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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Interesting thread. I'm skeptical about the OP's plans. Fwiw we worked with the same architect as the OP on a major project. She is wonderful in every way.

But I'm still skeptical of the OP's plan. An architect doesn't design to a particular spending limit. We wound up spending about 3x on our project as much as we intended to at the outset. BTW we used the architect's recommendations to bid our project. Bids were all over the place in terms of costs. And the one we ultimately selected did some great work but also had some epic failures, big upcharges, and horrendous communications headaches along the way. And if you're doing all the fittings and fixtures through the builder, you're going to be paying a lot extra.[/quote]

Could you please elaborate more regarding the architect not designing to a particular spending limit and why costs are higher for doing fixtures and fittings through a builder? We're in the design phase with an architect for a major remodel and addition. Thank you.[/quote]

OP spoiler alert--we are pretty substantially along in the process. So some of what PPs are skeptical of has already been accomplished.  We engaged the architect first, but shortly thereafter engaged our engineer and the builder.  The architect, builder and homeowners are really partners in this process.  A budget is a requirement, just like the number of bedrooms, or whether you want a fireplace in the ktichen, or whatever other specs you dream up.  Actually, they are all related.  I can't imagine starting this project and NOT having a budget, and having your professionals manage the project with an eye on it.  But, you do adjust as you go along.  There are opportunities to save money and (many) to spend more money along the way, but starting out with a set of plans that fits your budget (or comes in a little under is where it starts.  As one example:  designing a home with 3 bathrooms vs 5 bathrooms, aside from square footage means buying 5 sets of bathroom fixtures vs 3.  So there are budget implications to that.  The architect understand this, and they also will help you make different choices if you give them a $2M dollar budget vs $1M.  They can also give a reality check.  We initially thought we could build our house for about 150K less--the architect and builder were really helpful in keeping us realistic about what we wanted vs what was possible within our budget.
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