How Often Do I Pay an Architect During My Custom Home Design-Build Process?
As a design-build architect, I get a lot of questions: How much will my custom home cost? What do I do if my builders make a mistake? Should I include a dining room in my home? The list goes on—and I’m always happy to be as transparent as I possibly can! But the main question […]
What does a custom home cost? How do I figure out what MY custom home will cost?
When a prospective client approaches Springhouse, one of their most frequently asked questions is, “How do I decide if this custom home process is a go or a no go?” This is a very fair question to ask. After all, how are you supposed to acquire an estimate of a custom home that hasn’t been […]
Thinking of Building a Detached Garage for Extra Storage? Read These 4 Rules First
Over the past couple of years, many people have opted to renovate their existing home instead of starting from scratch with a custom home. The reason? Construction costs are too high right now. So, in order to make their current spaces last longer, they usually add storage. Unfortunately, a two-car garage doesn’t cut it for […]
Read These Two Case Studies Before Selecting a Site for Your Custom Home
Although we’ve covered site selection in the past, it’s an important topic to revisit because it’s your first financial leap into committing to a custom home project. Unfortunately, we see people getting it wrong all of the time—and we’re determined to ensure this doesn’t happen to you. Today, we’ll be reviewing two case studies our […]
Don’t Be Fooled By The Term “Design-Build”
Full transparency: The term “design-build” is a lie in the building industry. Lately, you may have noticed builders marketing themselves as a “design-build” firm, but don’t be fooled. This could be a huge red flag for your custom home process. Before we dive into why this is, let’s back up with a little history lesson. […]
What to Do If Your Builders Made a Mistake & Didn’t Follow the Drawings for Your Custom Home
One of our clients recently hired Springhouse Architects to design her home. Since she lives far away from our studio, we were happy to pass along the construction service to someone closer. Now that the building phase is in full swing, a problem has arisen. For one, the piers for her porch were built differently […]
Out with the Old: Here’s Why We Said Goodbye to These Four Design Details
The other day, I stumbled upon an article written by Tim Carter for The Washington Post. It mostly covered older homes and the wonderful richness of character they carry, as well as their beautiful design features. I agreed wholeheartedly with about half of what he was saying. True, many of these gorgeous design decisions from […]
Price Per Square Foot: What Does it Even Mean?
When it comes to your custom home budget, almost everyone in the industry prices by square foot. For example, many builders will tell you they build for $200–$300 per square foot (side note: never believe someone who tells you they do it for under $100 per square foot). In fact, we here at Springhouse even […]
The Process of Choosing Exterior Materials for Your Custom Home
Building your custom home is an exciting experience—especially when it comes to choosing your exterior materials. For Springhouse, there are two points in our entire architectural design process where we deal with selecting exterior materials. The first is during the initial concept meeting, before we put anything on paper. During this time, we’ll talk about […]
Should You Include a Dining Room in Your Custom Home?
Over the years, the need for a dining room has diminished more than any other room of the house. More than 25 years ago, almost every single home we worked on would include a study on one side and a dining room on the other. Everyone had a beautiful dining room where they would invest […]