Custom House Architects Creating Luxury Design 16

Custom House Architects, Residential Designer:  terms used to describe what they do by the public.

(C)Copyright 2009 Rand Soellner, All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

Custom house architects creating homes for clients who want something special, typically for a special building site with outstanding views.  This is where custom house architects enter the picture.  These residential designers create homes custom-tailored to your lifestyle and your project site.  The skills necessary to accomplish this are considerable.  Who else can turn words and photos of your acreage into an amazing home that satisfies your every dream and desire? 

Custom homes are designed by custom house architects.  This requires excellent listening skills.  Taking notes is important as well, so that you have a record of what people want.  There are normally a few questions as well.  Certain notions should be questioned, as some early client desires may in fact be far costlier than they ever imagined, or not practical.  It is the architect’s job to point these situations out to the client.  It does no good to say yes today, when you know that down the road someone will provide the information that changes the project direction.  It is best to discuss these pieces of information as early as possible.  Custom house architects need to be open and honest with their clients, even when it may not be politically expedient. 

Custom house architects know what is available for your home. 

Custom house architects are probably one of the most current-knowledge professionals on the planet, when it comes to what goes into your home.  These are the people that plan not only how your home is arranged, but what technologies, materials and systems go into it.  While it is really not the job of custom houe architects to specifically indicate the cost of your home (that is the job of the building contractor), custom house architects do generally know the relative cost of one system or material over another.  Sharing this information with clients is a good thing, so that they understand, at least generally, the economic implications of their decisions.

Custom house architects should have specifications.

Custom house architects like Rand Soellner have detailed specifications that offer a range of Owner Optional Upgrades.  This assists clients in having contractor bid pricing on a host of options.  This permits Soellner’s clients to make choices as to the quality and quantity of numerous options, which allows the client to be the one making the ultimate choice of how much their home will cost, based on their choices. For instance, the decking on the porch below was proposed as pressure treated # Southern Yellow Pine, which is a very durable and economical typical choice.  There was an upgrade option for ipe, which is a South American “iron” wood that is so dense that it does not float in water.  Ipe is quite a bit more expensive than less special woods like p.t. SYP (Southern Yellow Pine).  In this particular case, the custom house architects made sure that he client was aware of this added cost.  The client understood, and found the additional cost acceptable for the increased beauty and durability of the installation.  You see, ironwood looks like fine, furniture grade mahogany.  It requires yearly oiling and cleaning, also which the owner found acceptable.  Therefore, the client paid for what he wanted, taking responsibility for the increased cost and accompanying quality that he now enjoys.  Custom house architects skilled in these matters provide this top level service to help their clients achieve their financial versus quality objectives. 

Custom house architects provide options.

Custom house architects can employ the above technique on virtually any feature, system and material choice desired.  Rand Soellner provides a special specification sheet with about 100 options like the one cited herein.   This gives his clients a tremendous amount of flexibility to make choices up or down in terms of quality and cost, to suit their desires.  Soellner has taken the care to prepackage these choices into 4 main options: his Valley package, Foothills package, Mountain package and Mountaintop package.  The higher you go up Soellner’s mountain-themed packages, the higher the quality and the greater the investment.  Custom house architects like Soellner have provided a great deal of flexibility and control for their clients with this sort of pre-planning.