conceptual design

Our architect, Teen Woon, showed us the first conceptual design of our home. We looked it over and intially we could not think of any changes we'd like to see. He considered all of our needs and fit it into our limited budget and lot size. Because of the size of the house (1500 sq. ft.) we will not be able to include a stand alone bathtub. Lisa was looking forward to this but we have to compromise. As soon as we confirm/agree to the concept we'll post the images.

The architect

We chose Teen Woon of Singer Architects in Fort Lauderdale, FL. His enthusiasm for our project as well as the personal tour of his own house, designed by him, made all the difference. Above are a few pics of his home as well as a few drawings of elevations.

choosing an architect

A few months before we purchased our land we began to interview architects. We narrowed the field down to four. One made it very clear that he did not want to get involved in site visits or picking out fixtures. After the interview he never called or emailed us with a proposal. One, although very pleasant, presented us with a proposal but he wanted to do a pitched roof after we expressly said we wanted a flat roof. He explained that there are problems with leaking but we spoke with the other architects and it became very clear that should not be a concern. The third architect seemed fine, but he showed no passion for the project. Then Sean remembered watching an episode of "What's with that house" on HGTV. It featured a house built in Oakland Park, FL, the architect's own house. With his name we were able to find his address. So we drove by his house to see if it looked just as good in person as it did on TV. To our amazement the architect was at home at the time. We approached and explained in the most nonthreatening way possible that we saw his house on TV and we just wanted to see it in person. We spoke a little and he invited us in for a quick tour. Afterwards we made an appointment to interview him. For the interview he gave us a detailed tour of the house, showing us how he solved various problems. We were sold. The architect in question is Teen Woon from Singer Architects. Next time we will post some photos of his house.

History

We thought that finding a piece of land we loved would be an impossible dream, since property on the Atlantic Ocean seems to command prices just a bit out of our range. Hmmm say $20-$40K. So we decided to look elsewhere. We thought we had a modest list of desires:

• Proximity to certain modern amenities such as hospitals, airports, libraries, bookstores etc. (within 50 miles)
• Connection to municipal sewer and water
• Not in a flood zone
• No architectural restrictions

Boy were we wrong!!!!! The search was longer, harder and more frustrating than we could ever have imagined.

First, we considered a more rural setting where prices generally seemed more amenable to our budget. What we found with a rural setting is that none met all our criteria. For most we needed to dig a well and install a septic tank. One slight problem: Lisa has a fear of septic tanks stemming from a childhood trauma (don't ask). Others were in flood zones. One other slight problem: Sean has a fear of flooding also stemming from a childhood trauma (again, don't ask).

Having failed in the more rural settings, we turned to subdivsions. Here we found one major problem: architectural restrictions. Every single subdivision we looked at whether in small towns or suburbs required a pitched roof!!! AAAArghhhh!!!! In addition some required minimum square footage that would put building the house well beyond our means. For example, we checked out a place in Tallahassee, FL that required 3000 sq. ft. At $200-$250 per sq ft., that would put us at $600,000-$750,000!!!

Then there were restrictions on exterior finishes and building materials. We can appreciate the look of brick or stone, but we love concrete, steel, and glass. Lastly, there were stylistic restrictions: either some subdivisions wanted a Georgian, or a Tudor, a Martha's Vineyard cottage or some version of Mediterranean. To make matters worse realtors and developers completely misunderstood that when we said modern we meant MODERN, not a new version of a Tudor.

Finally, we looked at land near to city centers but either they were way out of our price range ($250K in Hallandale, FL in a bad neighborhood!!!!! or $200K in Dania, FL in a good area) or in a questionable area. We looked for land for over four years. We gave up and seriously considered buying a condo or townhouse with the hopes of making the inside modern (furniture, kitchen cabinetry etc.). And then the unthinkable happened.....

Yes you guessed right....the housing crash. We scoured realtor.com and trulia.com and found land in the city with all utilities for less the $40K. No, this was not on the beach and no it was not the greatest of neighborhoods, but we found something in a nice working neighborhood in Broward County, FL. It was a foreclosure with a house on it. With just a little haggling we got our piece of dirt with very little fanfare. The bank paid for the removal of all the structures on the land and now wee are very happy with our little piece of dirt. Land for under $40K in South Florida isn't bad. If not for the housing crash we'd be stuck with a studio apartment dreaming.

Next...the search for an architect.

The Beginning

This blog is a record of the construction process of an affordable modern home in South Florida. By modern we mean a contemporary style home with a flat roof. We are the prospective owners, Sean and Lisa. Although we both love modern, we like differing interpretations. Sean, for example, loves the work of Waro Kishi, in particular House in Shimogano and House in Higashinada while Lisa prefers Steven Ehrlich, especially the Zeidler Residence. When it comes to the interior our tastes flip. Lisa prefers the raw industrial look of a loft while Sean loves a clean minimalist look.