Why do you want to be talked out of it? Sounds like he could be a good architect for your needs but of course that can be only known with more details.

Trust is so important that even if he costs more, it is likely still worth the extra expense.

He must be willing to listen to your needs and desires and be frank with you when those are not feasible under the design constraints and budget.

Is it possible for you to tour the interior of a house that he designed? A lot of architects concentrate on how the exterior looks and less on how the interior functions.

If that is not possible, I recommend that you have an interior designer work with the architect on the design of the house to make sure that the interior is to your satisfaction. If the architect is unwilling to work with an interior designer, that is a bad sign. There is a chance that he already has an interior designer that he works with. Some architects like to think that they can do everything, but often they are not the best at designing interiors. Some are and some aren't.

just doing what you asked...
friendships & building don't go well together.
of course if you don't hire him...you may
lose the friendship anyway.

I'd ask former clients about if they now think
he was a good value, having already
completed the process.

weigh the cost/losses.

best of luck

I'm having a lot of pain right now because while my architect does beautiful designs, he's not very good with detailed drawings. And as laymen, we had no idea how awful these drawings were. Most of his work is commercial, and there's a different way of communicating in that market, apparently. The drawing says "wall here" without details like how tall? Where are the studs? How big are the studs? How does this wall connect to the wall next to it?

Before we got to this point, it took way longer than it should have to get our drawings and permits. We were the bottom of his priority list. So he'd tell us 3 weeks to work on the drawing, and we wouldn't hear from him for 3 weeks. We'd follow up with him, and he'd done nothing. Then he didn't remember what we talked about 3 weeks earlier. And he'd start working on it then.

So A) I'd ask about his schedule. How much time is he going to devote to your project? And B) Ask to see his previous drawings, and take them to a builder and ask if they could work from them.

We hired the guy we did because whenever we mentioned his name, people in the industry would gush about how great his work is. But clearly none of them had ever worked on his projects.

Great feedback, thanks everyone. I will definitely speak with some of his former clients and get a feel for some of the interiors as well. I would say he's probably more of a very good acquaintance than a close friend, which I think will help. That said, I definitely trust that he'll do the right thing by us.

My wife is very visual and she really needs to walk through a design that is very close to meeting our needs and then make tweaks from there. Starting with a blank page just doesn't work for her. I'm not sure if that will minimize the work for the architect or make their job harder, but it's one of her "must have" requirements in the process so I'll be working to honor her request.

Excited to get the process rolling!

Big question for me, are you able to separate business from friendship? What happens if things on the job go bad...will you lose your friendship?

I would proceed with enormous caution. We hired our neighbour as one of our subs. I thought he was a wonderful guy and contractor before he worked on our house. Things ended very badly with the work and then the neighbourly friendship. Based on the experience I had, I would be very inclined to tell the architect you don't want to do business with a neighbour, but otherwise you think he would do a fine job. I would imagine there are other architects in your area that are just as good.

Carol

Don't do it. Even if you like his work. Hubby's BFF wa supposed to build our home and it didn't work out at all. Don't use ppl you know bc if things go wrong, you'll damage the personal relationship you had.

I would have no problem using an architect I was friends with, especially if they were good at what they do.

I think it becomes trickier with a builder you are friends with, but an architect, I would have no problems with that.

A GOOD architect does not need an interior designer to adjust the layout. He or she will know what works or doesn't based on years of school/training and experience. An interior designer would be a waste of money.

Interview two other architects with similarly good reputations so you have a basis for comparison. Then pick the one you are most comfortable working with.

We ended up working with an architect who was a friend; he's still a friend after the project. No reason it can't work but for both of your sakes make sure it's a good fit before you commit.

Various people have said they are worried the architect won't be a good interior designer. I'm more worried he won't be a good engineer. The main thing you need to watch for in "high end" architects is the tendency to see a house as a sculpture, pure art. A good architect should be able to think about things like drainage, house orientation, maximizing, views, etc. Interior design stuff is easier to change if you decide you don't like it. When you tour his work, try to visualize it strewn with clutter and with a couple kids running around...every place looks gorgeous when it is empty and clean. Think in terms of what it is like to actually live and work in these places. Also, make sure he's used to working within budgets similar to use...if he's used to building for millionaires, he might not know how to deal with a $100,000 budget.

...and remember, the worst thing about networking is it prevents people from comparison shopping.