The first and arguably most important step of a custom home project is the first hour spent understanding the lot.
Not after you own it.
Before.
A beautiful property can be easy to fall in love with. But the view, the zoning, and the listing photos only tell part of the story.
Before we draw, we want to know what the land will actually allow.
Before you buy
Start with the constraints.
Read the title. Look for covenants, easements, rights-of-way, building schemes and anything else registered against the land.
Then look at the development requirements.
Is the property in a hillside development permit area? An environmentally sensitive area? A riparian area? Are geotechnical reports required? Are trees protected? Will retaining walls be a major part of the project?
None of these are necessarily deal-breakers.
But they can change the buildable area, the approval process, the cost, and the type of house that makes sense.
We also look closely at access, grade, servicing and drainage.
On a difficult site, the driveway can determine the garage elevation. The garage elevation can determine the house. And the house can determine how much retaining is required.
A few metres of movement can matter a lot.
Then, before you draw
Once we understand what can be built, we start asking how it should live.
We walk for:
- the solar arc;
- prevailing wind;
- neighbour sightlines;
- drainage;
- existing trees;
- natural grade; and
- the clues the soil is already giving away.
Then we ask the less technical questions.
Where do we want morning coffee?
Where do we want shade in August at 4pm?
What do we see when we open the front door?
Where does the car arrive?
Where does a kid ride a bike?
These sound like lifestyle questions, but they are really planning questions.
Their answers begin to determine the kitchen, the garage, the patios, the windows and the way the house sits on the land.
“The lot is the first client. Listen to it before you draw the second one a house.”
A good custom home should not feel placed on a site.
It should feel like it belongs there.
Where form meets feeling starts before there is any form at all.