A custom-built house from the ground up

Most of our readers are connoisseurs of a well-made house, but many of us don’t really know what goes into the design-and-build process. Doyle Korkus of DK Architecture recently offered to build me a house on my lot, and I accepted, curious to see what would happen.
I knew I was in for a drastic change. Doyle’s design aesthetic is very modern, while, as you can see from this picture of my house that was to be replaced, my taste runs a little more to “homey”:

But I was enthusiastic, because I’m a fan of great design and skillful building no matter where I find it.

Doyle began by “sketching in prims” — laying out an idea of the basic structure to give me an idea. It eventually became the model that he used for a guide during the on-site build.

So, it was time to get started. I was on site for a while and took some in-process snapshots.

Though for me, the “sexy” part of building is when the textures and decorative details get applied, watching the early steps was a very good lesson into the importance of good proportion and structure.

Doyle colored the sections differently, making it easier to assess precision and proportion.

And, in less than a day, the house was complete and the interior features, like a mini-garden, cinema screening room and bar lounge were all installed.  Now, I get to add the finishing touches.

The warmth and wood evoke the coziness that Doyle knew I wanted, even though the spaces are large and expansive. The greenery makes a huge difference in bringing the rooms alive. It was a fascinating process to stand by and watch someone bring the picture in his head to life.