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I love what I do! I am lucky enough to design places for people to live – and I believe live better!

Many architects graduate from college with grand ideas about designing skyscrapers, airports, or museums – large landmark buildings with fame and notoriety. Buildings that people may pass by on their way to work or pass through during their lives.

But I get to design places where people live, eat, sleep, and play. If done well – where they can relax and rejuvenate. Where children grow and families can come together. A place they are proud to call home. I believe it is the most personal form of architecture, and one that I don’t take lightly.

Last week was a great example of the scope of residential architecture. I worked on homes large and small, for sale and for rent, attached and detached. In each case, I knew I was designing a place someone would call home.

Rental Cottage

One project was last week were a collection of small rental cottages. These units were designed for young people just starting out on their own. The smallest was a one bedroom, one bath. The kitchen island doubles as the only eating space. The unit was pet friendly in its design with LPV floors and a fenced yard with K-9 turf.

One of my favorite features is the covered outdoor living space. It is perfect for relaxing with a glass of wine at the end of the day or waking up with a cup of coffee in your pajamas.

Move-Up Single Family

Next, I worked on a large move-up family home with four bedrooms, four and a half baths, den, and media room. It also had a giant wrap around outdoor living area. I pictured a family living here with teenage kids at home. This was the cool house where the kids and their friends would hang out – instead of roaming the mall or shut up in their bedrooms.

Speaking of cool, this house also had an optional second floor that added giant club room large enough for a pool table, game table, TV viewing area, bourbon bar and guest suite. The second-floor option was over 1,200 sq. ft.

Villa for Single 55+ Women

I also worked on an attached ranch villa for the single 55+ woman. This is an often-overlooked demographic, but more than 50% of boomer woman are single. Women live longer than men, but they also remarry less frequently after becoming divorced or widowed than their male counterpart. With longevity also comes the potential risk of outliving their savings – so these units were designed with security in mind – both physically and financially.

Cost-Effective Streetscape

I ended the week with the challenge of creating new, cost-effective elevations in a north Florida community. While I am a fan of front porches – they are not to be at the expense of affordability. The key was keeping the elevations “cute” without blowing the budget. We still had the monotony code to contend with so not to create a streetscape where all the houses looked alike. I want buyers to pull up to their cute house and feel that special pride of ownership.

With each project I design, I imagine what it would be like to live there. How could I make it better for the young person starting out and eliminate wasted space? Could I make a home kid-worthy so mom’s didn’t have to worry where her kids were playing or socializing? How could I make it brighter and uplifting for a single widow in her seventies? How could I add those special touches to keep the houses both affordable and adorable?

Housing Design Matters and thank you to all my clients who let me work on their houses.