I found this book titled "What Your Contractor Can't Tell You" very helpful in this regard (and in regard to the entire process of building a house). In general, you want to know what experience they have with the style of home you plan to build, with the conditions of the site you plan to build on, and what their fee/fee structure is. Also, a lot of the decision will come down to personalities (do you and the architect get along).

Here is a link that might be useful: Amazon link to book

Hi,

One of the most important questions I think is how many homes have you designed and built in the last 5 years. And how many one year ago in this area?

If the architect has done a few, then people like him / her so that is good.

Also and this is absolutely crucial, he / she will have a pretty good idea of cost, and up to date pricing. The last thing you want is to spend $US 30,000 on a plan, only to find out that it is way too expensive at the bidding phase. So if he has built a number of homes in the area, he / she will know roughly how much the cost will be + / - 50%. I say 50% because estimation is a very inexact art. I would not even say science. But at least in the design he can tell you if you are in the right ball park.

Best, Mike.

Another approach is to start looking at builders. The good builders know who the good architects are, but I'm not sure it is true the other way around.

If you post the location you will be building in, you may be able to get some decent leads right here.

I think it's important that he/she have a track record of designing homes in the style you're looking for. Mine did..........

Here is a link that might be useful:

Also if you're dealing with larger firms make sure you speak to the architect that you will be dealing with directly. Whether a large firm or a single architect, when speak to him (or her), make sure he defers to both you and your spouse. Watch how he makes eye contact, if he answers...or more important ignores...questions put forth by either of you.

Thanks for the book link Skinnny, it looks like a good one.

Two of the architects who we'll be talking to are local (small town) and are in business by themselves. So when we talk to them, we'll be talking to the actual person that we'd be working with. We've been by houses that each of them have designed and they've been in the town/county for years so will each have plenty of recommendations.

The third is a slightly bigger firm that is about 25 miles away. I am very impressed with their work and portolios and they've also done a lot of homes in the area.... all are in the style and have a quality that is what we're lookng for.

One thing that I'm not sure about is when meeting with the bigger firm which is two principal architects who own the firm and 3 associates, who do we meet with? I'm not sure how firms wind up assigning homes and don't want to spend time talking with the principals if it winds up getting assigned to someone else. Since we're 900 miles away right now, we're somewhat limited in how much advance knowledge we'll have about everybody. Is there a protocol here for a preliminary meeting with a multi architect firm?

Mightyanvil are you still around?