Wow. Impressive. I was wondering why you chose that treatment. We are also on an incline and we do not have a walkout but about a 8' steep slab that just drops off at the back. My husband and I were the GCs on our home we worked with plans but made some cosmetic modifications as we went. We would need a very unique retaining wall / deck/ possible small pool with infinity edge design. We are a year or two out since we need to rest a bit since completing our home. You can see our house on Google earth at 212 CR 260 East, Mico tx 78056.
We have an older home that we used to live in then our new home is closer to the water we have a dock w a greenish blue roof. What would we need to set aside budget wise for a design? It would be a full length deck wrapping back of house with plenty of seating areas and at least stairs leading down to a grassy area then leading down to lake.

THis is the view from water

Looks like a beautiful home. From your explanation I take it this would be kind of a terraced design. I would enjoy going out and speaking with you personally just to get a feel for the site if that's at all possible. My fee for such a design is 6% of construction cost which is pretty standard for a licensed architect. This would include architectural design and necessary consultants such as structural engineer and Mechanical-Electrical-Plumbing (MEP). I'm guesstimating between $9,000-$10,000 for these professional design services. With this (during the schematic design phase) I would include a Preliminary Cost Estimate to gauge the construction cost before it's bid it out to potential GC's (unless you do it yourself).

The problem I found when under construction at the Canyon Lake site was finding laborers that where willing to wheel barrow fill and other materials down to the backside of the house (in the middle of summer). Retaining walls require a concrete slab and lots of gravel fill for good drainage. Since the existing house had no space on the sides to clear my trenchers and bobcat, wheel barrows where the only option. A cost run-up for sure. Would there be space on the sides of this home for such equipment?

oh i am not surprised it was like pulling teeth to get someone out to do our retaining wall for our driveway. they would come out and never call back with a bid. my husband ended up forming the footing along with his father then it sat for about 2 years then we found someone out of castroville to form the wall. we're still working on this driveway/retaining wall project.

While I'm ready to get a design together my husband wouldn't be emotionally prepared to meet with you yet but i want to keep your contact info for maybe a cosultation i'm hoping for about 12 months, Charles is someone who needs to do one thing at a time then take a rest then start dreaming again. We both know we need someone like you to do a very solid design that we can follow. We need to do this once and do it right.

We know everything has to be put through to the appropriate professionals we've been through a lot! the good news about access is that yes we have a very nice open area on the side of the house my husband has some heavy equipment out here (hes a pilot but loves to work and hates to hire stuff he knows how to do) and he has been working on making it smoother and easier to get to the back of the property and water. We literally have no neighbors and we own the adjacent land so we are in good shape there.

if we were to hire you for the design then how would you figure your fee? I know this is a project that if we hired it out it would be around $`100-150k (w pool). I'm hoping if we did it as the GCs we could save at least 30%. We did very well on our home my husband is one smart guy and we had some great subs that we can call on again.

Yes, please keep my number and you are welcome to call me with any questions. The fee is typically based off of construction cost when there is a hired GC. A $9000-$10,000 design fee is assuming the cost of construction is in the 150k+/- range. This fee also includes helping clients out with bidding and negotiations with potential contractors. If this is not in my scope of services we can definitely negotiate a price that fits your needs and budget. There is also hourly fees but typically my clients like to have cost up-front. What would you say your construction budget is on this project?

Also, remember that pools are a type of specialized construction not too many people can do. Your concrete guys need to know how to handle shotcrete, placing rebar and metal wire mesh correctly (in a freeform pool) can confuse even the most seasoned rebar veteran, and plumbing is not handled by just any plumber. There are cantilevered pool designs and pools with integrated coping that separate the pool from the adjoining concrete deck with an expansion joint (a two part concrete pour). Three years ago I built my own pool. The subs I typically hire didn't want to work on it because pool construction was unknown to them. My plumber definitely didn't want to plumb the pool. It took some time (and a little snooping around Zars Pool sites) but I found the right subcontractors. Just something to be aware of.

Thank you for being so straight with me and yes, we know it's a tricky site and unusual project that tradesman in this area won't all be familiar with. I appreciate your candor we I will keep you in my dream file. My best regards to you.