** This article was mentioned in Redfin’s “Building a House in Georgia”
Building a Custom Home in Atlanta
Atlanta is unique in the opportunities available when considering building a new custom luxury home. Building a custom home allows you to use these opportunities to create a home that is uniquely yours, will satisfy your family’s needs for many years, and provides the ability to create the home of your dreams. A new custom home is uniquely yours, reflecting your wishes, needs, and desires. There’s no need to have to settle for a home that checks a few boxes since building a custom home allows you to check all the boxes!
Atlanta is well known as the top design center of the South as there is no shortage of creative architects, designers, and builders to choose from as you build your team. Here at White Oak Fine Homes, we believe that from the beginning a collaborative approach with both the design and construction professionals is important to insuring a successful project. Building a custom home means starting from scratch, and starting from scratch means that the only limitations are the ones that you choose. Setting limitations from the start can be wise, especially limitations surrounding the budget and size of the custom home. Your design and construction team will help with setting realistic limitations and design within those limits.
Step One: Find a Suitable Property
The first step is to find a property with a suitable setting for your new custom home. This can be a daunting task, as it takes a trained eye to see potential and know what is possible. In the Greater Atlanta area, we are fortunate to have the type of topography that allows for terraforming through retaining walls, grade changes, and other similar measures. This allows for a newly shaped building site to be very different from the existing property. Older properties with mature tree canopies, but outdated homes on them, offer some of the best opportunities to create a wonderful new building site once the house is removed. A full-service General Contractor like White Oak Fine Homes, Landscape Designer, and Architect will help guide you through this first step.
Step Two: Design with your Architect & General Contractor
Once you have your property determined, the next step in building a custom home is to spend time with your architect designing the home of your dreams which will be situated organically on the building site. When a home is carefully and organically situated on the property, the property and structure work as one in a sense of harmony. It feels as if the home actually belongs on the property. When working with an architect, one of the best ways to convey your vision is with images; as they say, “a picture is worth a thousand words”. A helpful tip is to look through as many design magazines and books as possible, and when you see something that speaks to you, tear out the page or snap a picture on your phone to print out later. Also, be sure to make notes on the pictures and file them in groups such as windows and doors, cabinets, countertops, trim details, stairs, and such. You can never provide too much information!
Step Three: Work with a High-End Interior Designer
Now that your dream house is designed to your liking, it is time to incorporate the interior designer. In most cases, this step can be performed together with the architectural design. This is the time that you will select finishes, colors, materials, and the like. The same tip noted for the architectural work regarding picture taking also applies to the interior design. Those pictures are still worth that thousand words.
Step Four: Figuring out a Reasonable Budget
With your house plans completed, and your selections chosen, the next step in building a custom home is to understand how much the project will cost to bring to life. This is a very important step in the process and should not be taken lightly. If you have not already selected your custom home builder, the architect can help with this process. Typically, it is suggested to have more than one contractor provide pricing for the project. The pricing should be detailed, including descriptions of various tasks and materials, scope of work, along with itemized costs. An understanding of the time frame for the construction is also recommended as well as a review of the construction contract.
Get Started on your Custom Luxury Home in Atlanta!
If your dream home is uniquely yours, reflects your personal style and yours alone, is situated on the property to satisfy your needs and wishes, and one that is designed and built to your specifications and desires, then possibly building a custom home in Atlanta is right for you. And besides, it’s really a lot of fun as well!
Ready to start a conversation about your project? Contact us to get started.