The north eastern city of St. Augustine in Florida is reportedly the oldest (European-established) settlement and port in the continental United States having been continuously occupied since its foundation in September of 1565 when it became the capital of Spanish Florida. Over the years, any number of fine residences have been built there and the early ones would all have been custom homes in St. Augustine area since there was no such thing as massed produced housing communities back then.
Even as recently as the 1880’s, unique architecture was a feature of St. Augustine since one of the original partners in Rockefeller’s Standard Oil began turning the city into a winter resort for the wealthy elite from up north. Much of the building design was handled by New York architects from the firm of Carrère and Hastings. However, many of today’s population do not live in such classically designed homes and there is now quite a mix of residential housing located in and around St. Augustine.
New Homes
Anybody planning to be the first occupants of a brand new residence must first have it built. Sometimes this might be a number of identical homes built on land purchased for development and the design of the residences is completely in the hands of the developer. Depending upon the ideas of the purchaser, this approach might be just fine but, there are others who would wish for more individuality in their choice of a residence.
Such people would prefer an architect designed building when choosing new Custom Homes In St. Augustine. Probably such a home would carry a price premium but, how easy would it be to acquire one?
Your Own Individual, Unique Home
It is still possible to do as they did in the 1880’s and commission an architect to design your new home in St. Augustine; but this is likely to be quite expensive just to obtain the plans alone. Plus, once you have those plans, you then have to make all the arrangements for the construction. This is known as the design and then bid out the rest of the work method.
For those who consider the above method either too expensive or too complicated, there is an alternative which is known as the design-build and hand over method. This way, one qualified firm listens to your outline requirements, draws up the plans, gets all the necessary permits from the local authorities and then carries out all the construction stages right through to the day when you are able to join the ranks of those living in their own Custom Homes In St. Augustine.
