David is an exec in finance. Maura manages clients’ art collections. When I first met them they were living in a small -nearly tiny- apartment in the city, having moved from their 100 year old “dark but lovely” brownstone in Brooklyn. Recent empty nesters, they were ready for something else, but I could not tell what at first.

Having purchased a few acres on the south shore of Long Island, they were ready for a new lifestyle, relaxed and connected to nature, The site is wooded with a 700 foot drive through the semi darkness to a clearing about 150 feet from the water’s edge.

Selecting a building site is one of the most important decisions you’ll make in your home building journey.

If you have a vision of how you want your home’s functions organized, you need to find a site that will support that vision. If you have a “not to exceed” budget, the cost of preparing the site for a house – any house- could require an investment so large that the balance of your budget after the site preparation cost could be inadequate. If you are planning to add a pool and an ADU in the future, how can you know if the site you are considering will accommodate those additional buildings?

Since 2019, based on stats in the annual National Construction Estimator on-site construction costs have risen between 52% and 63%, depending on the market.

Today’s turn-key building costs in Seattle range from $500 to $600 per square foot not including site prep (which can run from $50,000 to $150.000 per lot. On Long Island (NY) the range is $625to $750 per square foot.

Let me answer a few more questions that I am sure are swirling around in your head…

Recalling my early days in the system-built industry, I designed custom houses that were built for $34 per square foot. Lindals were similarly priced. And I remember the uproar when the price point hit $38 per square foot. Would the increases never end? Would the prices ever come down?

Forty something years later, I can definitively answer “no” and “no”.

For nearly eighty years, modernism has focused on refining the communal experience of family living. Improving the experience of cooking, dining, and relaxing. Great rooms have become larger and larger, consuming a progressively larger share of the modern American home.