"A Sense of Place"

So many of the houses built today are sad things without warmth, character, or a sense of place. This doesn't need to be so, if careful thought is given to the important characteristics of the place which the house is to occupy - the land, sun, winds, trees, views, history, neighbors, sounds - those qualities which give spirit and meaning to a particular home site which will become your place on this earth.

My own belief is that life is greatly enriched by environments of usefulness, beauty and permanence. I also feel that, given the opportunity, people will become tremendously interested and involved in creating a house that is theirs, suitable to their lives and the place they want to live in.

For me to serve you well, you need to become involved in the design process with me. It starts with communication of information - tell me about your own personal concerns, expectations and desires regarding the place you'll call home - everything! Hopefully, building this home will be a life-changing experience for you. The following questionnaire is the beginning of an ongoing dialogue we will have through the design process. The more information you can give me now, in advance, the happier the outcome of our endeavor will be.

In addition to this questionnaire, any and all magazine clippings, photographs, jotted thoughts, video clips, or whatever, are helpful for our task, so please forward these things to me as you see them.

You may want to change your mind later about much of it, which is both reasonable and expected. No one house will ever fulfill all of everyone's hopes and expectations, but the task at hand is to satisfy those that loom most important given the resources at hand.

Creating a good house is a long, exasperating, fun, fulfilling, enlightening, and demanding process for all those involved - it's well worth the effort.

JBW