My degree (from 46-years ago) is a BS in Architecture. I've never practiced and would have had to spend two-more years in Grad School, or "sit" for an architect as an apprentice before I could have been licensed. Too much money and I already had too much student debt.
We bought land (6-acres) over 34-years ago when our oldest was 2yo, to build our dream house just down the street from our first house. It took us 32-years to be comfortable enough with the cost to actually get around to building our dream house. We had plenty of sketches that evolved over the years. We focused on design/build firms to give us estimates over ten-years ago and came up with figures that were easily three-times what we figured our cost-per-square-foot should have been. We finally sucked it up and figured we would have to spend at least twice what we wanted to get what we wanted. Several builders said our design had too many corners, and that a square plan would be cheaper. I asked them to give me the extra cost of each corner so I could decide which ones to vacate. Never got a straight answer. Several friends in the business of high-end design/build told me they charged so much that they would not recommend their firm to do our house. They had plenty of wealthy customers who were willing to pay whatever they asked.
So we paid one design build guy to take our plans and turn them into construction drawings so we could get a real quote. When he was done it was, again, three-times what we wanted to spend. So we asked for the plans, for which he charged us $2,000 for the time and consult, and then put me in touch with his structural guy to get the digital "drawings" from him. That designer told me what I'd paid for were not complete construction drawings and in fact they had no basement plan or structural drawings.
I took what I had to a retired contractor a county away who had built several nice homes in our area in the past and was recommended by one of my co-workers. Alan looked over the plans and said he could probably build the house himself with his son for about 2/3rds or less than our other bids, but he'd have to update his CAD program and completely re-do the plans, which he would include in his estimate. He sent me a viewer to view the structural plans in 3D and the quote from the fabrication shop which would supply the trusses from the CAD output.
We agreed to pay him directly monthly on work completed and also agreed that we would discuss any increases in any portion of the project prior to moving on, and also any savings would reduce the amount we would owe. I worked with the builder and his son at least one-day each week and the project was literally a 5-minute walk from where we lived at the time. He handled the well and septic and all inspections and permits. Our hydrologist was from the country and doubled as our well-driller, perc-tester, and water tester. When it came to cabinetry our contractor found a supplier of knocked-down kits of quality solid-woods from China that he said would save us around $20k over our construction bids in our quote from Lowe's for Virginia-made cabinetry. I found a hardwood floor contractor who came from 80-miles away but who could supply the 4-inch White Oak I wanted, and paid for that out of pocket. I found bathroom vanities from China direct from the California importer who promised he could beat Home Depot and Lowe's pricing on the same pieces and include shipping direct to our project. The quality was fantastic and they were air-freighted from LAX to Dulles and trucked 100-miles to our site at no charge. Even my contractor was impressed. Our windows came from a Virginia manufacturer and were gas-filled with all the latest U-factor and heat-gain ratings but at probably less than 1/4 the cost of what the local contractors quoted for windows.
The masons who did our foundation were family members from over in "The Valley" where craftsmanship and integrity seems to be more important than price. They were superb. My contractor said he had a hard time finding his other subs as many were either dead, drunk, or retired, so we waited on the framers—and waited—until my contractor started on the first floor saying he would not do the second floor. Then we waited until he said he'd frame the second floor—but not the roof! Then he hired some framer helpers and one of my good customers supplied his best crane operator to lift the trusses in place. An amazing skill to be able to place these so perfectly for the crew hanging-on 30-feet above the walk-out basement to hammer them in-place. Roofers were a Mexican family that came by in the evening after their other work, sometimes working in the dark with headlamps while their kids did their homework or played soccer down below. Mostly architectural shingles but hand-formed metal for the front porch and four dormers. Exterior is Hardy plank and board-and-batten painted on-site with three coats of Benjamin Moore colors chosen by my daughter. Concrete was supplied from two-counties away much cheaper than local, and the finishers were also from the Shenandoah Valley and were a pleasure to work with. I enjoyed working with all of them and always brought lunch for the crew on my day off which I spent working on-site. It was a great experience!
We started in November during one of the rainiest years on record and had to move a lot of earth and trees due to slope, drain-field, and to get the mountain view we knew was there 30-years before. The excavator was another friend of my contractor and he was the first to show up to dig the foundation. It took until February over a year later to get the occupancy certificate. This was a 3-bed, 2.5-bath house, two-stories with master suite on ground floor, large deck off the back and large front porch. We had a 2-1/2 car garage with two 24x24 bays and a right-angle motorcycle section today holding three bikes with plenty of work space for tool boxes and benches. The basement is a full basement with walk-out double man-door big enough to get my small cars and more bikes inside. Two heat-pumps with LP heat for the first floor, and a very efficient LP fireplace capable of keeping the whole house above 60º for a week-long power-failure during our second winter. We have unfinished spaces above the garage for a future apartment, and an unfinished "bonus" room upstairs above the master suite capable of being another small suite. Hardwood floors finished on-site everywhere but porcelain tile in the laundry and all three bathrooms. Six-foot-wide shower in the master bath with a 6-foot soaking tub. Five and a half foot bath upstairs. All together I think we hit 2,400 finished square-feet plus the full basement, two large unfinished spaces and a big garage. All quality LED lighting from an electrical contractor who was fantastic to work with, also. Some CAT6 runs, double breaker panels, etc. Sixty-something lighting fixtures. No ceiling fans because I hate them and don't need them even with 9-ft ceilings downstairs, 8 upstairs, and 15-foot cathedral ceiling in the open living room.
All building supplies came from a Shenandoah Valley supplier with the most beautiful quality 2x4s I've ever seen coming from Austria and our 2x6s coming from Sweden. Insulation is sprayed foam.
I think the total cost was around $460,000 in 2019. Our original estimates four-years prior had been around $750,000. Our original pipe-dream was to be around $250,000! We paid in cash since no one wanted to give us a construction loan even though we owned the lot valued at $350,000. We did take out a HELOC on our old house just to give us the flexibility in case we ran over our savings. There were no cost over-runs and we came in under budget, albeit with me paying out of pocket for the hardwood floor, fireplace, and vanities, though those were all under our original line-item-cost estimates.
Everyone tells me we built at just the right time, but it didn't feel that way at the time. Material costs were crazy, and kept going up, though we really didn't experience the supply-chain issues of today. Doing it again, I'd change a few minor things but we love the house and have enjoyed it for over three-years.
