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We knew from the start that this process was going to have ups and downs. That it wouldn't be all roses. Well we hit our first major snag last week. We signed a contract with a small architectural firm about a month ago. They seemed very knowledgeable, helpful, and understood our vision. My wife, who is an extremely perceptive and intuitive person had a couple of little red flags with the lead architect (and co-owner of the firm). Dumb stuff like she thought he was snippy in an e-mail response, etc. Well we had our first design review session last week and they hit the mark in a lot of areas but missed in a few important ones. OK, not a big deal right? it's just the first meeting and this is an iterative process where we throw stuff on the wall and see what sticks. We provided open, friendly, honest, feedback in the meeting and could just feel that they weren't super happy that we were wanting to make some significant changes to the design. Easy stuff to change and important. Like, we told you we want the guest bedroom on the other side of the house, not sharing a wall with the master. And, you left out the home office. Like, just forgot it. I work from home full time sooooo, kinda need that office. Their response was thet they laid out the house to take advantage of all the trees on the property and out desire to cut as few down as possible. OK, yes, that was a request of ours. But we pointed out that while their layout did indeed maximize tree saving, it also pointed the house in a direction that didnt take advantage of the views and didnt leave room for a shop. We suggested we could use a copy of the site map to sketch out a layout that would accomplish all goals. They seemed SUPER offput by the idea that we would sketch out what we want and they would simply "make it happen." We got what felt like a pretty heated email from the architect who suggested that while clients sketching what they want might work for some firms, it doesnt work for them. He needed "some time to think about his response to us" and then ghosted us for 5 days. he came back with a very nice, very reasonable e-mail. But at this point my wife is pissed. Pissed to the point I dont think she can work with the guy. So now we are faced with pulling out of the contract and owing maybe $10k, or, sticking it out and I'm stuck managing the relationship and trying to keep it all glued together. This is NOT the spot I was hoping to be in just a month into this portion of the project. As much as I hate to do it, my gut is telling me $10k is not worth my wife being a miserable bear for the next 6 months and setting our project back by a few months as we interview new architects and start all over.
Lesson learned: Trust those little red flags early.
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