What does it mean to design a dream house?
There should probably be two different words for two very different concepts; one for the “dreams” we experience at night and another one for the dreams we have to chase to bring to reality.
This project is about a real dream that our clients had to work hard for, starting by acquiring the land and then by working with us to have the perfect design.
First was the land, which this beautiful family acquired by a miraculous event on Indian Rocks Beach. As challenging as it was finding the perfect waterfront location at the right price, the small parcel became in itself a design challenge that not any designer could solve, given its irregular shape and size. We know how good we are, but the reason why I say “not any designer could solve” comes from the fact that when we met, the clients were already “done” designing the house. In other words, they had already gone through a design process with a different firm, had already paid about 50% of the design fees and had spent 9 months going back and forth, just to build up a feeling of frustration that became as solid as the walls of a house they had been "convinced" to like.
Take a moment and think about this, if you were in their position, would you waste your first design investment to start all over again? Tough one, huh? Maybe it’s more common in relationships than in design, but the truth is that the road they were taking lead to just another house on the block, not a dream house.
Even if they had to start all over again, what guarantee did they have at this point? Well, that’s easy, we were willing to be part of their dream as a team and agreed with them that we wouldn’t stop until they smiled when looking at the house plans and renderings.
Here’s their dream: 4 bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms, an open concept that brings the view inside the house, a beautiful pool, small gym, 2 car garage and everything elevated from the ground leaving a social and open area for friend and family events.
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The style of the house is… Unique-not-modern-farmhouse.
The spaces are not wasted. The budget is not crazy.
But above all, it is driving them and keeping them determined through the process of making this happen. That is the true value of design, it is in the future. No one will work (really) hard to have something other than the vision they’ve dreamed of. Building a house is not easy, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on it is really hard for most people, but making it without a dream to chase is nearly impossible.
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I will keep you posted on this dream and share it with you. We have been really happy to see our brave clients smiling, and I hope you share your dreams with us! It takes giving it a name and knowing that you can and will have it.