CUSTOM DESIGN

You lot is unique. Your family is unique. Your home should be too.

A stock plan gets most people where they need to go. But sometimes the lot won't cooperate, the layout isn't quite right, or the vision in your head just doesn't exist yet. That's where custom design comes in.

With 20 years of hands-on construction and design experience, we don't just draw lines on paper. We design for the way you actually live.

Our Process

Phase 1 - Home Planning Session

Every custom project starts here. In 90 minutes we figure out what you need, what your lot allows, and whether custom design is the right path — or whether a stock plan or refresh gets you there for less. Your $300 session fee is credited toward your project if you move forward within 30 days.

Book your session

Phase 2 - Blueprint Session

This is where the vision takes shape. We establish the direction, scope, and style of your home in a collaborative design workshop that results in a clear, buildable concept you can take to a builder for realistic cost feedback. The Blueprint Session also gives us everything we need to price your project accurately — no ballpark numbers pulled from thin air. Your session fee is credited toward your retainer.

Phase 3 - Schematic + Design Development

Drawing on everything from the Blueprint Session, we develop your floor plans, exterior elevations, and site plan. This phase is collaborative and we refine until it’s right and you’re confident in the direction before we move into construction documents.

Phase 4 - Construction Documents

Your plans are developed into a full builder-ready set, reviewed by structural engineers, stamped, and ready for bidding and permitting. Structural engineering and a basic civil site plan are included in this phase.

Phase 5 - "Post Op"

Most designers hand off the drawings and disappear. We don’t. We stay involved through the build by handling RFIs, responding to field changes, addressing plan check comments, and making sure what gets built actually matches what was designed. Because the work doesn’t end when the plans are released.

Pricing

Custom design is priced at $5–$10 per square foot depending on complexity, site conditions, and scope.

Minimum project fee is $25,000.

Initial structural engineering and a basic civil site plan (if needed) are included in the project fee.

Billing is broken into three payments:

The retainer is 25% of the total fee. Your Planning Session and Blueprint Session fees are credited here so you’re already invested before you write another check.
The construction phase is 50% of the total fee, which covers structural engineering and civil site plan if needed.
The final 25% is due before plans are released for permitting.

Ready to build something that’s actually yours? Let's get started with a Blueprint Session. Fill out the form here to get started.