This is a beautiful house… interesting…but it could have been so much better.

But building, is a business…and if you can build and get within 10% of your asking price after listing it for 10 weeks… then it is a success.

IT SOLD.  Kind of, that’s what matters.

But…..WHAT IFF?????

The design was sooo good, so brilliant, using the same amount of money (within 5-10%) that your reputation would spread…for being both beautiful, magazine ready houses, AND be clever in how functional and livable the house became.

Imagine people seeing it just works…quietly, cleverly, calmly.

Instead, I look at this house, and keep saying WHAT? Are you kidding me? This is INSANE!!! This is awkward, poor flow, cheap, frustrating, unimaginative.  Most telling of all are the little corners cut off, actual corners cut off, where things didn’t quite fit…which is OK…but in school a teacher would ding you with a mean squint… “WHAT?… you don’t just cut the corner off and move on…. what is behind the walls that are mistakes, we can’t see”?

Who’s to judge… the BUSINESS is a success… but the legacy of building houses that are frustrating to the new owners…. that will move out ASAP a few years later, is nothing to be proud of…

It HAS to be more that profit, and good business.

I think you can have both…great design & great business….

So great, greater that realtors can mention these invisible things that make such a difference in your daily life…that is a big deal…AND IT IS FUN, TO DO GREAT DESIGN!!!

You have to dominate your subs and contractors to do YOUR ideas, not their shortcuts.

Do the smooth, elegant full dormer…right to the peak,  This dormer is one with the house.

You don’t see where roof begins and dormer ends…they are one. Also it is much more Prairie Style like, The dormer below, look pasted onto the roof

Put in quads all over, instead of anemic 2 plug outlets “according to code.”

Build with 2×6 instead of 2×4…and have generous windowsills, and thicker walls.

Add as many windows as possible… Sash windows, that open nicely, not the xxxx that look like shanty Irish windows jutting out of the siding.

Get the cars out of the front yard, and park out back, or down under.

And @$5M… and 3 floors, put in a elevator!

Not because we are lazy, but it helps zone the house, in sound and air quality… and add more square feet for rooms.

Have generous decks, give your pools some privacy.

And NEVER make the master bathroom be a place to share!

Sharing bathrooms decreases the dignity of daily life…

You marry your opposite…. but you don’t want your opposite IN your bathroom, decorating your bathroom, BEING in your bathroom…. that is just asking for trouble…

Separate bathrooms does not mean 2 toilet boxes, without even a window …

I mean 2 different full spaces… places of beauty, serinity and calm, and personal taste, for both unique, different people.

@$5M… this small luxury, takes the friction out of daily life, lets life go smoother…gentler… more dignified, more harmonious.

I look at all the other builders in town, and 95% time, find errors all over the place, shortcuts, and frustration.

Actually, I have not found a great builder yet…so by being a better designer… it will be easy to compare favorably to others, and word will spread… and you will sell for 10% more than asking, instead of 10% less.