The Legacy Blueprint
A complete guide to commissioning a custom home with full confidence
Most people commissioning a custom home are doing it for the first time. The result is predictable: decisions made too early, decisions made too late, conversations had with the wrong people, contracts signed without knowing what to look for. The cost of these mistakes is not abstract. It shows up in the finished house, every day, for the rest of its life.
The Legacy Blueprint is a complete guide to commissioning a custom home. It is what I would tell a client over the course of our first six months together, written down so you can read it before our first call.
What's Inside
Part One — The First Decision
Function, status, or the background of a life. How to know what you are actually building before you begin.
Part Two — Site
What land actually supports, how to read regulatory environments, the case for involving an architect before purchase.
Part Three — Program
The difference between the aspirational program and the real program — and why getting this wrong is the single most common source of mid-project disappointment.
Part Four — The Architect
How to evaluate the firms you are interviewing, the questions that surface real differences, and the structural differences between practice models.
Part Five — Budget
How a realistic construction cost is determined, the line items most clients miss, and what is actually included in an architect's fee.
Part Six — The Process
The six phases of a custom home commission, what happens in each, and how to be a good client at every stage.
Part Seven — Construction
The contractor relationship, change orders, RFIs, and the role of construction administration.
Part Eight — After the Move
The warranty period, the one-year review, and how a house becomes a home.
What You'll Know When You're Done
Every question worth asking. Every commitment worth getting in writing. Every decision worth making before construction begins. You will arrive at your first architect meeting prepared — and you will know how to evaluate what you are being told.
You are not buying a sales brochure. You are building the framework to make a decision of this magnitude correctly. And if you decide this practice is not the right fit, what you have learned will still make you a better client for whoever you work with.
Approximately 40 pages. Read in an evening, return to as a reference throughout your project.
Investment
$997 — delivered as a complete digital document, immediately available after purchase.
The full $997 credits toward a Feasibility Study if you proceed.
Delivered as a complete digital document, immediately available after purchase. PDF, 40 pages, delivered immediately.
Questions? Contact the practice directly at 401.413.8373 or through the Begin a Project page.
Ready for a real conversation?
If you've worked through the Blueprint and you're ready to evaluate your site, the Feasibility Study is the next step. The $997 you've already paid credits in full.