What IS architecture? Have you ever asked this question? Most people have at one point or another considered what it would be like to design and build their own custom home. What stops them is that surprisingly there are quite a few misconceptions about custom residential architecture floating around out there. Today we thought we would end off the week by tackling a few of them.
Custom Architecture is expensive and only for the rich and famous.
Five years ago this statement was true for about 80% of our clientele, now that number is quiet a bit lower. I’m convinced that one of the main reasons more people aren’t going down the road of hiring an architect is simply that they don’t know they can! Designing and building homes on affordable budgets is not as elusive as you think. What most people don’t know is that custom architecture and designing the home you have always dreamed of is extremely affordable. You still don’t believe me? I want to flip your perspective. From renovating your current home, to buying a lot and starting from scratch your budget is made up by YOU! That’s right, you. If you want 50 thousand square feet and marble everything we can do that, but if you are wanting something a little more modest we can absolutely do that too.
The tract developers”custom” myth
Everyone has seen one of these developments, has a friend, and or lives in one themselves. They seem to be everywhere now-a-days. Don’t get me wrong, these are great home builders who produce quality homes, but they are not as “custom” as they claim to be.
For those of you who don’t know – when you buy a custom home from one of these builders you are presented with options every step along the way from carpet to wall color. Some options are standard, and some are called “upgrades” costing a little bit more money and adding onto the cost of the home. For example, you can either get the standard brown tile in the kitchen or you can upgrade to marble tile for a little bit more money. This method of building a home can be a great option. It gives the home owner a sense of customization and bit more pride in the home they are purchasing. What if though (let’s say) you wanted to add a skylight in your master bathroom, or add pillars in your kitchen. That is not possible and would not happen because it is outside the scope of what “customizations” are allowed.
Scott Hommas, one of our principals here at GHA, explains it like this; Burger King offers you a burger and you can have it YOUR WAY right? You can add cheese, or bacon, no bun, whatever. It’s your burger, have it your way. What if though you wanted the cook to add sage in your ketchup? (I know, sage in ketchup sounds weird but go with it) There would be no way for you to add sage in your ketchup at Burger King because they do not have the means to provide that. If, however, you had a custom chef preparing your meal you could most certainly have sage in your ketchup and literally whatever else you wanted. So, you see. Custom isn’t truly custom unless you can get what you want at the price you can afford.
Gelotte Hommas is a custom architecture firm and we could talk architecture all day long! (in fact, we kind-of do). Whether you are thinking about updating your outdoor living space for Spring, or building a cabin in Tumblecreek we would love to walk you through that process. As with most architects we offer free consultations, so there is literally no pressure what so ever to come and talk about what your thinking. We would love to meet you! Getting some feedback on what your thinking will give you piece of mind, and that you can’t put a price-tag on.