Custom Home Design for Florida's Coast

Owners building a custom home on their own lot, who want one team responsible for both the house design and the structure: ocean and Gulf lots, Intracoastal and river lots, and club-community lots; replacing an older house or building on a lot you just bought. Also builders who have the client and need the design and engineering behind them.

• A design built from the lot: the survey, setbacks, flood zone and required elevation, wind exposure, views and sun, plus your community’s design rules.
• Concept layout and style direction: start from one of our five concept homes or from your own wish list.
• The house design: floor plans, exterior elevations, roof plan, building sections and window and door layouts, revised with you until the plan is right.
• The structure, engineered in the same set: the foundation, including piles or columns where the flood zone calls for them; floor and roof framing; the lateral system; and the uplift load path from roof to foundation.
• Wind and flood design on the sheets: design criteria and the lowest-floor elevation, plus the window, door and roof pressures your builder needs to match product approvals.
• Delegated-design items listed with their loads, trusses for example, and we review those submittals against our design.
• Sealed, digitally signed PDF sheets for the building permit, and written answers to the plan reviewer’s comments on our sheets.

1. Send the lot. The survey, the flood zone if you have it, your community’s design guidelines and a short wish list. Or take the quiz below.
2. Pick a starting point. A concept home, a style and a list of must-haves, or your own sketches and photos.
3. Plan and elevations. We lay out the plan and the exterior together and revise them with you. Column lines, beam depths, the stair and elevator and the foundation are settled early.
4. Permit set. The house design and the sealed structure are issued as one coordinated set, and plan-review comments on our sheets are answered in writing.

• Arrival through a motor court or courtyard, not past a row of garage doors.
• An owner’s wing with two closets and two water closets, and its own outdoor space.
• A work core behind the kitchen: scullery, butler’s pantry, mudroom and laundry between the kitchen and the garage.
• A loggia with a summer kitchen, a pool court with a separate spa, and a guest casita or guest wing.
• Club room, wine room, theatre, gym and office, and an elevator stacked through every level where the house goes up.
• A rear wall of pocketing glass toward the water, with the structure designed to carry it in high wind.

No site visits and no inspections. We work from the survey, the geotechnical report and your photos, and the builder confirms field conditions. Interior design, site and civil work, and mechanical, electrical and plumbing design are by others; we coordinate with them.

North Palm Beach County: Jupiter, Jupiter Inlet Colony, Tequesta, Palm Beach Gardens, North Palm Beach, Palm Beach · Treasure Coast: Jupiter Island and Hobe Sound, Sewall’s Point, Stuart, Vero Beach, Riomar, John’s Island and Indian River Shores · Space Coast: Melbourne Beach, Indialantic, Satellite Beach, Cocoa Beach, Merritt Island · Pinellas: Snell Isle and St. Petersburg, Belleair and Belleair Beach, Pass-a-Grille and St. Pete Beach, Clearwater, Dunedin

How much does a custom home design cost?
Each home is quoted on its own once we see the survey and the wish list. The fee depends on the size of the house, how complex the plan and structure are, and the flood zone. The quote covers both the design and the engineering, so there is no second fee for the structure.

How long does it take to design a custom home?
It depends on the size of the house and how quickly decisions are made. Starting from one of our concept homes saves the blank-page stage. The quote comes with a schedule covering the layout, revisions and the permit set; community design review, where your lot has it, adds its own meeting dates.

Can an engineer design a house?
For one- and two-family homes, yes. We prepare the house design and engineer the structure in one coordinated set, and the structural sheets carry a Florida PE seal. If you already have a designer, we engineer their design instead.

What do you need from me to start?
The lot survey and the flood zone if you have it, any community or club design guidelines, and a wish list: bedrooms, must-haves and style. Photos of houses you like help. The geotechnical report comes later, when the foundation is designed.

Do you work with my builder?
Yes. We can send structural layouts early so your builder can price the frame and foundation, and we answer the builder’s questions during permitting.

Do you visit the site?
No. The work is remote. We design from the survey, the geotechnical report and photos, and the builder confirms field dimensions and conditions.

Related: Florida house plans · The Courtyard Estate · The Intracoastal Estate · The Bayfront House · The Beach House on Pilings