After some observation of their tastes and existing exterior features, I was pleased to see they were fans of the Prairie style and had some Hubbardton Forge exterior lamps that had already started to create a vocabulary for the design. The inclusion of the rich Bronze colors compliments the existing brickwork perfectly, and was extended from the rail to the doors and even the trim of the home itself.

The photos show the genesis of the design and the results of a few modest changes. 

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Spring is the worst possible time of year to look for land and the time when almost everyone does. The spring land hunter buys at the peak of the market and generally a piece he doesn’t really like at that, because he hasn’t seen his new love without her makeup.

Beginning with a spring purchase and in a hurry to get going, he draws his plans, buys his materials, hires his labor, all at the peak of the market. Having suffered delays because everyone else is doing the same thing at the same time, he moves in at the peak of bad weather and wonders what happened to his happy dreams.

The right time to look is late autumn, after the leaves have fallen, and into early winter. Don’t even look then if the weather is sparkling and crisp. Always look on days that are at least cloudy and with the weather just about as bad as you can stand. Under these circumstances a good piece of land still looks good; the poorer ones don’t.

The seller or his agent will be so startled to see you out in bad weather that he’ll try extra hard to find a place to suit you. He’ll knock down the price, too, because yours is the last money he expects to see until next spring.

Now you have all winter to draw your plans, line up the help, and shop for and order materials. Having gotten yourself at the top of everyone’s list and with every carpenter for miles around running out of inside work to do, your site will burst into activity at the first sign of workable weather. You’ll be playing croquet on the lawn by the time the spring land shopper has driven his first nail.

-Originally from Rex Roberts' Your Engineered House

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