Mentoring is an important part of the architecture ecosystem. Ask any of us, and you’ll hear about how formative those early years in the field were, when you had guidance from those with decades more experience than you. Architecture school only teaches you so much; some design basics, technical terminology, and structural know-how—all important stuff, mind you—but mentorship teaches you how to apply that knowledge into real practice, with real people. 
    Throughout the years, I have always loved to mentor the younger generation of architects who have passed through the Studio21 Architects doors. Resident architect, Gregg, started his career at the firm as an intern and, after graduation, came on to work with us full time. Now, he is a fundamental part of this company. We also have Beck, currently our drafter, getting mentorship through Gregg and myself as he prepares for his licensing exams. He also joined the team as a part-timer while finishing his Masters, and now he is a full-time part of the firm, and the man behind all of the fantastic renderings you see.

I have shared the details of my forever home journey with you all for over a year now, and I am beyond happy to report that we have moved in and the finished product, with a few minor exceptions, is exactly as I hoped. As it goes with most home construction projects, I can’t reliably tell you when our forever home will actually be “done”—we still have boxes to unpack, details to finish off, and, of course, photos to take and a final episode to film. In my tenure, I have built many houses—a few my own—and this point is one of the best feelings out there. Homeowners go through months of planning, stressing, and daydreaming about it all being finished, and when that moment finally arrives, it feels like the weight of the world is lifted off your shoulders.  

In our last issue of Studio Pages, I had mentioned the heart surgery I had coming up, and I would get to really test out the aging-in-place amenities of our home. A few months later, and the surgery was a success; my old heart valve has been replaced with a brand-new bovine valve—technology really is crazy, isn’t it? Every so often, I even get the urge to say MOO!  

The procedure itself was far less exciting than taking your car in for a valve replacement, and the recovery was not as arduous as I previously expected, either. By the time I was back home and ready to test-run the grab bars and no-threshold shower, I didn’t even need to use my hospital-issue walker. Don’t get me wrong, I was moving slower and had to be more careful, so the aging-in-place features we added to our home were certainly a convenience. Ultimately, I didn’t get to experience the benefits of our home’s design to their fullest potential, but in my temporarily limited state after surgery, I do feel confident that our home will work wonderfully if it ever becomes necessary. 
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Thinking back on the thirty-two (and a half) episodes we’ve uploaded, I do hope that our viewers feel more knowledgeable and confident in the journey of building a custom home, at least in some small way. Designing and building a home is a huge undertaking—months or years of work, lots of money spent, never-ending selections, and endless expenditure of emotional energy. When we first sat down to film episode one, the goal was to peel back the curtain on this process so that homeowners going on this journey themselves can feel confident in the steps and the choices to make.  I believe we have achieved that goal. ​

​The right fit between the client and the architect is so important, especially when it comes to a custom home project. All home design projects take time, but that is especially true of custom homes. We want to create a bond with our clients through trust and open communication—I can’t imagine a homeowner wanting the opposite of that. Like any relationship, the one between client and architect is a two-way street. We can get drawings done in a timely manner, as long as the homeowner is making decisions in a timely manner. Same with construction: we can get your selections delivered when you’re ready to install them, but only if you don’t postpone making those selections in the first place. 

I hate to throw any client under the bus but, in this case, I feel like I must…as a cautionary tale at the very least. And while I was warned against naming names, again, I feel like I must. 

Our worst client? Me.

Okay, maybe I’m not the worst client (although my staff may disagree), but when I was going through the process of designing and building a “forever home” for my wife and I, I doubt that I was an easy client. I’ve talked about my project journey plenty of times before, but as I near the finish line, I might as well throw in one more recap for good measure. My wife and I wanted to build a custom ranch home that suited our needs as we live into our twilight years, and this whole process—from start to finish—has been documented in our YouTube series, Design+Build Decoded (now’s a good time to catch up on episodes, by the way!). 

What was it that made me such a bad client? No, it wasn’t the constant design changes during the Design Phase; exploring all the options and refining the design with tweaks and adjustments is often the difference between a mediocre design and a great one. What is a great design for my wife and I is not necessarily going to be a great design for someone else, and that’s why going through rounds of changes is important in the grand scheme of things. And if it counts for anything, I am extremely happy with our final design, and I don’t think I would change a single thing. 
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The same was true with tile, countertops, carpet, light fixtures, etc.  If I could have followed our own rules, I would have reduced a lot of stress and, quite frankly, frustration that my wife had about last-minute decisions.  I had the big picture in my mind, but more importantly, I needed to transform it from my mind and onto the drawings and selections.  Thank goodness for our designer, Renee Dion.  Without her help, I would have been lost.

​​As I mentioned earlier, this is our “forever” home, so I have no intention of doing this again.  It has been a great experience, one that helps me relate to our clients' concerns and struggles.  I can’t wait to move in; it should be awesome.  The greater question for my staff is this.  Would you take me on as a client?

When you come across a property that you absolutely love, it’s especially easy to feel anxious of potentially losing it to another buyer, so you pursue more aggressively than you really should. And we’ve all heard the horror stories: the couple who excitedly purchases their first house, only to find out months later that the foundation beams are rotting away; or the developer, with big ideas of an apartment complex, buys a property only to learn after closing that the site isn’t even zoned for that purpose. A property that bleeds you dry—financially, at least—strikes fear into all of us, yet it’s all too easy to think, “oh, that will never happen to me.”
 The only way to steer clear of costly mistakes down the road is to think critically and do your due diligence before buying. When comparing which is worse, losing out on a property to another buyer or purchasing a property with significant underlying issues that need attention, I will always think the latter is far worse. Believe me, I know that it’s not ​fun to start imagining yourself in a home, only to have that property sell to someone else. But remember: there will always be another property. By applying these considerations, that next property will be far less likely to be a so-called “money pit”.