Lake Norman Spec

This was the second design project we did for an existing client. The first project for this client was a complete remodel and addition of a lakefront property on Lake Norman. This project included a spec home design for a property this same client owned. Purpose of his home would inevitably be a spec sale or possibly rental income for the owner, but the initial design needed to meet the needs of the client’s family as they planned to live in this spec while their remodel is completed.

The project started out with the conceptual design questionnaire for residential. This was completed with the client as they wanted to understand the nature of why each question was being asked and make that the multiple purposes would fit with their design. This process was very helpful for the client, but it had one pitfall. The husband completed the questionnaire and was on the call, but the wife was not. I point this out in profiling this project as it is essential that all parties must be in on this process together from the start.  That is, if both are going to be part of evaluating the design once delivered. There was some catch up that needed to be had due to this miscue, but all were able to get on the same page and with detailed explanations of why the conceptual design included what it included, all was good.

The home was to be a craftsman style home with a request to use curved exterior walls in some of the design. The key was to have enough unique architecture features to catch a prospective buyer’s eye for resale.

The primary design challenge with this spec home was the extreme topography of the lot in relation to the street level. As part of the design, the site plan needed to be done in 3D, which was a slightly additional charge, but it was critical for getting the design done considering the flow of the land. The surveyors only did a boundary survey so that was used and then the county GIS topo was used to provide for the topography in 3D. The conceptual design had to consider the terrain as the client did not want to spend extra on grading.  In most cases, we suggest that a new topo survey be done as what most counties have documented may have changed over the years.

An additional challenge of the design was keeping the sq ft in the home at or near what homes in the neighborhood were built at. This was a requirement for cost to build as well.  The dilemma was the family was living in a much larger space in the home they were planning on remodeling. Making this restriction work for their lifestyle until they moved back into their lakefront property posed the challenge of prioritizing essential spaces for now and then for resale. We talk through how the family planned to use the spec until their remodel was done and being completely candid about what space priorities needed to be included in the design. Hard conversations, but because all were committed to the parameters of the build, the final design landed at the appropriate sq ft limit.

The result was a very eye-catching craftsman style home with an open floor plan and many features that will be attractive to a family of 4-5 upon resale.