Replies

1. 
   xMikeSmith | Apr 10, 2003 04:26am | #1

   welcome... what would you like to do ?

   Mike Smith   Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore

1. 
   MichaelCobb | Apr 10, 2003 05:03am | #2

   Hah, I've got a residence going up in here in Healdsburg right now for a client by the name of Mike Smith. I'm interested primarily in small, energy-conscious, custom homes and remodels but in this economy I'm not picky. I've worked for a lot of custom home outfits and I'm little disgusted at the general trend of stair stepping up to bigger and bigger homes to make a living at it. I'd like to find a way to stay small if I can help it. Alternative materials interest me greatly although I consider wood to be environmentally appropriate as well. The wood is so popular a building material it has a built in efficiency to it in terms of the industry surrounding it (bulk shipping, available tools, etc.). I recently spent a great deal of time with a client exploring rastra block, pisé and rammed earth as possibilities for their home. These building techniques would also be something I'd like to work with more. Thanks for asking.

1. 
   xMikeSmith | Apr 10, 2003 05:09am | #3

   my guess is the only way out of that squirrel cage would be design / build.. kinda tak control of your destiny....Mike Smith   Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore

2. 
   Piffin | Apr 10, 2003 05:21am | #4

   Hi Mike, You too, Mike.

   You Mikes are getting as common as dandelions.

   ;)

   So Mike - Cobb that is - Do you have any experience with CAD programs?

   I'm guessing that at 34 YO, you are just starting as an independent.

   With the number of homeowners who think they can do as well with a minicad package off the shelf, you need something, like talent, a refering mentor, a name brand, or old fashioned drive and hard work and marketing ability to make a go of it.

   Could be that developing your own niche in small and special homes could be it if that is your passion.

   You are passionate about your work, aren't you? That's a pre-requisite for success.

   And networking here with some of the best in the business, of course.

   ;)

   .

   Excellence is its own reward!

1. 
   MichaelCobb | Apr 12, 2003 09:12am | #5

   You're picture of the dynamics of the profession is right on the money. You got it right about passion. Very important. I actually got started at a design build firm in the San Francisco Bay Area back in the early 90's as I was finishing up architecture school. I did a lot of hand drafting then but now I do the majority of my work on Vectorworks.

   I spent about ten years kicking around residential firms. Sometimes affordable housing but mostly high end custom homes. I'd say I get about half my work from local architects I've worked for in the past. When times are tight the number of referrals drops. In a way this is a healthy wake up call for me to get out there and bust my own a$$.

   I've been calling contractors in the area and this has been a good experience. So often when I called up a contractor in the past it was in the heat of a project and our relationship was completely premised on the execution of this one event. Was he going to get the job? Was it a competitive bidding situation and were we comparing apples to apples? The fact of the matter is that even with fairly precise documents bids are pretty nebulous affairs. The more I study this the more it seems that if I'm calling up a contractor at the time the client is asking for one, it is tragically too late to be talking to them. There is no replacement for trust and its hard to develop that in the space of a project (although good old integrity helps).

   Anyhow, all this to say that cultivating a culture of refferal prior to a specific job seems to be a good long term strategy. Wife's pregnant. Heh, we'll see how the previous light appetite that enabled me to cherry pick the work I did dovetails with the new existence.

1. 
   andybuildz | Apr 12, 2003 04:43pm | #6

   Welcome Mike Cobb

                      All in one week I meet two folks from an area I was looking to buy in last year.

   I looked at some gorgous property in Sebastopol (11 outstanding acres going for about $550,000 with the well and septic and road in). The woman didnt accept my $450000 offer..then didnt accept my $475000 offer.

   I ended up buying my circa:1680 handy andy special here on LI in NY on 2 nice acres.

   I noticed her price came down to $500000 now and still hasnt sold...oh well....I would have loved living and building there.

   I looked a lot in Healdsberg (sp) as well. Up in the hills and winding roads there. Pretty cool town!

   Geez I coulda used you for my archy..oh well

    Shoulda woulda but couldnt

     Good luck Mike and hope to see you here more often.

   Be well

           Namaste

                       andy 

    

   In his first interview since the stroke, Ram Dass, 66, spoke with great difficulty about how his brush with death has changed his ideas about aging, and how the recent loss of two old friends, Timothy Leary and Allen Ginsberg, has convinced him that now, more than ever, is the time to ``Be Here Now.''

   http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM

1. 
   MichaelCobb | Apr 13, 2003 07:35pm | #9

   Wow. Long Island is a different place than Sebastopol. I'm sorry you missed the house in Sebastopol. That's a nice area too. I'm working on a pool house over there now. I like what your profile says about balancing the inner and the outer work. Good luck in Long Island!

1. 
   GoldenWreckedAngle | May 02, 2003 04:41pm | #11

   Hey Michael, good to see you back. I've been wondering where you went. Need more architectural presence on the board. There have been several discussions here lately about architects I was hoping you would chime in on.

   Kevin Halliburton

   "I believe that architecture is a pragmatic art. To become art it must be built on a foundation of necessity."  - I.M. Pei -

2. 
   Piffin | Apr 12, 2003 10:47pm | #7

   May your wife and ALL your offspring be well.

   I include in that term, not only your biological generations, but those that spring from your drawing table or CAD screen also.

   Reputation is definitely the foundation for a successful practice. Build on that..

   Excellence is its own reward!

1. 
   MichaelCobb | Apr 13, 2003 05:41am | #8

   Well said. I like looking at it that way. Thanks for the kind words Piffin.

2. 
   brujenn | May 02, 2003 09:03am | #10

   Piffin?.... You feeling okay?   2 posts to a home designer/architect and no Softplan plug???  How many fingers am I holding up???

1. 
   Piffin | May 03, 2003 02:01pm | #12

   Let's see here now,

   thumbs on each cheek

   index finger in each ear

   still holding up six fingers!

   ;)

   I didn't notice that SP was the subject matter at hand here..

   Excellence is its own reward!