Thanks for all your responses. We are located in eastern KY. The land in question is not a designated wetland- though I thoroughly appreciate you alerting me to this possibility. I am a biologist so I am familiar with wetlands. I do need to check out the floodplain construction permit though. The site is actually adjacent to the existing old log cabin, and may actually be outside of the 100-year flood line, which is why we chose it. We can not move higher because it becomes mountain very quickly and we can not afford to build on the actual side of the mountain. Being outside of what is designated as a floodplain is not the same thing as being outside of where the water can go, though, which is why we were advised to go with piers. I really appreciate that link- thanks! This is why I came here- there is a lot of expertise and I'm much much happier to find all these things out now. Though I still need to get actual plans somehow. I read on another thread about finding an architect, and it seems that can be a sort of can o'worms also. Draftsman vs. architect? How involved to have them be? SO MANY QUESTIONS!! I suppose I'll have to just do some calling around and see what I can find out. Thanks so much.

buehl- I use CA, not Home Designer bu many tools are similar. I took a look at the list for you. The things that might be important and are in Architectural but lacking or limited in the other two are: (- soso; **might be important as in I wouldn't live without them.) -Use the Rendering Techniques tools to create artistic views of your designs like Watercolor, Technical Illustration, and Vector Views (vector views are oddly missing from interior version these are the fast cartoon looking views but it means you can't do B & W line drawn perspectives) -Record Walkthroughs with the stylized views of Rendering Techniques -Improved Lighting Units. Choose from common wattage/lumens values for lights or specify custom values. **Fully editable dimension lines, and configurable dimension editing. Change where dimensions locate walls, windows, doors, and other objects, both when generating dimensions automatically or manually **Create Elevation, Wall Elevation, and Cross Section Views for the interior and exterior of your design **Advanced Cabinet Tools - attach moldings & hardware, angled front cabinets, and more (interiors molding only) **Design and edit Custom Countertop shapes and styles -some stair tools tools My take is architectural or don't bother and use something else like learn SU. Basic is free. (I'm not as enamored with it as some folks but I do know some builders and architects that like it and have the full ver$ion with plugin$- I already have time and $$ in a ton of software that suits so never mess with it much, just to make doors and an occasional "model" to import into something else.)

Here on the Garden Web those who provide professional house design services are often categorized as designers or drafters. The organization of a design firm is rarely that simple. On a project there might be a principal in charge, a project manager, a job captain and drafters although any team member might provide drawings of one kind or another. Houses are usually designed by small offices so many roles must be shared. It would be rare that an employee would only prepare drawings although with the growing dominance of computer aided design that is changing. In any case, I have found that the best designers think of a computer as only one of many useful design tools. I have also found that in many offices the best designers are not registered although many have attended architecture school. I joined a firm shortly after passing the registration exam and was so junior that I was expected to take the owner's car to be serviced and inspected but the four associates who ran major multi million dollar projects had not bothered to take the registration exam yet. In many states only one person in a firm needs to be registered. What I'm saying is that titles and job descriptions mean little in an architectural firm. i've never worked in a firm where a principal was the best designer although he was always the most expensive. So, you should enquire about the experience and skill of the project team and make it clear who you want working on your project but you should expect to pay considerably more for the time of the owner of the firm. Frankly, I don't know how an architectural firm could provide full architectural design services for $3/s.f. I suspect that both the scope of services and the time of the senior staff would need to be greatly reduced. That can certainly be done but IMO it would greatly increase the firm's principals' liability for otherwise preventable problems. There is no state that allows the person who stamps the firm's drawings to be protected by corporate ownership like most other businesses including contracting.

When this question comes up here I hardly ever use the terms "architect" or "home designer" or "architectural technologists" or "draftsman", instead opting for "creative person" or "person of talent". In lieu of a big retype let me just C&P another post of mine in another thread where this came up: Now back to the draftsman vs. architect part of this thread. As with any profession, there are great architects and poor architects. And there are also great draftsmen and poor draftsmen. I personally know architects I wouldn't trust to design a house for my dog (Here Miss Martha gets up, commences with excessive tail wagging, puts her front paws on my lap and is trying to mightily to lick my face) "DOWN GIRL...DOWN!!". And back when I had a big firm (16 people with 6 architects) we had a guy who started out as the office boy as a senior in high school but 5 years later he was our lead designer. VERY creative. Over the years encouraged him to get a degree but no interest. Here he would be called a draftsman. And I would have trusted him to design my own house.....(and Miss Martha just barked in agreement when she read that!). That's why, for my posts here I usually get away from the "architect" or "draftsman" labels and use the term "Person of talent" . Here, I just look at posted plans and judge from those without regard for credentials. You need a person of talent. Of course, how one finds that person is the $64,000 question but really no different then finding a good car mechanic, veterinarian (here Miss Martha just barked with approval!) or accountant. And compensation for the person of talent doesn't have to be expensive or the process time consuming. Maybe time for more C&P's later on that topic but for now it's dinnertime. And BTW, glad you're at least thinking of getting a....hmm...forgot the term....oh yeah!!! person of talent! In that plan you posted I had to ask myself "Is there a house attached to that garage???" And the best of luck with your build. Exciting times for sure!!!