So, are you wanting a kind of design-by-committee thing? Or to hire one of the architects here on the forum? Or links to stock plans?

Side note: I saw an article here on Houzz recently, that talked about building upside down (beds down and living spaces up) to maximize views. Something to think about. :-)

That's a great question. How hard is it to work with someone only via email? Do designers or architects generally do this? We certainly would not be against hiring someone here on the forums if they felt like this is something they would enjoy working on.

Links to stock plans would be awesome as well, I've looked at quite a few but haven't really seen anything close to what we are looking for. Not many have a main or upper level suite which is a must on our list. I guess you could have them modified for this but I find I struggle with seeing these sort of changes in my minds eye. I guess I was thinking that if someone had any ideas for or experience with this type of design they might be able to share some insight.

I'm not opposed to building upside down if the layout makes sense. I will try to track down the article you mentioned. Thanks for your response.

I think I found the article that you mentioned and I am intrigued. Certainly an option for us provided we can find the right plan. Off to do some more searching.

Contact local architects and interview them. It is very beneficial for am architect to sit down face to face with the client, and to visit the site, to gather the information needed to design a home. It can be done long distance, but is not ideal. If your not satisfied with any local architects, broaden your definition of "local".

I don't have experience working with an architect yet, but I imagine that "only via email" could also involve phone calls, Skype sessions, and the like. I'm highly extroverted and touchy-feely, lol, so to me, there simply is no substitute for in-person interaction. But Skype would get you kinda close. ;-)

This all assumes you wouldn't want architectural assistance, during the project's building phase, of course. That is one reason why I'd want to hire locally, despite the awesome talent here on the forums.

If you decide to get a pro, I wouldn't personally give them something to tweak, I would figure out what you need, what you want, what you hate, and just give them a list. Folks also recommend collecting photos of exteriors and interiors that you like, and showing your architect/designer.

Oh, and I've heard it's common to get at least 2 or 3 different plans that fit all your criteria. Can you imagine??? After looking at tons of stock plans that all don't work, you may find yourself in the predicament of having to choose between two loves. :-D

Yeah the struggle is real regarding local architects, so I guess searching out of town will need to be an option. I feel like we have gone about this the wrong way. We hired a draftsmen and gave him a basic layout and idea but we are struggling with getting him to design us something we feel is actually functional, as you may see from my previous post. This process has cost me several thousand dollars already and it feels like I am about to start over and therefor would like to get someone a little easier to work with. We aren't trying to build a huge house or some architectural marvel, we just want something relatively simple and functional that works for us, but has at least a little bit of character.

There is a BIG difference between a draftsman or home designer and an architect. Sounds like you are experiencing that now. That being said, not all architects are the same.

An architect will want to know what your wants and needs are, not see layouts too think is close to what you want. You pay an architect to design a home to meet your meeds and wants, and fit your site.

Mr. Mit, that "character" part is why I want to employ an architect. I also like historic homes, so I want "accurate," too, lol. But even with modern or contemporary, avoiding a cartoon of a house is really important. By all means, go out of town. Depending on where you live (like if you're waaaaay out there in Wyoming or something), you may have to cross state lines. Which is totally doable.

I know it is really super rotten to have already spent thousands of dollars, with nothing to show for it. Wisdom is often the product of time and/or money unintentionally misspent. You avoided a six-figure mistake, though, which is valuable in its own right. :-)

Reach out to architectrunnerguy here on Houzz- this sounds right up his "remote" alley. He recently designed Pensacola PI's house via conference call and email - search - this would be perfect.

Flattered by jannicone's kind words and let me take a moment to write something about your design dilemma Mit and, so it's read by you and folks here with complete objectivity, let me couch it by saying I won't be working on your project but hopefully this advice will be of some help towards getting you on the path with someone else and ultimately, a successful project.

I agree with Mark in that a face to face relationship is obviously the ideal situation but that's not to say a remote set up is always a poor approach. Many, many factors play into what makes for success, including those with face to face relationships. And the accounts here are legion where many of those have gone south, even with those with designers of talent.

I'd always done face to face until I tried a couple of remotes here and I've been surprised as to how well they worked. I'm kinda picky about which one's I choose as I want a high probability of good success. I've turned down projects here for a variety of reasons. Chief of these is what I feel is the lack of trust in the relationship and an architect is not someone you bring in at the end of the design process to clean up the mess. Good design starts at the beginning of the process, not at the end.

To expand on the above, the one single thing you're going to need in any successful relationship with a designer, whether face to face or remote, is trust. A close second is not being too hung up on your preconceived ideas, which in a round about way, goes hand in hand with trust. I wrote about both of those here, scroll down to my 5/13 post http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/3887104/what-should-i-expect-from-my-architect-long?n=22

With all that said, I'd contact Naf Naf (Martha) and inquire if she would be willing to take her initial efforts forward in a remote relationship, and maybe in a direction you haven't thought of. She's working on I Love Red's house and doing a great job there.

Hope this helps and the best of luck with your project. Exciting times for sure!

How many previous homes have you lived in? The reason I ask is it can be difficult to design a new home unless you have some experiences on what you do and do not like about a house. Your list in your first post is very, very basic. There will be many (thousands) of choices you are going to be making in the process of designing and building a house (starting with the overall design, through the many interior options like lighting, paint, stain, cabinet design, tile, carpet, etc.).

My suggestion would be to start a longer list of what you like and don't like. Put your general parameters into the many online plan sites search engine and start to understand what pieces and parts of each that fit your general parameters you like and do not like. Think through some of the major options like kitchen designs, bathroom layout options, etc.

At the point you keep coming back to the same list of likes (and don't wants), find a good architect to pull it into a well designed plan that fits your exact criteria.

Wow I really really appreciate all of the great feedback here. Makes me realize just how little I know about this whole process. Architectrunner guy, I really appreciate your candid advice and in depth response. I did really like Naf_naf's changes to our initial plans, and will likely reach out in the near future to see if she would be interested in doing something like this. Thanks for all the responses, and what a great looking home you are building/designing Ilovered.

Yes, and Martha (Naf Naf) you should activate the "message" button on your profile. I've thought of contacting you with folks I've been too busy for and can't.

Mit,

The sketch I created for you was meant as an starting point. Feel free to contact anyone here in the forum. For the type of project you have, working long distance should be ok. Even with the local clients, we email most of the files. I think ARG can do a great job.

Architectrunnerguy,

I just activated the contact me tool and also added a profile pic. Hope it works.

ILoveRed,

Thank you for your nice words :)
Love working on your project

Naf Naf...you'll do fine. At least you can go off line. When Pensacola hired me I had a little bit of pressure with the whole forum watching, but who said that's a bad thing.... http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/4080219/so-we-hired-architect-runner-guy-after