We spent last weekend researching local architects in the Houston Heights (a historic home district in Houston) via the web and Houzz. We selected two firms based on the home designs in their portfolios and what clients said about them on Houzz. We chose the ones who had reviews like this:
"He often entertained my quirky ideas, many of which we enthusiastically implemented and some of which he graciously grounded me in reality."
"He was able to capture our ideas and put it on paper in a way that was not only technically correct, but introduced real design imagination. There are several aspects of the project that he included that now have become the very things people go 'Wow' over."We figured we might resemble some of those remarks. :-)
We e-mailed each of them on Sunday night with our 6 page spec and sort of held our breath. Both responded on Monday and we've had a little back and forth with each of them this week, even though it's spring break here in Texas.
We will meet with each of them next Wednesday (the 22nd) to hear about how they approach a project, in one case we'll tour some in-progress builds, and generally gauge how well they interact with us.
Amusing tidbit: the two architects actually know each other, used to work together as designers at Allegro Builders, apparently, before Allegro went bust in the housing crisis. The custom home builder who is building just 2 blocks north of us also worked at Allegro as an office manager back in the day. Small world.
