One of the benefits of being an architect is that one can design their own home. This has been a dream of mine for some time. After bouncing around from buying an house, renting an apartment, living with in-laws, it’s finally becoming a reality for my family. We purchased some land in Meriden last fall and it’s off to the races. One might think that just because I’m an architect, the process of designing and building a home would be a piece of cake. Well, it’s new territory for me and it’s been daunting at times. I have more sympathy for contractors after planning the construction. It’s no easy task chasing down quotes, finding qualified contractors, establishing a budget and so on.
Designing is the fun part. When you have a blank slate the question arises, do I try to experiment with a modern aesthetic or lean towards something more traditional. Well, my wife Katelyn is a very important client of mine (or maybe design partner is probably a better way to phrase it) and we both need to be happy we the end result. It really needed to have charm and character that reads “home” to both of us. After a few concept designs she pushed me to start over and I’m glad she did. What we landed on a cape/craftsman style home. It borrows from a traditional vernacular but I think we’ve made it our own.
Considering we are about to break ground on the driveway next month I realize we still have a long way to go but we’re excited to get started. I’m fortunate to have my carpenter brother Jake oversee the construction. It’s going to be a busy year!
