Choose your architect first. The architect can then suggest some preferred builders they use and you can choose them too.

Select an architect first. I may be partial, but that doesn't mean I'm not right.

This might sound like a silly question, but is the architect the same as the designer? Because I'm seeing a lot of design firm, but not many listed as architects.

Oh, don't ask the "how much do you charge per square ft question". You can't calculate that anymore than you can buy a new Mercedes by the pound.

Great question. Had such a horrible experience with my builder, I fear ever needing to hire someone again.

I'm sorry @mdln! That stinks, and that's what I'm trying to avoid. I want to be as informed as possible before we jump into anything.

GW is a great resource, I found them half-way into my build. If I were ever to build again, in another town, I would try to hire my village building inspector as a personal consultant. Thought I was hiring someone good and trustworthy, was recommended by a friend who used him several times, called and talked with his references.

Good luck.

Yikes. What is GW?

This might sound like a silly question, but is the architect the same as the designer?

If I ever build again will use an architect. The build has taken alot more time than I could ever have imagined and been very stressful using just a designer.

A local architect will visit the site and make sure the builder is following the plans. They will plan the electrical, hvac, stairs, mouldings and so much more in advance. Is it a specific style you want? Modern, modern farmhouse, craftsman..... then for sure skip the designer.

This is GW (GardenWeb).

An architect is license by the State(s) in which they practice. Licensing varies by State but generally if you would want to be an architect you would have to obtain a architectural degree from an accredited school, work under the direction of an architect for three to four years, then pass an approximately 33.5 hour long professional exam. After becoming an architect there are continuing education requirements.

Not sure what "designer" requirements are. It may be they have to be able to spell "designer".

Yes! Architect first! We had a good idea of who we wanted to use for our builder, but if he hadn't been on board with our architect we would have put the brakes on! Don't get me wrong- having a skilled & experienced builder is such a blessing- but if they don't have good backbones to build on it's pretty pointless. Plus, our architect saved us SO much during the process that he absolutely paid for himself! Plan carefully but have fun! It's an amazing process!

You use the term "your neighborhood". Is this a subdivision or a neighborhood? They are not necessarily the same thing! While I agree with the advice everyone is giving about getting an architect, one must be very careful to not build something that is entirely different than other houses in the subdivision - not different in style or cost. When one buys a lot that is just in a neighborhood, not a subdivision, one has far more leeway than in a subdivision. People will be attracted to your subdivision (when you sell someday) as they are looking for a particular type of home. If your's is too unique, it will not be what they want, and those looking for a unique home will not be looking in a subdivision where all the homes are pretty similar.

Anglophilia - It's a subdivision, but they're all custom built homes with different styles and costs. I mean, none of them are extremely modern or contemporary but that's also not what I want. What we want to build goes very well with the other houses around us.

Look for a single practitioner architect who does residential. Look here on Houzz for names, or ask around your neighborhood.

A designer is basically a glorified draftsman. A draftsman is someone who's skilled in CAD programs but most cannot design a house. If you want to see what I mean, you can look at some of my threads. If I had it to do over, I'd hire an architect (and I have a design background.)

An architect probably would have saved me from having to figure out HVAC after the fact and would have realized that there needs to be a way to run HVAC from downstairs to upstairs.

An architect probably wouldn't have put a support wall next to the stairway so I couldn't have the railing go up to the ceiling like I wanted.

An architect would have helped me figure out how to make my bathroom work better. (Oh wait! An architect did help me figure that out. Thank you ARG!)

An architect would have realized that my hallway to my bedroom that I had insisted to the draftsman had to be a minimum of 42" will only be 39" when finished.

An architect would have figured the roofline better so that I wouldn't have to cut the size of some upstairs windows and raise others higher than other windows.

Thankfully none of those things will be major detractions when the house is done, but it would have been nice not to have to deal with them.

If they say they'll start with the interior first or the first floor (if it's a 2 story) and do one at a time to get your approval before moving on to the next floor or the elevation, RUN!

A person of design talent will be able to design both interiors and exteriors at the same time. They are constantly thinking how what they do on the interior affects the exterior and visa versa.

Oh wow @cpartist... one of the designers I was REALLY interested in said they'd start with the interior of the first floor, then move to exterior, then the 2nd floor. They said they do it that way to make sure we like how it will lay on the lot before they design the entire house.

Are there specific questions I should ask an architect about their process? Looking for an architect vs just a designer now is a whole new ball field, as I had some designers already picked out!

We found our builder through word of mouth. A co-worker who just moved into her new house couldn't say enough good things about her builder, so I asked her a lot of questions about how he handled the timeline, the budget, the difficult points that'll happen in any project ... and I found her answers very satisfactory. Upon meeting the guy, I felt confidence in his abilities.

@mrspete - did your builder design your house or have someone else do it? And if it was someone else, was it a design firm or an architect? Did the design process go smooth?

Where are you in the country?

Honestly, while I agree that you should start with an architect, I somewhat disagree with CPartist's advice to RUN if they start with first floor. Or interior and you don't see the exterior at the first preliminary meetings.

Every situation with a truly custom home is different. We knew from the beginning we wanted to work with a locally prominent architect whose work we admired. In the very earliest stages working with our architct the focus was on preliminary hand drawn first floor sketches in the first few meetings . Our Architect started with hand drawn first floor plan and while he had an idea as to the exterior and how the second would fit, we didn't see it in sketch form until about the third meeting. He had told us that once we got the first floor right, it would still be tweaked a bit as the second floor was added and elevations done. As I recall the only significant change from the last floorplan only to first floor plan plus second floor plus elevations (still at the hand drawn sketch stage) was that our foyer was enlarged a bit to allow better placement of the upstairs guest room. From there we went to to construction plans and still tweaked a bit at that stage.

Granted our project was a bit unusual (multigenerational duplex designed to be completely separate, but interconnected units with the ability to legally divide (eliminate connections) into separate market units if resale of one or both sides is ever a possibility). But my point is not every architect follows the same development pattern on every design. Just pointing this out so that generalities are not always correct for every situation. So if you don't get an elevation with the first preliminary hand drawn floor plan don't panic -- it may be just your architects practice. And, yes, folks, we were working with an architect (and a regionally prominent specializing in custom homes), not a designer. As the old saying goes, there are different ways to skin a cat!

Good luck on your project! Exciting times!

Yes but mojomom, you said right from the start your architect hand drawn. Designer/draftsman do not as a habit (and yes, there are always exceptions) do not hand sketch working with you. They rely on their CAD programs.

I agree with Mojo. Just because an architect isn't showing you the elevations immediately as they draw doesn't mean they aren't thinking about them. And I'll also say that just because architects or designers don't show you their hand drawings doesn't mean they aren't done that way behind the scenes. No on can rely on CAD programs since doesn't design. CAD is a tool, it draws a line for you where you slide your hand and tell it to.

"Just because an architect isn't showing you the elevations immediately as they draw doesn't mean they aren't thinking about them."

Thinking about them is not developing them. Elevations and Floors need to be developed in concert with each other. Tp properly judge a floor plan you need to see how all the plans tie in together.