This subject has often been discussed on this forum and every possible approach seems to have had at least one advocate with DIY design being favored by he majority since this is where many of them come for advice.

IMHO the choice should be based on how important design and detailing are to you and who might be available in your area to provide it at a reasonable cost.

For better advice it is a good idea to tell us where the project is located and something about the site and the program.

Well you should feel welcome to share your ideas with a good designer or architect. I personally am biased and suggest using an architect. This is not always best for everyone but that is part of the selection process as well. Architects are educated, trained and licensed and must live up to certain standards. They are (typically) more highly skilled than residential designers / draftsman. They are trained to incorporate many things. First and foremost is your needs,desires, budget and tastes. They consider site considerations, orientation, good plan design,space,form,proportion,context ( where are you building)aesthetics, materials, construction techniques and how these all affect your budget. You should show whoever you work with your sketches, photos, magazine cutouts, lists or requirements, deed restrictions, any possible design guidelines that may affect your project. All of these things help them to better understand your tastes, desires and level of detail you might want. Dont expect them to come back with just a version of your ideas. The truth is some clients have some great ideas and others really fail miserably and some are ok but nothing special. You want to work with someone who can not only show you how your ideas might be developed but also inject their creativity, design skills and experience. I usually find that about 75% of the time; what clients initially believe the design will turn out to be is not even close to what the final design is. To often a client has gotten themselves emotionally tied to their ideas and close their mind to other ideas.I look at it as often times clients only color inside the lines and the architect is trained to color outside the lines if it helps solve the problem. This is why I usually start by showing them versions of what they had in mind and if I feel there are better possibilities; I then show them these afterwards. This allows them to slowly get used to opening up to other ideas. When they see the new ideas they are more able to be honest and see that these other ideas might be better and can objectively evaluate them to find the best solution for their family. Interview several. Look at their work and see if they have done work you like. See how they fit/ meet design and construction budgets with others if possible. Then be sure you know whats included and what is not in their services. If your comfortable with them then enter into a contract and enjoy the process. There are different level of quality architects and designers aas there are in most any field Good Luck.

@bigK
Where art thou located?

You have spoken great words of intensely biased wisdom, Oh Kahuna. Words I believe to be so true, they scare me.

The unmentioned dimension, which I'd really like guidance on, is the cost aspect of an architect's involvement.

When my building project finally gets going (year? maybe two?), when I finally hit the hard core design phase, my budget is going to be so tight, a dram of cod liver oil would not be able to leak through. And the concept of spending some thousands of dollars on something as intangible as 'ideas' and 'advice' and 'alternative possibilities' really hurts me deep in my penny pinching soul.

On the other hand, I want my first build to be my last, I want to live and die in this place, and I want to create a house, and home, with character, I want to wake up every morning overjoyed with the space I have around me.

I don't know if I can do that all by myself. I think if I could find a 'loving' architect, the M. Scott Peck of the home design world, and if I could afford her/him, then I would be better for the connection and collaboration.

I'm smart. I know what I like. I can look at magazines and design books and say, "Oh yeah!" or, "Yuck!" or even, "Now that looks fun." But putting it all together? Including the mandatories and leaving out the stupids. I don't know if I can do that. Or rather, I don't know if I can do it the BEST way possible.

What are my options, re. working with an architect? I've got years of dreaming and designing and wish list editing under my belt. I am less than one month from closing on the 11 acre piece of property I expect to live on for the rest of my life. I understand the building process as well as a 'layman' can, or so I believe. I have first pass, preliminary plans drawn for what I think I want. I think I want these things over here (SIP panel walls, timber frame in the main living space, geothermal, high efficiency wood heat, hydronic floors, standing seam roof, full basement, rain water cistern, wood fired oven, walk in kitchen pantry, etc.) and not those things over there (marble foyer, white on white on white white, 400 sq ft master all sports bath, crystal chandelier over a formal dining table, etc.). I've spent a lot of time thinking about, reading about, determining what I want. I am also open to how to tweak or perfect or modify what I already have, plus open to completely new ideas I haven't even considered (who do I think I am, after all!).

So, here I am. I'm on a tight budget, but truly want and would value those alternative ideas. What value? I'm willing to spend something for those ideas, but not 10 or 15% of the cost of my home. I just can't afford it. So where does the architect question touch someone like me?

Boy, that was a long stream of semi-consciousness, wasn't it?

~Allen

ps. Seriously, BigK, where are you located?

I believe the bigK is in Ohio.

Macv is correct. I am in Columbus, Ohio. The cost of working with an architect /designer varies. You will typically find several methods of billing fees. 1. Fixed fee. This can be based on hourly rates of the architect, and or draftsman and calculated based on their estimate of time they feel it will take to complete the job based on a meeting with you to discuss the level of service and detail required /desired. 2. Percent of construction cost. self explanitory. 3. Hourly to be determined based on service required but not fixed.Might be ala cart services. This could be where they do design studies and then you ask for more studies, etc etc. You might stop at that and price preliminaries and get back and revise accordingly. You might have one person do design and a builder /draftsman complete the drafting phase. ( not always a great idea but its a way to go) This may involve detailed drawings or sketches, 3d modeling and everything in between based on you, and your builders need. 4. Price per square foot. This is where I usually see drafting services come into play. They are often time more concerned with getting a design cranked out and drafted quickly. Design isn't as highly valued. Using an architect you would likely expect to pay anywhere from 3%-10%. The level of design, complexity of the project, level of detail expected and included will be the biggest variable. Your location,the skill and availability of the architect can affect this too as one would expect to pay much more for the big name architects. Its not an exact science and is not always easy to say it will take 50,75 or 200 hours as some clients are easier to please than others and some want or need less detail and service. Architecture is an investment. It does add cost to the process and sometimes to the cost of building. It should also make the home more enjoyable to live in, experience, work in, entertain and build. At times they save you money due to a well thought out design that utilizes space / materials well and reduces them. Also knowledge of construction practices and heating and cooling methods might possibly reduce the cost of living in that home. Then if and when you decide to sell your home it should sell faster and for more money than a poorly designed home. We have all walked into homes and thought...what the heck were they thinking? Why would you do this...or that etc. The fewer things that dont make sense the better. PS several of your ideas for your home are on the more expensive side. ie radiant floors, geo thermal, metal roof, timber frame etc. Some will make sense in the long run and are more efficient but will have a larger upfront investment. Other things to consider on tight budgets are phasing.. Can basment be finished later or bonus rooms over garage etc. There are any number of things like that to consider.

Our builder was great. He worked with an architect whose work we felt was awkward and probably would not work for us. We used a designer whose work we liked. The designer modified a stock house plan he had to design a kennel space for our show dogs. It helped that he really liked dogs and built a great space for them The designer was probably weak in some respects but the builder compensated with his experience and it turned out great. Work with people you feel comfortable with and if you need space for dogs make sure they like dog.

Thanks for all of the information! You should see me over here taking notes like crazy. I appreciate your kindness.

The site is about an hour outside of downtown Atlanta. It's in a SD, and the lot is about 2 acres. It slopes gently to the back. The others on the street have used the slope for walkout/daylight basements to the rear. Like many SD lots, it's longer than it is wide. The SD is saving many trees, but the back of the property opens to a field and SD green space. The SD is largely Frank Betz homes, but you can bring a custom plan, as well. It has to be approved by the development's owner (basically, has to be 2500 sqft with a side or rear garage and blend with the craftsman influences of the other houses) I'm not using a program; I'm just sketching things out on paper. Is there a user friendly program that would be good for brainstorming and sharing ideas with a professional later? I have a file of clippings, as well.

Several people have recommended one our our town's architects, but he publishes in a national magazine, so I suspect he'd be quite costly. I'm sure with Atlanta nearby, we'd have access to all levels of designers/architects, though I'm not sure where to start the search for qualified individuals. We aren't looking to build something extravagant, though there is a lot of that around here.

We tried just adapting stock plans, but they are all the same, and I'm tired of walking into a house and saying, "Oh, I know this plan." I'd rather build a smaller home that meets our personal needs and has a sense of individuality...that reflects us. (I suppose that answers the question of "Should I plan a custom layout?") We, like tomato so beautifully explained, just have no concept of the costs and find the whole process a bit frightening.

tomato, I often find myself feeling the same way. It's overwhelming.

young-gardener,

My husband and I designed and drew our house plan, and have done all the building from the ground up. We started the journey in early 2006 and will be finally moving in this Spring.

We are very experienced in home construction as we are in the masonry and general contracting business. Even still, it has not been an easy task. There is much to consider and if you feel "ill equipped" to do it yourself, maybe searching for a good designer or architect would be best. If it were me, I would still come up with a basic sketch of what I wanted. Nothing fancy......just something for the professional to use as a guide.

Although we are experienced in all phases of home construction, this was our first foray into the actual design and sketching of prints. I think it took us about a month, working on it a little bit each day. There was a ton of research we had to do along the way.

So for those DIY'ers out there, it can be done. But it helps to have a construction background.

Doing it yourself is very rewarding. I don't regret all the time it took, or the headaches :)

Best of luck with whatever route you choose.

I forgot to mention that we had several reasons for designing our own house plan. Like you, we just couldn't find a stock plan that would fit our needs. We have always been very unique when it comes to building and even though we browsed plans, we both knew we would end up with our own design in the end.

Cost was another factor. The first designer I called wanted a fortune. That was the last call I made, LOL.

I think another reason is that my DH and I don't mind a challenge. We aren't afraid of the work involved. We knew there was no reason we couldn't do it if we tried really hard.

So as we are coming close to crossing the finish line, I think we have achieved that "sense of individuality" and ended up with a forever home that reflects our personalities.

How many stock plans can you find that include an "underground tunnel"??? ;)

Thank you, BigK. Your advice & description, and caveats, are right in line with what I was expecting. The info about options for involvement of an architect was exactly what I was looking for.

Just FYI, I absolutely realize some of the items on my wish list will have a larger up front cost. To help pay for that approach, I plan to a) act as my own general contractor, and b) do much of the work, especially inside, myself. I will be looking to the GW Build forum for lots of advice on that as well!

Thanks again for the help.

~Allen

@mamabirrd
Curious: what does the underground tunnel connect?

Some questions about your DIY approach, if you don't mind:
1. How much (besides the masonry and GC parts) did you actually do yourself? I mean stuff like excavation, concrete, partition walls, electrical, plumbing, HVAC duct work, sheet rock, carpentry, paint, that sort of thing.
2. Did your connection/experience in the construction biz give you access to the subs you needed? Any advice for someone who doesn't have those contacts?
3. This one is more personal. Did you do at least some of this as a "pay as you go" project? (That is in fact my plan/hope for our build.) I ask because most construction loans I've read about don't give you four years.

I am, as I said, beginning to look for guidance and ideas. I know it will be a long, time consuming, exhausting, and ultimately very rewarding process. I know I can do it. I am looking forward to it all. I've wanted to do this all my life, and now is the time.

~Allen

Hi tomato dude mi,

The tunnel connects the house garage to a detached garage. They are basically right next to each other but we thought the tunnel would be great in the winter time when we need to go out and putz in the other garage. It will also double as a storm shelter. :)

I don't mind the questions at all.

1. Everything. Well, minus the garage door installation. We didn't do that because it was so cheap and we were busy doing electrical at the time. We had an electrician friend help with that project, but my DH did much of the work. Oh, and drilling our well wasn't possible because we don't own a drilling rig. But a neighbor has a well drilling business so he did that. Otherwise, it's been all us. We put in a 700'+ driveway, cleared the home site, did the excavation, masonry, concrete, framing, roofing, window installation, plumbing, duct work, sheet rock, the septic system, and all the little stuff in between. We have installed a temporary oil furnace to take us through this winter as we finish the interior and next summer we will be installing a geothermal HVAC system. DH became a certified installer about 2 years ago.
I will be doing all of the painting soon, then we will do flooring and start to install fixtures, do the bathrooms, kitchen, etc. We will most likely install kitchen cabinets (we've done that before) unless we find a cabinet maker that makes us a good deal on installation.
We also plan to install soapstone counters and possibly even fabricate it ourselves.
We have had assistance with some of the bigger projects from my husband's business partner (who is also his uncle) as well as one of our employees. My DH never would have been able to hang the 12' sheets of drywall on our cathedral ceiling without their help. I'm not tall enough ;)

2. We didn't use subs. Being in the industry, we know lots of subs, but never intended to use any other than our friend (and former employee) who is now an electrician. Made the electrical go much faster than DH doing it alone.
I wish I had advice for finding good subs.....it's not easy. You could get references from local building contractors. If you find a prospect, maybe ask to see some of their work.

3. It's definitely been a pay as we go, lol. We don't want a mortgage. We've managed to not have one in the last 18 years of home ownership and doing it this way just made so much sense to us. This is one reason that our home may not be 100% complete when we move in, but we will finish things (such as the master bath) as we have the funds to do so.

I'd be glad to try and answer any other questions you have. You sound like you are a good candidate for a DIY home and I wish you the best of luck.

PS: So what kind of tomatoes do you grow? I live to garden :)

OK, mamabirrd! I really wanna talk to you. I'm afraid I have already sorta hijacked this thread from the original design question, so I am going to start a new thread, in hopes there are others out there interested not just in building or contracting, but in full-on, pay as you go, really do-it-yourself construction.

Any and all: please look for a new thread titled something like "real DIY, pay as you go". I am going to cut-n-paste much of MamaBirrd's text from above. I hope to see y'all there.

~Allen

An architect is only good if the architect is...good. My neighbors hired an architect for a remodel who was really stupid or really lazy or both. His ideas were terrible--I came up with three better ones just rattling them off the top of my head, one of which my neighbors switched to.

Among his mistakes, BTW:

They're adding a 2nd floor and are incorporating the current garage into the existing house. They want to keep their obscenely overpriced new windows, which means not changing most of the existing facade. The wife wants a foursquare house--instead of figuring out that she was referring to a foursquare, the architect made a WAG and got it all wrong. And instead of telling them, honestly, that you can't have a foursquare house with two 3x3 windows and one 3x12 window asymetrically placed on the facade, he tried to throw the horrible, mis-sized second story that related in no way to the first onto the house. The windows were twice as big and had no dimensional or positional balance with what was below. It SCREAMED "poorly conceived addition."

Inside, among other things, he shoved the kitchen under the 12' window, which meant lowering the counters in a number of areas. Mind you, these are TALL people. The stairs were moved to a stupid location, the bathrooms were beyond stupid, and a bunch of other things, too.

Awesome!

I explained that she couldn't have a foursquare with that facade and instead directed her to the 1940s "Cotswold/English cottage" look, which she loved just as much. Then I suggested that they keep the same window heights on the front of the second floor--3'-- to keep some harmony, redid all the bathrooms, and moved the kitchen to the current garage, where it actually can have some solid wall space on one side and open on the other, the way they wanted (and asked for) all along.

That took all of half an hour. The architect was fired--they'll find another who knows what he's doing when they're ready to go.

So, are you saying young-gardener should ask the neighbors for advice? In my experience the jealousy factor is a problem.

We are towards the end of a custom build. We used an architect/builder and couldn't be happier. I think it depends on the level of custom you want. No stock plan is ever going to be truly custom. We have a friend that is also a builder and his clients chose from different floorplans (done by a draftsman) that are customized to fits the clients needs. They build gorgeous homes, but they all look alike are are not truly custom in my opinion.

There are so many advantages in using an architect, but you will pay for these advantages. The cost was very much an investment I would do over in a heartbeat.

Initially, I wanted an architect designed home but there was no way I could afford it. So, I decided to find a stock plan drawn by an architect, and then pay the same architect on a limited-service basis to modify it to work with my lot.

I let myself be convinced that a house designed by a local designer, just for me, would be better! So I gathered up the thoughtful idea portfolio I had originally put together for an architect while I was dreaming and carefully explained what I wanted and how much I could spend while at the lot.

I got back complete and utter crap that was 1000 square feet over the size I specified and probably $150k over budget. We wrangled for a while but it became clear I was not going to get a decent house out of this guy, so I designed it myself, spending a lot of time modeling it in 3D since I don't have experience at this. Two years of studying houses, house plans and architecture helped, but I was a newb and I knew it.

Then, knowing exactly what I wanted, I handed it to the designed to draft it... and spent the next several months brow-beating the guy to do simple things like draw the plan I gave him and not randomly change doors sizes, nagging him about one blown deadline after another, and, of course, paying him for each screwy draft.

FINALLY, I have a final plan. While this option was still slightly cheaper than having a architect do modifications on a limit-service basis... without a doubt if I could start all over I would go that route.

Not every house designer stinks and not every architect has design talent, but I think the odds are a lot better that the guy with 5 years of college and a license has a clue.

I second everything about alabamanicole's post.

We used a draftsman, and it was a poor choice. If we ever build again, we would only do so with an architect...who is involved in both the design and build process. Whatever the cost, we would gladly pay it...even if it ultimately affected the level of home we could build.

Wow. Very convincing story, nicole. This is what I have been suspecting. I don't have the money for an architect, but I don't really have the option of not having an architect. What I want is something good and special and right for us. I can do some work, probably a lot of work, up front, and then hand over the 'idea portfolio' to a professional. I've just about talked myself into it.

What software did you use for the 3D modeling? This is something I would really like to look into, the various software tools for the job. The only ones I've seen (besides the $29 pretend stuff) are Chief Architect and AutoCAD with plugins.

Advice absolutely welcomed.

~Allen

I used a draftsman -- umm woman, and she was awesome. Cost me about $500 and I couldn't be happier.

Probably just dumb luck, I didn't know to go anywhere different but I am happy. But also, I was pretty prepared before I went to see her. I knew what we wanted and took those ideas to her and she listened to everything and pretty much got it right the first time. We just had to do some minor tweaking.

Allen,

I started with Punch, but it was poor and difficult to use. I switched to the $200 version of Chief Architect and found it pretty good for interiors but certainly much more limited than the stuff I see come out of the full version. However, the roofs are awful. If you don't want the auto-generated hipped roof, be prepared for lots of frustration and you still probably won't get the right roof. Ironically, the cheap Punch software had a pretty decent roof creator.

Another big downside is that I couldn't export the drawings to CAD. That is particularly frustrating because it means the draftsman has to start all over from scratch.

A co-worker had a local architect do his house. He and his wife drew up the floor plan he wanted, and the architect drew a house around it. It's a well-done house, and this service cost them about $5000, mostly because the architect got it 99% right on the first draft.

There are options other than "here's $60,000, design me my dream home." I would interview your local architects and see what kinds of services they offer. And if you haven't purused the stock plans online that are drawn by architects, do so. You might find a close match to what you want, especially if you have a relatively simple site to work with. (Mine is not.)

@nicole and @gopintos -- Thanks for the input.

@go -- I cannot imagine, no matter how prepared you were, you got the final engineered drawings for your home for only $500. That blows me away. I said in another thread how much I like your house, especially the wrap around porch, and the wide open view from the ground floor/basement level.

@nicole -- I am working now with Visio (have used it for 15+ years for drawings at work; it was bought up by Microsoft a few years back). It is only 2-D, which is a drag. And it has no good way that I know of (yet), to do roof pitches at all. Pisses me right off. Oops. Sorry. It frustrates the puh-tooties outa me. It's useful for some rough planning, but I'd like more. I especially want the 3-D rendering capability.

I was just writing in a different thread this thought: If I can be that much better prepared on the day I walk into an architect or designer's office, can I justify (legitimately) the cost of a higher end software package, like the full blow Chief Architect?

How long did it take you to come up to a useful speed on the $200 version of CA? Just curious.

~Allen

I think it depends how the architect you choose prices. If they charge by the hour, the more prepared you are the better, and if you have everything drawn out like you want and they can just fluff it, so much the better.

When my parents built their house (a cape cod style) 35 years ago, they had the floor plan essentially drawn out on graph paper, to scale, when they hired their architect. Their architect was a good one, and made some good suggestions like incorporating french doors across the back of their house, rather than a string of windows, etc., but the floor plan stayed basically the same.

Their house has aged extremely well, and is very similar to what our architect drew for us, from a floor plan standpoint, on his first sketch. Knowing what you want is always helpful. I was afraid to draw out too much because I didn't want to stifle his ideas, but now I find myself sketching our back hall because it is not quite right yet.

I would spring for it, or ask for it for Christmas :)

"fluff it"?

IMHO the most successful design process is the collaborative one. It is just as important for you to take advantage of the architect's knowledge and skill as it is for him/her to take advantage of yours. Show the archtect your ideas and listen to his/her advice with an open mind if you want to get your money's worth from the process.

Frankly, I would be suspicious of the capability of any architect that would be willing to simply draw up a plan. If that was the only work I could find, I would be looking for a more interesting and lucrative way to make a living.

Macv - by fluff it I didn't mean simply draw out the plan :) In my parents case, the "plan" they drew was a very traditional one - center front hall, dining room on left, living room on right, leading to library, kitchen and family room across the back, master on main. Nothing tricky about that and traditional I guess because it works.

By "fluff" it, I meant, add the details. He worked out the back hall which they didn't have figured out, focused on the proportion of the rooms, designed the beautiful mouldings and wainscotting, selected windows, drew and designed the exterior elevation and trim, etc. To me, there is much more to a good architect than a floor plan.

It is this reason we picked the architect we are using - we know how we live and basically where we want things. We NEED him for the details - which is his forte.

Allen,

"How long did it take you to come up to a useful speed on the $200 version of CA? Just curious. "

I don't know that I ever did. Every time I turned around I kept accidentally finding other things it did that were easier than the way I was doing it. No, there's no real help file or manual. And the navigation and such is non-standard, like zooming and scrolling. (They may be standard for CAD programs, but it's not how anything else works.)

I, too, was working with Visio primarily. Those files have all the exact dimensions and detail. I was much less picky with CA -- since I couldn't export a CAD file and I just wanted to know what it looked like in 3D, I didn't sweat the tiny details.

Given that most purchasers of the product really want to know what it will look like if the walls are blue, not really design a house, it performs as expected and then some.

There's a 30 day money back guarantee on the consumer versions and the full version has a trial download.

Would this be reasonable: we have a stock plan that we like, but we just want to make a few (straightforward, we think) modifications. Could we do this on the Chief Architect program or similar?

(1) Change center-hall plan to a foyer with a winder staircase, and be able to make other rooms bigger with the space saved.

(2) All the plumbing work in our stock plan is in the same quadrant of the house, but we'd like to change the kitchen to a different corner, just so the plumbing is all lined up, to have manifold/centralized plumbing.

(3) Remove/make smaller some windows that would face a less scenic side of the property (close to neighbor's house).

(4) Add small ladder/staircase to attic loft.

Some of this depends on the few changes. While I must say here you have to be careful of the copyrights on the plans. Are you purchasing the plans and then modifying them or putting it on computer to modify or getting cadd files from the plans site ? Also you need to know what your building dept requires for submittal for plans. Chief Architect is probably more difficult than the average person will find comfortable to produce documents. This may depend on the complexity of roofs and so on. laying out plans for design ideas is not always the most difficult but producing a set of plans for permitting is another issue IMHO. You need to start with sketches of the changes to be sure they work then get permitable plans. These can be done by the builder, or draftsman or an architect.There are alot of variables not known here to give you a really good answer.

What you need an architect for is to develop a unique design for your unique family and solve special problems in a creative manner. Any competent general contractor can provide you with traditional trim details.

Hi,

I think as in all trades there are good guys and bad guys. Before I go further I declare that I am biased because my brother is an architect, and a builder (and I think very good one at that.) You can judge for yourself, he put his money and skill where his mouth is and designed and built this hotel. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torre_di_Moravola.

Architecture is also about personal preferences too, so some things some guys like more than others. My personal acid test is if the normal chap in the street visits a building and thinks wow this is nice, then you got a winner. It is a matter of when you see it you know it.

I also speak from a client end. My brother did design for me a house, however we came in way over budget. So I had to start again. This time I used a local architect who knew the market and could design to a budget target. We came in high, everyone does. I mean everyone, but not ridiculously so. My recomendation is design to a target of $US 100 and be prepared to pay about $US 150 for a single family home in the 2,000 to 3,000 sq feet range. I.E. you will be 50% over budget. In our ultimately abortive design we also used a structural engineer. He was great and we needed him to sign off on the plans becuase he was NY state licensed. I still would recommend him, he is Mr. David Kufferman and he is based in Connecticut.

Ultimately I think the choice of which depends so much on the situation. Especially the site. If the site is difficult then you need a more difficult and intricate design. If the site is easy, flat, no oustanding issues, then you can go for a buy off the shelf designs. Incidently if you go for a buy off the shelf design note that you will still need someone to sign off on the design. I.E. if the house colapses, that person is on the hook for it. Some off the shelf designs are so bad that you may not be able to get anyone to sign off.

One final note for the ultimate Arcitecture design you can get (loads of money though) CATIA. This is a software package originally used for aircraft 3d modeling and design. Frank Gehry used to to design the museum in Bilbao, that is how they managed to get that free flow curve look. Other neat tricks include special on site window glass curve shaping which used a tight bed of steel rods. (Just like those toys with many steel rods that you place gently on your face to get an impression recorded). The glass was placed on the bed of rods and heated. It then deformed to the desired shape. Note one special mold but many many shapes of glass.

Anyhow enough rambling on......

Best, Mike.

Here is a link that might be useful: Moravola: Hotel

If you want to custom design a house, SketchUp is by far the best 3D CAD design software and the basic version is free from Google or $495 for the pro version.

If you want to assemble a house from a limited kit of parts then the contractor type programs like Chief Architect are fine but are too limiting IMHO.

You shouldn't expect any CAD program to be easy to learn to use well but I can tell you that SketchUp is a lot of fun if you like to design things.

Thanks for the response, esp. BigKahuna. We are early in the process of deciding whether to build on our existing lot, or to move to a bigger house, in ~3 years (trying to save as much money as possible between now and then!) There are a number of reasons why we'd like to build on our existing lot, rather than move (and why it appears to make sense for us financially). Then again, there is still a lot to look into.. right now I'm just trying to get a sense of what it would cost (roughly) to build something we'd be happy with.

If we end up building here, we'd buy stock plans that fit closely, but have some modifications made. (We may not find stock plans exactly on point due to features of the lot- narrow, one side close to neighbor's house so need less windows there.)

This wouldn't technically be a custom house. We'd plan to save on costs (relatively) by building a square/rectangular house without a lot of angles, by using manifold/centralized plumbing, and by keeping it under 2000sf finished. I'd do as much work as I can- reasonably handy (flooring installation, tiling, etc). I'd want to spend more of our budget on some higher-cost interior features that require a carpenter.

This site is a great source of information.. thank you!!

It is best to start a thread for your project rather than hijack an existing one.