Working With an Architect: A Custom Home Guide

Working well with an architect comes down to five things: choosing someone whose way of working fits yours, writing a clear brief before you meet, agreeing on fees and scope in writing, naming one decision-maker, and planning for community design review as its own step, separate from building permits. Get those right and the process feels like a collaboration instead of a negotiation. Below is how we see it at Crane Island, where every home begins with an architect and a piece of land.

Craneisland

craneisland.com

Build a Home That Belongs Here

Crane Island pairs custom homesites with Lowcountry architecture, preserved marshlands and forests, and a community shaped by porch living.

Explore Crane Island

TL;DR

Interview several architects and choose for fit: communication, availability and listening matter as much as portfolio style.
Write a prioritized brief with images before the first meeting. It is the best protection against costly changes later.
Ask in writing what the base fee covers and what counts as an additional service, such as meetings with an HOA or review board.
Architectural review in a community is separate from the building permit, so build its timeline into your plan.
Keep the architect involved through construction. That phase is where the design is protected.

Start by understanding what an architect does
How to choose an architect
Write the brief before you meet
Understand how architects charge
Put it in writing
The custom home design process, phase by phase
Architectural review: a separate approval from your permit
Our perspective: design begins with the place
Building at Crane Island
Common mistakes to avoid
FAQ
Sources

Start by understanding what an architect does

An architect does more than draw a house. The role runs from early planning and site analysis through design, construction documents, permitting support and, if you choose, oversight while the home is built. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) advises clients to learn how architects work and how they charge before they begin, and to know what they want from the project.

Architect's custom home project workflow stages

That last part is yours alone. An architect can solve a problem you describe well. Even a gifted one cannot guess how your family eats breakfast, where guests sleep, or whether you want the porch to face the water or the morning light.

It also helps to know the title is regulated. In Florida, architects are licensed by the state's Board of Architecture and Interior Design, and the state's licensing site lets you verify a license by name or license number. For a business, you check the qualifying architect named on it. Do this before you sign anything.

How to choose an architect

The AIA describes the right choice as a matter of fit that goes beyond aesthetic preference. A custom home relationship can last months or years, so you are choosing a long working partnership as much as a designer. AIA Florida makes the same point: look for experience, communication and creativity, and for someone you trust to guide you.

What to look for in a portfolio

Look for work that resembles the home you want, not just work that looks beautiful. If you want a Lowcountry house with deep porches, tall windows and honest materials, ask to see completed porch-fronted homes, then ask how they handled the details: eave depths, column proportions, how the porch meets the ground. Photographs flatter. Details tell you whether the architect understands a tradition or only borrows its look.

Lowcountry porch column, eaves, and window details

Questions for the interview

Interview at least three. Ask each of them:

Who will actually work on my project day to day, and who will I speak with?
How do you structure your fee, and what is excluded?
How do you handle a budget that comes in over target?
What is your experience with design review boards and community covenants?
Do you stay involved during construction, and how?
May I speak with two or three past clients?

Pay attention to how they listen. The architect who asks about your mornings, your guests and your habits before showing a sketch is usually the one who will draw a house that suits you.

Write the brief before you meet

Architects and professional associations consistently point to the brief as the single biggest lever on project success. A good brief describes your functional needs, your lifestyle and your goals, in priority order. The AIA recommends preparing it with inspiration images and clear priorities before you formally engage anyone.

A useful brief is short and honest. It might include:

Who lives here, and how. Full-time or seasonal, how many people, how many guests, any plans to age in place.
Must-haves versus nice-to-haves. If you could only keep three things, what are they?
A budget range, including the part you will spend on landscaping, furnishings and the builder, not only design.
Images with notes. Do not just collect photos. Write beside each one what you like: the proportions, the light, the way the porch frames a view.
The land. Orientation, trees, views, flood and wind considerations, and where you want to be outdoors.

If you are weighing how indoor and outdoor rooms should connect, our piece on planning site, flow and thresholds first is a good companion to your brief.

Understand how architects charge

The AIA says architect compensation is typically structured one of three ways: hourly, a fixed fee, or a percentage of construction cost. For new construction, percentage-based fees typically run from 8% to 15% of construction cost, and remodels from 15% to 20%, depending on complexity, geography and the architect's experience. Treat those as general ranges, not a quote. Your own project will land wherever the scope and the architect's experience put it.

Fee structure	How it works	Best suited to
Hourly	You pay for time spent	Early studies, small or uncertain scopes
Fixed fee	One agreed amount for defined services	Projects with a clear, stable scope
Percentage of construction cost	Fee scales with the cost of the build	Full-service custom homes

The AIA's guidance on charging for services also lists retainers, milestone payments and fee schedules, so expect your agreement to describe when each payment falls due.

Base services and additional services

This is where clients most often get surprised. Many assume every design-related task sits inside the base fee. In practice, things like site analysis, zoning variance applications and meetings with third parties such as an HOA or a historical commission are often billed as additional services. Ask for a plain list of what is in and what is out, and ask how additional work is priced and approved before it begins.

Put it in writing

The AIA's guidance for small projects says an owner-architect agreement is necessary even when the project is small. A simple agreement with a few key elements clarifies roles, outlines scope and heads off disputes. A custom home deserves a thorough one. Confirm at least:

The scope of services and the phases they cover
Fees, payment schedule and the treatment of additional services
A project schedule with realistic review and revision rounds
Who owns the drawings and how they may be used
How either side can end the agreement

Name one decision-maker

A quietly common pitfall is leaving the question of who decides unanswered, especially when spouses or partners share a project. The AIA's best practices note that naming the person authorized to make final design and financial decisions prevents conflicting instructions that derail timelines. Both of you can still weigh in. The architect simply needs one voice to act on.

The custom home design process, phase by phase

The names vary from firm to firm, but most custom homes follow the same arc.

Discovery and site study. The architect learns your priorities and reads the land: sun, wind, trees, water and views.
Schematic design. Rough plans and massing studies. This is the time to be bold and to change your mind. Changes are cheap here and expensive later.
Design development. Materials, windows, porch and roof details, and a first conversation with a builder about cost.
Community design review. If your home is in a community with covenants, plans go to the review board before construction begins. More on this below.
Construction documents and permitting. The detailed drawings the builder prices and the municipality reviews.
Construction and contract administration. The architect checks the work against the specifications.

The last phase is the one people skip to save money, and it often costs them. In contract administration, the architect acts as an independent advisor who monitors the builder's progress against the specifications, helps manage budget variations and identifies defects. Neglecting it often leads to a house that does not match what you approved on paper.

Architectural review: a separate approval from your permit

In a community with an architectural review board (ARB) or homeowners association, approval of your design is a different track from the building permit. Guidance on HOA practice explains that you must align your design with the community's CC&Rs, which cover materials, exterior colors and structural standards. Submissions typically include detailed plans, and a denial can mean revising and resubmitting.

A property management firm's overview of ARBs lists the usual steps: submit your proposal and form, then respond promptly if the board asks for clarification. Missing a deadline can push you into the next review cycle.

On Amelia Island this is a familiar pattern. One neighboring community, for example, explains that its review board was established to ensure construction blends with the natural setting under recorded covenants that bind every owner. Each community writes its own rules, so read yours before your architect draws a line.

How to make review go smoothly

Read the covenants and design guidelines first, and hand them to your architect at the first meeting, not the fifth.
Ask the architect to budget review meetings as a known task in the agreement, since they may count as additional services.
Submit complete packages. Incomplete submissions are the easiest way to lose weeks.
Plan finishes early. Exterior colors, sheens and fixtures are often reviewed too. A guide on getting exterior paint approved on the first try shows how specific boards can be about brand, code and sheen.
Think about the details people forget, such as lighting. Guidance on outdoor lighting that satisfies review committees is worth reading before you finalize exterior fixtures.

Our perspective: design begins with the place

We have watched enough homes come to life on this island to hold a few firm beliefs. Crane Island keeps nearly half its land as open space, and we hold our homes to architectural standards rooted in Lowcountry tradition. That is not a limitation on your architect. It is a shared starting point. When the community already knows what it values, the conversation shifts from "what is allowed" to "what is beautiful and lasting."

We believe the best houses are woven into the land rather than set on top of it. A porch is a true living room, framing marsh, forest and sky. The best architects we know begin there, with the land and the way people will gather, and let rooms and rooflines follow.

So our advice to anyone starting out is simple. Choose an architect who listens, give them a brief worth reading, and keep them close through construction. Be generous with the early phase of design, because that is where legacy is decided. Read the community standards as an invitation to craft, not a checklist. If you want to see how that thinking shapes our streets, our guides to historical concepts in Lowcountry home design and architecture that belongs on Amelia Island walk through it, and our builders are part of the same conversation.

— John Hillman

Building at Crane Island

With only 14 homesites available, Crane Island offers custom homesites and move-in ready luxury homes on Amelia Island, with access to the Intracoastal Waterway and the culture of historic Fernandina Beach. If you are ready to design a home that honors your story and the island's beauty, start with our homesites and homes, or explore The Crane Island Portfolio Homes Program. Our design and build page is the place to see how the process begins, and we are glad to talk through it with you.

Common mistakes to avoid

Hiring on a single recommendation. A friend's architect may be wonderful for them. Interview several anyway.
Skipping the written agreement because the relationship feels friendly.
Letting the budget stay vague. Share a real range early so the design is drawn to it.
Treating review as an afterthought. Review can add weeks, so schedule it.
Dropping the architect once drawings are done. Construction is where details live or die.
Changing the brief midstream. Revisions during design are normal. Rewriting the goals after construction documents are drawn is costly.

The work an architect does is demanding, too. A Bureau of Labor Statistics survey found that 47.1 percent of architecture and engineering occupations require problem solving more than once a day. Respect that, give your architect the information they need, and their decisions will serve you better.

FAQ

How much does an architect cost for a custom home?

The AIA reports that percentage-of-construction-cost fees for new construction typically range from 8% to 15%, with remodels at 15% to 20%. Some architects charge hourly or a fixed fee instead. Your quote depends on scope, complexity, location and the architect's experience, so ask for a written proposal.

How do I check that an architect is licensed in Florida?

Use the state's licensing site, MyFloridaLicense.com, and search by the architect's name or license number. For a firm, search the business name and view the related license to confirm the qualifying architect. Do it before you sign an agreement.

Is architectural review the same as getting a building permit?

No. Community review checks your design against the covenants for materials, colors and structure, and the permit is a separate approval from the local government. You generally need both, and the review often comes first, so plan your schedule around it.

Should my architect stay involved during construction?

We recommend it. During contract administration the architect monitors the builder against the specifications, helps with budget variations and flags defects. Ask about this service when you compare proposals, because it may not be part of the base fee.

What should I bring to the first meeting?

Bring a written brief with your priorities, a realistic budget range, inspiration images with notes, and the community's covenants and design guidelines if you have them. Also say who makes the final decisions. That gives the architect a solid start.