My wife and I want to build a weekend house at our ranch and need a recommendation on an Architect. The design will be a pretty simple farm/ranch house so basic function is key vs. designing a marvel.

Any recommendations?

No recommendations on an architect, but a neighbor bought a Southern Living Plan and it's super nice. They hired a great builder & I don't think they tweaked much at all on the actual plans - they did screen in the big porch - and they did a killer job on the interior finish out.



They have all sizes & styles.

edit: it is a 2/2.5 open-ish kitchen, dining, living. probably around 1900-2000 sq ft.

Where is that and who was the builder if you know?

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Where is that and who was the builder if you know?

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Palestine & I have a friend that used them in Athens on another amazing project.

https://harrisbuildingcompany.com/

Paul Harris is an Aggie and is amazing.They have built 3-4 houses around our little lake - all of them fantastic. If we had bought an empty lot, he would be the man.

Here's a link to the listing when it sold a couple of years ago. It says 3/3.5 but they added a guest room & a super cool greenhouse in a separate shop/garage building. https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/435-Anderson-County-Road-3763_Palestine_TX_75801_M73080-76144

Cusimano Architect

FYI you should be able to save around 50-75% if you use an existing plan of theirs and "tweak" it to your lot and your taste. So keep that in mind when choosing an architect buy reviewing their past projects.

Doing a full custom plan from scratch is expensive.

The Silverback said:

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Doing a full custom plan from scratch is expensive.

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Yes. Yes it is.

The Silverback said:

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FYI you should be able to save around 50-75% if you use an existing plan of theirs and "tweak" it to your lot and your taste. So keep that in mind when choosing an architect buy reviewing their past projects.

Doing a full custom plan from scratch is expensive.

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What if I bring my own napkin drawings?

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What if I bring my own napkin drawings?

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Take your napkins to a builder, refine them & have them use their people to draw them up.

Howdy! I'd be happy to help you with your design. I do custom home designs throughout the Hill Country and Houston areas. You can find more information at my Houzz page...

https://www.houzz.com/professionals/building-designers-and-drafters/steven-byrne-residential-design-pfvwus-pf~344409965

Send me your email and I can send you some work samples and more info.

Talk to Jeremy McFarland, owner of Brickmoon, and also an Aggie. Good guy. Houston architect, and not the most expensive.

Cusimano is not a good fit for this type.

We used Jeremy for our remodel. He's based in DFW, but with COVID, I'm sure he's doing a ton of stuff remotely these days. He was great to work with and very receptive to our ideas and what we needed/wanted but also had some really good solutions for us.

Last I checked, he charge $1/sq ft under roof...so that includes sq footage of garages and such. Not just the 2200 sq ft living space most are used to quoting.

https://jkarlovichhomedesign.com/