friendships, but there is nothing like being part of that creation(ask any mother). We work together as a team for as much as several years speaking at least once a week and exchanging ideas even more and then the [...]
