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Custom Design, Off-the-Shelf Budget
Johannes Zutt, in the kitchen with Lucas, chose an architect for the 3,000-square-foot house by looking at portfolios at the offices of the American Institute of Architects, then talking with a half-dozen prospects.
(Photos By Sarah L. Voisin -- The Washington Post)
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But some people, like photographer Barbara Bent, simply rely on word of mouth.
Bent and her husband, Stephen, a lawyer, are planning a 3,700-square-foot home on the Chesapeake Bay in Anne Arundel County. A friend recommended Marcie Meditch of Meditch Murphy Architects in Chevy Chase.
"We met her. She showed us the kind of things she had done," Barbara said. "Her style was similar to what we were looking for. She's delightful."
Others clients have gone to architects' Web sites or to the AIA's Washington chapter Web site, which showcases the work of about 300 members.
Zutt went to the AIA in person in 2001 and sifted through portfolios there before choosing a designer for his Montgomery County house, which was completed in 2003.
He has no architectural training, but, he said, he knew quite a bit about the field and had a good idea of the type of architect he wanted.
"I contacted probably five or six of them. Three of them were quite agreeable, and I followed up with a second and third conversation," he said. "I had a pretty firm idea what I wanted to do."
He said, "What I wanted to find was someone with similar tastes and visions and whether their biases ran in the same direction as mine."
