Near-complete rebuild
Start over without starting from nothing.
Country house
Build for the view, not for the road.
New houses in DC, Maryland and Virginia. Cut for one family rather than for a size.
A custom house is worth it for the reasons a spec house cannot copy.
Houses are designed for the particular family living inside them, the way a good coat is cut for one person rather than for a size. That is the whole argument for building rather than buying.
It starts with the site, not the plan. Where the sun comes from, where the grade falls, what you see from each part of the lot and what you would rather not see. A house sited well on an ordinary lot beats a house sited carelessly on a beautiful one.
Building new does not always mean starting from nothing. A near-complete rebuild on a kept foundation can reach the same result while preserving something valuable, whether that is a nonconforming footprint, a location on the lot, or simply time.
Setbacks, height, lot occupancy and sometimes a historic district define the buildable volume before design starts. On a difficult lot that envelope is the design brief.
Then the site itself. Orientation, grade, trees, drainage and views. These are the things that cannot be added later and cannot be bought back.
A spec house is designed for an average buyer who does not exist. A custom house is designed around how this family actually moves through a day, where they gather, where they need to be apart, and what they own.
That is also where the efficiency comes from. Rooms nobody uses are the most expensive square footage in any house.
Full drawings, coordinated consultants, permit approval and construction administration. On every project, one architect, from the first conversation to the last walk-through.
New construction has the longest gap between decision and consequence, which is precisely why the decisions belong on paper.
It depends on the existing house. A house with sound structure, a good footprint and a decent envelope is almost always cheaper to renovate. A house needing structure, systems, envelope and plan all at once may cost more to save than to replace.
The comparison is not the tired house against a new build. It is the renovated house against the new build, and that is a comparison worth actually running.
Sometimes, and it can be worth a great deal. A kept foundation can preserve a footprint or a position on the lot that current zoning would no longer permit, which is value that cannot be recreated.
It requires the foundation to be structurally sound and compatible with the new plan, and it needs to be verified before it is relied on.
Design and construction documents typically run several months to a year depending on complexity, then permit review, then construction.
The variable that surprises people is permit review, which differs by jurisdiction and is not fully within anyone's control. It is worth building into the schedule from the start.
Either. Some clients arrive with a builder already, others want the drawings complete before bidding so they can compare pricing on identical scope.
Comparable bids need a complete set. Without one, three builders price three different houses and the low number is usually the one that missed something.
"Houses are designed for the particular family living inside them, the way a good coat is cut for one person rather than for a size."
Luis Boza · On building new
Have a lot, or looking at one?
The most useful conversation happens before you buy the land, while the answer can still change what you offer.
Before you buy →Already own the house? Renovation may get you there.