sounds to me like you need a different architect. there will be some back and forth, and ideas will evolve, but if you are already frustrated with her and you are just starting the process, that is a red flag, that she may not be a good fit for you.

I hope your architect can give you something better than the Southern Living plan. It's ok but not wonderful.

Sounds like it's time to part ways and find a better architect for your needs.

We are going through planning right now too. And we had to switch architects 6 months in. Gulp. It was a lot of money already spent ---but a sunk cost, and that's how you need to view it.

Let me share the difference between our first and second architect.

The second architect has zoom calls with us, and he projects the 3D and 2D plans, and we say, make the bathroom bigger and can it have a door to the outside? And then he does it IN REAL TIME. He can discuss with us the ramifications of the changes IN REAL TIME. We can say, how does that affect the rooftop deck? And he shows us an aerial view. Wonderful.

The first architect worked like this: we made a list of 40 comments by email. He re-worked things, taking into account about half of what we asked for, gave us a bill for $5,000, and when we asked why he didn't do certain things we asked for, he was VERY defensive about it. Over, and over, and over again. It wasn't working.

I just knew that we were not going to be able to see the thing through to a final design with the first architect being defensive. And the sunk cost was unimportant, compared to what the final design needed to be. Luckily, we got a much better personality fit this time, and one who is far more technologically advanced.

If your architect can't address your comments in real time like that, then I would find someone else who can.

@cpartist what particularly are the things you don’t like if you don’t mind sharing? want to make sure I don’t miss anything. I do have less than typical taste - don’t want a big kitchen and like bedrooms clustered and cozy spaces. Sadly I’m just not sure I can show her these and her come up with something similar or better so just may need to go through southern living

IMO the fact that she gave you what you wanted to begin with IMO is telling me to let them plan your house instead of you telling them what YOU want. IMO the reason to hire an architect is to let them design your house so stop telling them what you think they should do and let them do what they do best. There is no way an architect is going to start playing with a stock plan IMO. BTW the builder is not an architect all they care about is the easiest for them to build .

If that is a picture of part of the elevation, I can see why you are not pleased.

If you LIKE her, give her another shot. Can you lot accommodate 102' width? Stretching out a house to make it less deep, and having tons of light is GOOD (generally) but that clip of the elevation isn't, so it's hard to tell.

Have you see her work built?

To me you are not far enough along to have that much detail in an elevation, and the details themselves look quite boring.

Anyway - go with your gut - it's an expensive thing to get wrong.

@Patricia Colwell Consulting I see what you’re saying. I guess what frustrates me is that I told her word for word not to copy my sketch and to use her creativity to make something that had those specific spaces and the bedrooms clustered. So I definitely didn’t go in saying “this is exactly what I want.“ I saw a lot of the builders portfolio but apparently none of hers... I didn’t know she was newly hired by the builder as their in house architect. So back to the drawing board and I’m going to ask to see some of HER work.

Maybe just post the plans here. You can blot out her name or identifying information. The architects here can take a look.

@cpartist what particularly are the things you don’t like if you don’t mind sharing? want to make sure I don’t miss anything. I do have less than typical taste - don’t want a big kitchen and like bedrooms clustered and cozy spaces. Sadly I’m just not sure I can show her these and her come up with something similar or better so just may need to go through southern living

A smaller kitchen and clustered bedrooms actually can make for a better design. Below is a list of some items that help make a house have better design.

The best houses orient the public rooms towards the south for the best passive solar heating and cooling

(Obviously that will depend on your lot, but a good architect will try to create living spaces that are not for example oriented due west which is the worst orientation.)

The best houses are L, U, T, H, or I shaped.

The best houses are only one to two rooms deep. And covered lanai, porches, garages, etc count as rooms in this case.

(note the kitchen, breakfast room, and dining room making the house 3 rooms deep in that direction and of course much more horizontally)

The best houses make sure kitchens have natural light, meaning windows so one doesn't have to have lighting 24/7 to use the kitchen. And no, dining areas with windows 10' or more from the kitchen will not allow for natural light.

(That kitchen will be dark and will need the lights turned on 24/7.)

The best houses make sure all public rooms and bedrooms have windows on at least two walls.

(This is for cross ventilation but also for more natural light. Note that in the SL house, only one bedroom has windows on 2 walls and none of the public rooms do!)

The best houses do not if possible put mechanical rooms, pantries or closets on outside walls

(Note where the master closet is. On an outside corner that could be better served having a bedroom for example. And note where bedroom's 2 and 3 closets are. Wouldn't it be better for the bathrooms for those two bedrooms to be on an outside wall having some natural light?)

The best houses do not have you walk through the work zone of the kitchen to bring laundry to the laundry room.

(This one has you walk right past the refrigerator!)

The best houses do not have the mudroom go through any of the work zones of the kitchen.

(See above)

The best houses do not use the kitchen as a hallway to any other rooms.

(See above)

The best houses do not put toilets or toilet rooms up against bedroom walls or dining areas.

(Notice where the toilets are. And I'd add they don't put them up against living room walls either!)

The best houses have an organizing “spine” so it’s easy to determine how to get from room to room in the house and what makes sense.

(Use colored pencils to "walk" through the house doing everyday activities. Note how to get from the bedrooms to the laundry for example, you have to walk through the living room which means your living room isn't as large as you think because you need to keep pathways. So you lose 3' of the 15' because of the pathway. Then open those french doors and you'll lose another 3'. So that 15' living room width really only has 9' of usable space! Do the same with the rest of your activities.)

A few other things I didn't note above:

Clothes can't turn corners and you need 2' from the wall for hanging.

Look how far from the bedrooms the laundry is. Most laundry comes from the bedrooms. Do you really want to walk that far carrying baskets of laundry?

Why do you need double doors into a closet or a bathroom?

I didn’t know she was newly hired by the builder as their in house architect. So back to the drawing board and I’m going to ask to see some of HER work.

Are you sure she's a licensed by the state architect and not just a "designer"? (Did you check her state license?)

My builder called the so called designer we had an architect the first time we met. Turned out he was nothing more than a glorified CAD designer and using the word designer would be a bit too nice for him.

Do you need to use the builder's person? I ask because the builder's person is going to design whatever works best for the builder and not necessarily what works best for YOU.

@cpartist I wanted to ask the same thing. Why is that some builders freely throw around the job title of "architect" when that is a specific licensing/education pathway? I mean, when you go into a medical clinic no one says, "the doctor will be right with you" when they mean a physician's assistant.

@just_janni thats the very middle front/main entrance of the house. The weird roof line is there because the study to the right of the main entry juts out - she insisted we needed a jut out there to add interest instead of keeping the front “flat” but I think it’s one of the worst things about the exterior.

@cpartist @Mrs. S she is a licensed architect, not a designer or draftsperson. @cpartist there is no requirement to use their person. We can come with a plan but since we originally planned to use their person we would likely lose a few thousand dollars. Not terrible in the grand scheme of things if it results in a better designed house. I just found out her background is in a lot of commercial architecture.

Also @cpartist thank you so much for the through feedback on the SL plan. The architect made all of those flaws you mentioned pretty much in our plan too 😫 Closets on outside walls does bother me. Laundry so far from bedrooms is one I don’t mind much - grew up in a house that way and my mom never minded either, but agree having it near bedrooms is nice

This is a similar SL plan that has a few less of the flaws @cpartist mentioned

https://houseplans.southernliving.com/plans/SL066?search%255Bbathrooms%255D=2&search%255Bbedrooms%255D=3&search%255Bcommit%255D=SEARCH&search%255Bdepth%255D=&search%255Bfloors%255D=1&search%255Bmax_square_feet%255D=&search%255Bmin_square_feet%255D=&search%255Bplan%255D=&search%255Bsort%255D=Largest+to+Smallest+by+Sq+Ft&search%255Bstyles%255D=&search%255Bvendor%255D=&search%255Bwidth%255D=

Pros about this one compared to the one in my original post:

- closets on inside. Better natural light in kids bathroom.

- Laundry is still across the house, BUT it's an easy straight shot from bedroom wing.

- Window over sink in kitchen

- Better laundry room and laundry room has a window too!

It's honestly a little more sq footage than I want, but shrinking things scares me and can ruin the plan I'm afraid.

Frankly I'd recommend architectrunnerguy who's a member here and specializes in residential. He's created some wonderful homes for many of our members and he works remotely.

As for the second house, note that all of the bedrooms and public rooms still only have windows on one wall.

The dining room is far from the kitchen.

There really is no good wall to put the bed in the master.

There is no mudroom.

No coat/jacket closet in either plan for guests.

I strongly recommend you not work with a remote architect. Find a good local architect that you can meet face to face, one that can brainstorm and make sketches on tracing paper as you are talking over ideas. Much easier and quicker to do this back and forth collaboration in person.

I was working with an architect that was letting his draftsman do all of the work and it was really poor. We didn’t know this but were really disappointed when we figured it out.

We stopped working with him and found someone else that was excellent...right here on this board. you may need to find someone else. Not impressed with the SL house. Cute exterior but interior leaves a lot to be desired.

@cpartist do you have an example of a plan that has all or most of the good design elements you mentioned? Just curious to see if I notice an immediate difference between that and the Stock plans I see that don’t follow those guidelines. They all make sense but it made me think that I’ve never actually seen a well designed plan

A well designed plan for one person is not necessarily a well designed plan for another person. There are certain common features that are good design, but the site is often a factor. Your architect needs to take a step back and listen to your needs and re-analyze your site and not come up with a "well designed plan", but a well planned design.

I strongly recommend you not work with a remote architect. Find a good local architect that you can meet face to face, one that can brainstorm and make sketches on tracing paper as you are talking over ideas. Much easier and quicker to do this back and forth collaboration in person.

Just because you didn't have a good experience working remotely, doesn't mean everyone will. Lots of happy people have used Doug.

Em mine is well designed for two aging in place folks on our 9100 square foot lot. However what works well for us, won't necessarily work for someone with a family or someone on acreage. We built a house that works for us.

All public rooms and all bedrooms have windows on at least 2 walls.

Kitchen while part of the living/dining area is separated in the sense that no traffic flows through the kitchen.

Laundry while in the hallway to our master suite and much less than what most people want for laundry, works for us.

Just because you didn't have a good experience working remotely, doesn't mean everyone will. Lots of happy people have used Doug.

I just stated my experience, which I stand by, since I experienced it and wasted time and money with a remote architect. Aren't I allowed to share my experience and recommend that others stick to the best method, which I believe is a face to face collaboration?

Of course, if someone lives 4+ hours away from the closest architect, then maybe they have no choice to consider a remote architect, but most people can find a good architect within a reasonable distance.

And it isn't that I "didn't just have a good experience", it was actually a lousy stressful experience.

Luckily we found a great local architect and ended up with a great experience and process.

@Em, maybe you want to give your general location and others might be able to give you recommendations for a good local architect you can interview.

Em-

If you don't want a front facing garage, then you shouldn't have to have one.

They really are rather unattractive, and I wouldn't want one either.

I'd much rather have the garage on the side of the house or the back of the house, with an easy way to get in the garage so I don't have to make a sharp 90 degree turn into the garage or back out blind with my car. (The location I would prefer would depend on whether or not I had a basement, where I would be unloading my groceries into, where my neighbors are and aren't, and of course, the lot,

So it should be about you and your needs and your land.

Not what your builder wants or is used to.

I am assuming that you do not have a "staff" to unload and unpack your bags :)

Your builder's explanation sounds like a lot of bushwa to me.

Maybe some other people on this thread can comment on this?

And about the architect- she is suggesting a jut-out that makes no sense and her background is in commercial and you got her from the builder, that is, you didn't even choose her yourself???

Would you have a urologist do your brain surgery? Ok, maybe not the best analogy.

It sounds like the architect you are working with is not experienced in residential architecture, and was assigned to your home project, and is gaining experience in your home.

But you are not happy with what she is doing, and you didn't even choose her!

Yes, it is possible you could be communicating a bit better, but you are not an architect, and you don't know what you don't know, and you shouldn't be expected to.

If she were better and more experienced she would know what questions to ask you.

If you prefer a stock generic plan obtainable online to her custom architect's plan that she developed after ostensibly listening to your list of wants and needs and studying the site, then either she isn't qualified or you two are a mismatch.

If I were in your shoes, I would look for a different architect now.

There is no point throwing good money after bad.

You are not happy with her, and you will second-guess everything she does and you will never be happy with her and any plan she draws up, and furthermore, it will poison your relationship with the builder.

By the way, make your decision and leave the builder out of it.

For all you know, they could be related in some unholy way.

@loobab thank you for this - you hit the nail on the head with how I’m feeling. Also thank you for commenting on the garage- I was about to create a separate post asking about this. I don’t understand why I was Pretty much forced into front facing. I actually can’t find a single other home that the builder has done with a front facing garage!!! They are all side or courtyard. So it isn’t just that they don’t do other styles.... other styles are basically all they do! Scratching my head because I walked through my neighborhood and saw plenty of side and courtyard entry garages on sloped lots.

The lot is a gradual rear slope conducive to a walkout basement, but we really prefer no basement. But still I have seen plenty of basement houses with side entry garages.

@chispa South Carolina

And it isn't that I "didn't just have a good experience", it was actually a lousy stressful experience.

Luckily we found a great local architect and ended up with a great experience and process.

We see a heck of a lot more people on this forum having poor experiences with local architects than those having poor experiences with remote architects. It works both ways.

That might be because 99% of people use local (in person) architects and maybe 1% use remote ones, and not because remote ones are better!

If an architect connects with you and understands your priorities, it doesn't matter if they are remote or right next door. Trust and connecting with the client will be the biggest factor in whether or not it will be a successful partnership. Because first it's a partnership.

@Em, I think you need to meet with your builder and have a talk about the garage orientation. No point starting any other design work until you work that out with him.

@chispa i think you’re exactly right! I’ve sent my concerns to both the architect and builder and they are meeting today to discuss, and I’m meeting with the architect afterward. Anxious to hear the outcome!

If I were building again, I'd try to hire Doug in a heartbeat. If he couldn't be here in person, I'd supply him with videos of all views of my buildable property area. (Along with needs, wants, and dislikes.)

Chispa, I hired a local architect at first. He came out and studied the property. I told him what I wanted and we worked together on a house... that the builder said would cost half a million in a region that does NOT support half a million dollar homes. Mind you, this was for a 2100 sq ft home. Mind you, this also did not cover expected cost overruns, which are often expected to be about 15%. Or landscaping. The guy was affable and creative, but sometimes you have to decide to jump out of that box.

I admit I jumped into the log home kit box, rather than a new architect, and so i modified their kit plan for my own needs (I only discovered this site when I had serious kitchen design questions... I live to cook...)

I am happy here with my home, but I can see that the PROPER architect, local or distant, things might be 99% instead of 90 or 95%.. Oh, same square footage but a lot more representative of local rural prices.

We got the blessing from the builder to do a side entry garage. They're reviewing the plan I love compared to what we have and getting back to me on a recommendation.

Original poster here - we may have to seitch architects. Recommendations im or around the middle region of South Carolina?

I figured I'd update the group - we ended up switching architects. The fee for this builder's in house architect was $1 per square foot - we are now going to be paying 7% of the construction cost for our new architect, but I'm learning you get what you pay for. The fact that she couldn't show me a portfolio, was replicating online plans exactly in "recent designs" that she did show me (I've looked online enough - when she showed me another plan she was working on, I knew just where to find the exact plan online), and this one was the final nail in the coffin: When she told me that truthfully, you will adapt to the spaces in your house - you don't have to try to fit the house to you. Wait - what?! We may delay build since this is quite a change to the budget, but, I finally feel confident that it will be worth it!

@loobab your post is what led me to pursue other options because you hit the nail in the head with how I was feeling. Thought you'd be interested in the update above!

What your first architect is doing is in reality copyright infringement and she could be sued for using other people's designs and just changing a room here and there. I'm surprised she has an actual degree. She sounds more like the draftsman our builder used.

And yes we are adaptable and as humans can adapt to anything but when you're paying 6 figures or more of your hard earned money, why should you have to adapt? The house should work for you!

Best of luck and I'm looking forward to seeing what your new architect creates.

Sounds like you will be happier. Best of luck on your better path.

@Mark Bischak, Architect the new architect already sent me a view of our site with a 2500 sq foot box on it (roughly our desired home size) along with a solar orientation overlay to orient us on our next site visit. Only wish I had done this sooner!

If it makes you feel any better, I sure would hate to have to select an architect if I was not an architect.

@cpartist exactly what you said really bothered me - even if she was willing to "redraw" a plan online, (which is what she did even when I told her it wasn't exactly what I wanted), I would have bought the rights anyway because I'm a rule follower and this has just driven me crazy! I'm sure it's done all the time but still... I triple checked her credentials but we were definitely getting the "draftsman" experience.

The builder has a (very talented, might I add, based on her work I've seen) interior designer on staff too as the selections coordinator - guess I need to clarify those expectations, does she actually help with selections or just write down what I want - ha!

@Mark Bischak, Architect - I expect to have our first conceptual design from our new architect in 3-4 weeks. Question for you as an architect - is it okay to post those plans for feedback?

It is okay with me, but you should ask your architect if they mind. Some architects may not want their design put through the scrutiny of review by committee. Some advice is well intended but is contrary to the intent of the architect's design concept.

Ask your architect.

Em message me please

Is it okay to post those plans for feedback?

As Mark said, I'd run the thought by your architect. I just wrote about the pitfalls of it here: I find it amazing... (houzz.com)