The Drawing Board

Pro-Tips: What to Expect During the Design & Planning Phase of Building a New Home

Rick McAlexander

The land and financing are lined up, and the decision has been made: It’s time to build that dream home.

But there’s a lot to consider in the time it takes between choosing to build and starting construction, from an initial site analysis to home design, engineering and eventually permitting. The House Plan Company , a home plan marketing company out of Eugene, OR, has teamed up with a couple of their home design experts to share tips for aspiring custom homeowners, to help them navigate through the process and make it a pain-free...

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What Designers and Architects Want You to Know About Buying Plans Online

Rick McAlexander

Anyone who has searched for or purchased house plans online can attest to how easy it is to quickly become overwhelmed by the volume of plans that are available. Whether building a forever home, garage or investment property, homeowners can successfully navigate the search process when they know where to start, what questions to ask, and how they can most effectively (and efficiently) find what they’re looking for.

Georgia based Design Evolutions, Inc. building designer Kirya Duncan says the online pre-design plan...

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What Designers and Architects Want You to Know About House Plan Modifications

Rick McAlexander

Thousands of home and garage plans exist online that can be searched as future homeowners envision their perfect house design. The odds that one design will include every desired feature a homeowner wants are slim however, and that’s where house plan modifications come in. Architects and designers are often able to adjust and refine plans to make the layout work or the style fit better with what a homeowner has in mind. These modifications, when made prior to the start of construction, can result in one of the most cost-effective ways for homeowners to create and customize their dream home...

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Vacation Homes Evolving to Meet Buyers’ Changing Tastes

Rick McAlexander

The joy of a vacation is universal across countries and cultures. For many, a second, vacation home can add to the bliss of getting away by providing welcoming comfort in an exotic locale.

But as tastes change, so too do the features that vacation homeowners look for when choosing a design.

“We’ve had vacation homes forever, but today people want to have more flexibility because they’re more mobile than they used to be,” said Ken Pieper, owner of Ken Pieper Signature Plans in Evergreen, Colorado.

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Design a Spacious Light-Filled Home on a Sloped Lot

Rick McAlexander

A sloping lot can seem like a hurdle to building the ultimate dream home. But the right home plan can unleash the best of what nature throws one’s way. Owners embracing sloped lots have reaped the unique rewards of these distinguished sites: stunning views, light-filled living spaces and adaptable lower levels that maximize a home’s square footage. With a little creativity, builders can turn even a formidable slope into a bright hillside oasis to call home.

“To be able to have a finished, light downstairs with all the advantages of a usable space, it helps keep a smaller footprint...

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The House Plan Company Chronicles Top Plans and Design Trends from the Last Two Decades

Rick McAlexander

Over the past two decades, tastes and preferences in home design have changed drastically in many respects and very little in others. The House Plan Company dug into the archives to find the top five most popular house plan designs since the late 90s and discovered it’s a diverse collection of styles to fit varying purposes. The only common denominators among all of them, they found, was the attention to detail and open living space in the design.

“Each of my designs delivers as much detail on the exterior of the home as they do in the interior,” explained Ken Pieper, owner of Ken...

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Four Essential Questions to Ask Your Home Designer Before They Begin

Rick McAlexander

You’ve recently decided to build your own custom home and can’t wait to get started with the home designer whom you’ve selected. Before you begin, however, there are four essential questions to ask your designer in order to better understand what you’re getting into and how you’ll work together to design the home of your dreams.

1. Ask About Past Projects

You may already have a specific architectural style in mind, but it’s important to find out if the designer has worked on similar projects in the past. Ask to see their portfolio of...

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