Is my project too small for an architect?

The Monday after a home show always feels like I’ve run a marathon.  In actuality I’ve spent three days sitting and walking around a ten by twenty foot booth.  But during those three days I listen, answer questions, and explain what architects do.  After answering the same questions and explaining the same process hundreds of times, my brain turns to mush! 

Smart Downsizing

Your kids have graduated from college and the last of the boomerangs has found a job and finally moved into an apartment of their own.  After the celebration is over you may contemplate a radical downsizing so that none of your children will attempt to reenter the womb again.  But is this reaction a good idea?

Renovate or Move?

With 25,000 homes for sale in the Twin Cities area the question of whether you should move or renovate your existing home should be a simple one to answer. Surely the perfect home exists! But if you are considering renovating your home and choose to buy instead, then you also have a home to sell. Congratulations! You have just joined the ranks of 25,000 other home owners who are also trying to sell their homes!

Not Out in the Cold

Who would think that 24 inches of fluffy white stuff would have such wide reaching ramifications?  But it has.  Our recent snowfall has placed its own mark on the home improvement industry.  Previously scheduled to cover the field where Vikings play, the 2011 Minneapolis Home & Landscape Expo has been left without a home.

Is building smaller a matter of preference or a benefit to all?

A reader recently asked if the not so big concept is just a preference or is it a real benefit to everyone who is planning to build a home.  For those not familiar with this concept, it is described by author and architect Sarah Susanka in her book, The Not So Big House.  "Not So Big doesn't mean small.  It means not as big as you thought you needed.  But as a rule of thumb, a Not So Big House is approximately a third smaller than your original goal but about the same price as your original budget.  The magic is that although the house is smaller in square footage, it actually feels much bigger."

How do I know if I can build what I want?

Given enough time and money you can build anything!  But a wise man counts the cost before he embarks on any endeavor.  So a better question might be, when and how do I determine the cost?


While most people have no problem talking about what they want, many are reluctant to discuss budget.  Perhaps this discomfort is caused by a genuine lack of knowledge of actual construction costs.  But it might also be caused by fear; a fear that if you are honest with your budget, your actual costs will exceed what you want to spend. It might be counter-intuitive, but in my experience, that is the exact opposite of reality.   Without an expressed budget at the outset of a project, actual costs will most likely exceed your expectations.

Is it time to build?

As a residential architect, people often ask what types of projects interest my clients as an indicator of the overall economy.  With record number of home foreclosures and short sales, most assume any movement in the residential architecture business would be in the area of additions and renovations.  However, that assumption has proven false.  In a housing market that has been at its lowest in decades, interest in custom designed homes is out pacing that of additions and renovations.