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I have a property that is suitable for building, and am interested in putting up a relatively small one-story house on it that looks like it has been there 50 or more years. Does anyone have any knowledge of who specifically might do a good job with this? I'd like to have a landscape architect work with the residential architect as well. My property is "in the county", not in a town. By small I'm thinking 1800 to 2400 sq ft. The views will be very nice.
I'm an architect, but I've been exclusively on the commercial side of things for a few years now.
But I know most of the players in the residential market - there's a really big range of specializations and skillsets. The market is pretty fractured for a variety of reasons.
Some questions to narrow things down (dm if you don't want to post publicly)
Which county? You want someone with extensive experience with the local AHJ.
Construction budget?
How important is energy efficiency/sustainability?
Are you looking for an architect to lead the project with your input, or are you looking for someone to follow your lead?
And lastly, can you elaborate on what you mean by "looks like it has been there 50 or more years"? That could mean a lot of different things, from "has mostly approximate traditional detailing" to "rigorous adherence to one of a number of traditionally historic characters" to "modern, but fitting with early postwar architecture"
One thing I'll mention- some historic characters are easier to adhere to than others with new construction due to contemporary building/energy codes and practices. If you are dead set on a truly historic home, I may suggest working with local preservation groups to find a house at risk for demolition and moving it to your site.
There are also many web-site and magazines that sell plans for craftsman-style or bungalow houses in the size range you need. I am thinking of the "Small House" magazines or similar titles they sell in the home improvement stores. One of these plans might be suitable, and you would not really need an architect. A builder can make your home look unique. I have nothing against architects, but saw nothing in the original request about why the OP wanted an architect. It would help if he/she provided a budget.
Last edited by goldenage1; 11-20-2013 at 02:16 PM..
Thanks all. I have looked at tons of online floor plans and such, but I need something that is optimized for the view(s) I want to capture. Plus there are some special features I want which are not usually part of a smaller house, like a decent sized utility room. There may even be 'canned' plans that meet my needs, but it would be better to have some professional input. Plus an architect can really help with siting the house and a landscape architect could help develop a unified plan where the inside and outside bear some relation to each other.
I'm in Wake County, which has many old abandoned farm homes with peeling white paint and tin roofs. Big porches, often a center gable and two end gables at the front, then all kinds of extensions in the back. I like the honest exterior styling, but would like an updated interior with good trimwork, perhaps with aspects of universal design. Actually, anything that has an exterior similar to pre-1950 housing would possibly work. Just something where there is balance and scale and adherence to timeless design principles rather than so-called luxury features like 12 x 20 ft master bath rooms with chandeliers, etc. I'm guessing it would cost something like $120 a sq ft just for the building, but don't even know if that is realistic. So far I'm not in favor of the design and build concept, which often produces poor detail work.
... an architect can really help with siting the house ...
You may expect an architect to charge 15% of the overall cost of the building. For a truly unusual project his services are worth the cost. Yours is (IMHO) not such an unusual project.
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I'm guessing it would cost something like $120 a sq ft just for the building ...
Quality construction will cost closer to $200 per sq ft. Don't forget to factor in the cost for well and septic, and a long driveway.
You already own the land. Good. Please drill the well before signing any contracts with an architect or contractor. If you don't hit water, you don't have a buildable property. Most of Wake County is within the triassic basin, a geological formation which is not particularly good for water wells.
I don't want to rain on your parade but you need an expert cost estimator way before you need an architect... and I think you don't need an architect at all.
15% of the construction budget would be pretty high, much less 15% of overall costs. Average would be around 9-10% of construction depending on how in-depth a level of service you want. I've only seen 15-20% for really high levels of service or where extensive coordination is required. I've also seen 4-5% in equally unusual situations.
$120/sf is probably low, particularly if new well(s) and septic are required. There are things you can do to keep costs down, but $175-200 is probably realistic. A lot depends on how high end you go with the kitchen and bathrooms. I'm not sure the OP has enough information put together for a cost estimator to produce a realistic picture.
You don't need a GC or an architect to build your own house, but there are certainly arguments for getting each of them... It depends on how involved you want to be and where your priorities are.
Well, I have to be surprised that the construction cost of a one-off home would cost almost twice the average rate in the county, even with the land already purchased. And of course water and sewer must be considered separately.
Okay, if I do not use an architect for the entire design, are there architects or others who will help you decide how to settle the house on the land? And how to'expand' the plans? And even to help select a plan? Now that I have a couple of names, thanks to DM's, I can contact those folks, but maybe I need to have a better handle on who/what I need first.
Well, I have to be surprised that the construction cost of a one-off home would cost almost twice the average rate in the county, even with the land already purchased.
Brace yourself for a surprise.
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And of course water and sewer must be considered separately.
Water wells are a gamble. You may have to drill two. I had to drill three!
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Okay, if I do not use an architect for the entire design, are there architects or others who will help you decide how to settle the house on the land? And how to 'expand' the plans? And even to help select a plan?
A competent custom builder can do these things as well as an architect. Siting involves more than identifying scenic views. Orientation may influence heating/cooling costs, efficiency of solar collectors (if such things matter to you), locations of well and septic. If, for instance, one part of your property "percs" nicely and others do not, that will influence the siting of your leach field. If the house is built far from the road you may find the cost of electric service cable rather high.
Building a new custom house brings much joy and much heartburn!
You may expect an architect to charge 15% of the overall cost of the building. For a truly unusual project his services are worth the cost. Yours is (IMHO) not such an unusual project.
Quality construction will cost closer to $200 per sq ft. Don't forget to factor in the cost for well and septic, and a long driveway.
You already own the land. Good. Please drill the well before signing any contracts with an architect or contractor. If you don't hit water, you don't have a buildable property. Most of Wake County is within the triassic basin, a geological formation which is not particularly good for water wells.
I don't want to rain on your parade but you need an expert cost estimator way before you need an architect... and I think you don't need an architect at all.
Daniel B. Martin
When you say quality construction, what do you mean. I have been in many $1.5MM houses and have yet to see all bathrooms without a tub shower combination or in a 4 bdr each bdr having it's own bath with a separate tub and shower with granite and marble.
Second these exact same house do not have Wolf ranges with hoods, 4' Sub Zero refrigerators, and $1000+ dishwashers.
Most are 2x4 construction, without high performance windows, with no basements and if there are, they are concrete block not poured concrete and if there is a crawl space there is no concrete rat slab. Additionally the HVAC is not state of the art as in a high SEER rating or Mitsubishi mini splits.
Most do not have hardwood floors throughout and use tile instead of travertine or granite.
Well, I have to be surprised that the construction cost of a one-off home would cost almost twice the average rate in the county, even with the land already purchased. And of course water and sewer must be considered separately.
The thing you have to keep in mind is that statistic includes tract homes, which make up a pretty big chuck of the new construction market. There's a big $/sf difference in doing 300 units of mostly the same thing built to the minimum standards of the building code vs doing a single one custom that aims a bit higher.
It's not impossible to do full custom affordable housing though. One of the firms I DM'd you won an award or two last year doing a house under $110/sf. You make some trade offs, and usually trade some of your own time looking for deals on this or that.
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Originally Posted by luv4horses
Okay, if I do not use an architect for the entire design, are there architects or others who will help you decide how to settle the house on the land? And how to'expand' the plans? And even to help select a plan? Now that I have a couple of names, thanks to DM's, I can contact those folks, but maybe I need to have a better handle on who/what I need first.
That would typically fall under folks who operate as 'home designers" or construction companies offering customization of plan catalog plans. Registered architects and their firms run into insurance/liability issues doing that kind of work - putting your name/license on plans that are mostly done by someone unaffiliated with the firm is risky at best, though some will do it anyway. But since you don't need an architect's stamp on most single family houses, anybody can try their hand at it and setup a business to do so. So then it's just finding someone who'll do a satisfactory job - and that really depends on you, what you like, and what your standards are.
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Originally Posted by danielbmartin
A competent custom builder can do these things as well as an architect.
I take some issue with this, partially because it's a such a broad generalization and partially because I think even in that context, it's generally incorrect.
I know a few builders who pay enough attention to that sort of thing that I'd trust them to get it mostly right. But I know far more who don't seem to think about much of anything in that regard, much less know finer details like generally not putting kitchens on the west side of the house, or the effective ways to reduce square footage without reducing liveability. Likewise, I know a number of architects who look like like ego-maniacal fools when they try to design anything. Good architects, like good builders, are really, really hard to come by.
Which brings up another of the traditional arguments for building a team that includes both a decent architect and GC - checks and balances. The architect is supposed to be someone knowledgeable, doing site visits during construction to make sure that what get's built lines up with what the owner is expecting and is paying for. GCs tend not to like having someone look over their shoulder, so there's of course some source of conflict there. You need enough checks and balances to make sure things get done well and don't get missed, but not so much conflict that the whole thing degenerates into silly pissing matches and finger pointing. Some owners are comfortable acting in that role, others aren't and hire an architect to do it.
But that inherent source of conflict is partially what has led to the emergence of fairly balanced architect-contractor design-build partnerships. There are pluses and minuses to both approaches, but one big plus is that the team is a little more cooperative.
Last edited by MOD; 11-22-2013 at 10:56 PM..
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