You cannot design any building without a piece of land. You can of course design it, but it wont have any relevance. We start with your piece of land, what direction it faces, what do the surroundings look like, what kind of "microclimate" is there, what the building looks like around you, what way the land slopes, how much change in topography your land has. Where are the main roads and where does the access road enter the property. Are their any structures or vegetation that are prominent on the site? Do you have a 100 year old oak tree on your property? There are constraints and design objectives that will come out of any site, even a rectangular plot in a development. In their most basic form they are the mandatory setbacks on all sides of the building and the amaximum allowable site coverage.
Come to the design process with a clear idea of your needs, budget, and as clear of an idea of the "design style" as possible. When assessing your building needs, you will be forced to make decisions on allotting square footage to certain spaces and weighing those decisions against your projected budget. If you don't know the average building costs in your area you can call local contractors to find out.
You should spend time looking at magazines to come up with ideas of how you see the spaces, and plans to see what types of plan features you want in your home. You might find a plan that satisfies all your needs " ready-made" on the web. More likely you will want to customize a plan or combine multiple plans to fit your ideas, lot and design style.
You don't have to have the garage as the main design element of your house! It can go in on the side, in the back, around the corner, fit into earth berms. Or it can be a Great Garage! Design it as a wonderful and skillfully expressed design statement. Just some ideas, dont start out locked into rigid patterns. If you want an ordinary house its real easy to get one. For the same amount of money you can have a Custom Home designed by the House Plan Architect! We take your existing conditions - whatever that is, a new home or an addition- look at all the factors influencing your home and come up with design solutions that will answer all the questions. Our focus is a beautiful home that expresses your needs, fits your specific circumstances and budget. Sedn us your sketches or your plans drawn in 3d home architect or any of the other home softwares that are on the market. We will then give you a quote to provide you a standard set of permit plans based on the square feet ( area) of your proposed plan.
Our first objective is to come up with plans and elevations that are approved by you. The next step is to take those approved design plans and do the necessary drawings to enabler you to get a building permit and accurate competitive bids from contractors. It all starts with your land, so get the best piece of property you can find. If you have questions or need help deciding on the best piece of land to purchase, email me and I will help you weigh the options and show the benefits and disadvatages of each piece of land. Take a two hour block of time for only $50 and use it when you need an expert opinion.
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