Post date: Oct 2, 2014 11:08:03 PM
I met with our previous architect yesterday. (Call him ‘Bob’ from three years ago, when we bought the lot). Bob says he is very busy now, and appears to be ready for retirement from architecture. He gave me three homework assignments after our discussion:
Bob did not seem enthusiastic, and when I mentioned a lot of back-and-forth between client and architect, I got the impression that he did not want to work under my terms - he would design a house based on my floor-space guesses and I would accept it. Since I have a couple of radical ideas, that probably won’t satisfy me.
So today I met with a different architect (call him Bill), one who (not quite incidentally) has designed two of the houses here. Neither house is my style, but his own house is my style. We had a good discussion, covering my radical ideas and a lot of mundane stuff. He proposed to give me a formal proposal and I sent him my ‘user requirements’ (aka ‘Building Program’) document.
Bill seemed interested in the challenges and radical ideas that I have, and willing to work with landscaper and other contractors early in the process.
I stopped by Kit Carson Electric Coop and registered for connection to the fiber optic backbone, which is currently under construction under a Federal grant. All the house sites in Valverde Commons already have optic fiber to the lot, but will need to be connected to the backbone when it arrives. [Prices for service are expensive (relative to Comcast cable): $199/month for 20 Mbps. I currently pay $40/month for 25 Mbps in Seattle.]
PS.