Have you considered purchasing architectural plans? I think you can find a lot of them for a good price and then you can hire a building designer to modify them to suit your tastes. Another way is, if you are comfortable with design software, you can design your own house, then hire a designer to formalize them into real house plans. This is what I did and I found this was a much more economical route to go to get the house design we want.

That's impressive, michoumonster. Thank you for ypur reply. I've looked at many houseplans and so far most of them seem expensive to build (lots of pop outs and details) or I have concerns about how they'd fit the site. Our view is to the south but so is the considerable wind coming off the mountains. So we need a sheltered yard area to the north or east as well as south facing orientation. Apparently an unusual combination. But I'm still looking.

I'm impressed that you designed your own home then brought it into a designer. I think i need to consider this option. Was the designer involved in your construction?

Hi Mayberry,
Maybe you could do something with a central courtyard/atrium area?
It isn't too hard to design something yourself with the really nice software programs available these days. I spent a lot of time thinking through the layout and flow of the house, and drawing up various versions til DH and i were both happy before we bid it out.. If you can do this part, you have saved the architect a tremendous amount of time since so much time is spent listening and interpreting what the clients want, then doing changes when the clients change their minds. The architect we hired had a lag in business, so he actually was less expensive than some building designers. He helped us draw up the plans to code and coordinated with the mechanical and civil engineers to draw their portions to get the plans through the city approval process. The city did ask us for a few modifications which the architect took care of. The architect also makes himself available on a per hour basis should we need to consult him during the construction. So far, we have consulted him only once for a couple of hours to clarify some items, which he didn't charge us for. We still aren't finished building yet, hopefully this summer.. HTH!

Thank you for the info, that's very helpful. Did you get a fixed price contract with your builder? For us this route would hinge on a good builder who wouldn't surprise us with unexpected costs (beyond the truly unexpected).

I'd love to see pics of your build - couldn't find any on the forum. But am new so might not be able to find them :)

Thanks again!

Hi Mayberry, yes, we did a fixed price contract. Unfortunately, things are not going smoothly for us, but we are moving along at any rate.. definitely go with a builder you know well and can trust! I haven't really posted any pics of my build so far, except for some defective doors.. lol!

I think option 2 would be far less risky. Having a local contractor build essentially the same house he has built previously is unlikely get complicated once you are out of the ground. Also, you have the ability to see the house before it's built.

There are potential problems with a design-build though. There are no checks that the work is being done well since you don't have someone independent like an architect working for you. Second, you need to be sure you now what is actually included in the price and what is not. Be wary of low allowances. Quality fixtures and finishes are expensive.

Make sure there are no problems with the lot. I would start with a geotechnical firm and find out if there will be any issues siting the house or constraints with the foundation.

Modern houses are generally more costly, partly because it's hard to hide less than excellent workmanship. You may need a lot of custom windows. With traditional construction, things are more forgiving and you don't need special subcontractors. Finally, I wouldn't risk working with someone that hasn't built from the ground up before.

Thank you, max_w. Greatly appreciate your thoughts. It really does make sense to go with someone very experienced. Next week we're going to walk through the model the semi-custom builder recommends. Hopefully we love it and our dilemma is resolved!

Thank you again MM!

In the interim I will continue to research plans. Assuming I can find one we like that suits our lot and doesn't have a lot of bump outs, do you think the costs would be similar? Or are there really economies of scale for the more 'mass produced' semi custom houses?