Designing Your Dream Home

Dreaming about designing and building your perfect forever home from the ground up?

Posted 10:35 p.m. Oct 4, 2018 — Updated 11:03 p.m. Oct 4, 2018

Jane Paige

, writer for New Homes & Ideas

Dreaming about designing and building your perfect forever home from the ground up? Taking time to do your homework and working with the right people can make your custom dream home a reality and not a nightmare, local experts agree.

Photo courtesy of Homes by Dickerson

“All the planning on the front end of the custom home project will help eliminate surprises during the process,” says Scott Daves of Scott Daves Construction Co. and one of the custom home builders in Cary’s Preston Retreat, the final neighborhood in Preston Development with 25 home sites.

Building a home from scratch can be a challenging job. The entire process often can take a year and involve, at a minimum, a builder, architect, engineer, and interior designers. Everything must be selected from the site, to exterior colors and kitchen fixtures.

Jeff Williams, architect with Homes by Dickerson, agrees that preliminary planning is the all important first step in custom home design. “The more information we can get from the client, the better the process,” he says. “This helps us give them the home they really want.”

Locally owned Homes by Dickerson, based in Raleigh, is one of the few home building companies in the Triangle with an architect on the staff, he says. He does custom home design work and makes changes to existing home plans for the company. Many websites can be excellent sources for home design and decorating ideas, the local experts agree. While all the information can be overwhelming, it is a good resource to find both exterior and interior ideas to show your home builder and designers.

“Trying to find the perfect home on the internet can be a waste of time,” says Daves. “Looking for pictures of various styles of homes and the various features you like can be very useful.” Selecting tried and true home designs that will stand the test of time is always good advice. “Clients can find the style of the homes they like on the internet,” says Williams. “Look for something with a strong look that is going to last and always be timeless.”

Matt Moberly, a real estate agent and builders’ representative at Bryan Properties’ development Sunset Bluffs in southern Wake County, says some clients often come with vision boards or folders with pictures from websites such as Pinterest and Houzz. Others may bring potential house plans with ideas of style, interior finishes and exterior finishes. Visiting model homes built by your favorite builders and watching HGTV are other ways to find custom home ideas.

Photo courtesy of Bryan Properties

Understanding what you are looking for in a home can help you select the right builder, says Pam Craig, vice-president of design for Homes by Dickerson. “It is important to actually get in a similar space and see if you could be at home there,” she says. “If you feel comfortable in the space, then it may be a builder you want to meet.”

You want to be sure to talk with the builder’s references in detail about how their custom design process went and even visit some of the finished products if you can.

Photo courtesy of Scott Daves

When starting the process, home builder Daves asks clients to make a list of the rooms and space they need or want in a home. If you have a large family, you might need a big dining room. If you entertain a lot, you may want an open floor plan with a large kitchen. Your wishes then can be paired with your budget and help shape the blueprint of your dream home. Sketch plans can be developed incorporating these needs to assist with visualizing the finished space.

“The goal is not to have any surprises or shocks along the way,” says Daves, who likes to spend more time on these early meetings.

Kathy Pierce, a real estate agent and builders’ representative with Bryan Properties’ Sunset Bluffs, emphasizes the importance of taking your time to find just the right builder for you. “This is the largest purchase you probably will make in your life time,” she says of your dream home. “You want to invest the time to find someone who understands how you want to live.”

With a budget or pre-estimate price, you then can contact various lending institutions to determine your eligibility for construction financing. Selecting the home site often goes hand-in-hand with the local builders in this area. For example, home builders Daves and Homes by Dickerson already have home sites available in selected neighborhoods.

“In Sunset Bluffs, the nine builders already have the lots assigned to them,” says Moberly. Homes by Dickerson, is one of the builders in Sunset Bluffs, which has a total of 396 home sites. Once the site is selected, the architect can figure out where to place the house to take advantage of views, sunlight, shadows, trees and more.

It also is important to have an interior designer who understands your personal taste and style, the experts agree. Most home builders have designers assigned to individual projects to allow them to work closely with clients.

A detailed written contract laying out what services are to be performed, the timetable, and a schedule of progress payments is important to layout ahead of time with your builder. It also is important for you to visit the home site frequently, to answer questions and make sure you are pleased with the progress.

Melissa Symonds of Cary knows all about the custom home design process. She and her husband worked with builder Daves to design and build their dream home in Preston Retreat almost two years ago. Daves was recommended by a friend to the couple. “He was extremely organized and took us step by step through the process,” she says. “It all went very smoothly.”

Symonds took some pictures of items she liked to early meetings with Daves. Selecting everything from the ground up was time consuming. She spent almost six hours selecting just the lighting for the home. An interior designer also helped with the process. Ground was broken in April and the family moved into their dream home in December. “My best advice is to select an awesome builder who is very organized,” Symonds says. “You want a builder who will guide the process every step of the way.”

The custom home building process takes time and forethought to ensure the process goes smoothly. In the end, it can be extremely rewarding to see the results of the efforts put into the project by all involved and how each step comes together to create your perfect dream home!

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