Finding the right architect

I always wonder why people, when they make the biggest investment in their lives, they believe , they should do it without any professional input. If you have toothache you consult a dentist, if you want a haircut, you seek the best hairdresser in town, but if you design a new house, your biggest single investment you will likely make in your life, you do it yourself or ask somebody that can draw to do it for you.

A lot of friends frown when I say that I am going to have an architect design the new house. The first question I usually get is: “ Do you know what those guys cost?” or “Why, don’t you know what you want?”

In my experience, whenever I walk into a house, or even if I just see one from street level, I can immediately see which one was designed and which one was just drawn by somebody. But like most things in life it is a personal choice.

My personal choice this time around is Wilhelm Sadie. We worked together before and the result is an incredible little holiday home that always feel like a piece of heaven. I know he listens to what I say and tries to accommodate our whims, but he is hard headed enough to be stubborn if we want something that will not work.

The first step he did, that really impressed me, was that he made a house call. He said he needed to see our furniture and art collection before he could start thinking about the house. We , like anybody else I suppose, have furniture that has meaning for us. Pieces of furniture we grew up with and that we collected at specific times in our life together that says who we are.

Our art is more of a problem than a collection. We have lots of it. When Frederika and I got married we each already had a collection. Unfortunately our art is not bought for investments. We buy art because we love it, the paintings tell a story of who we are, where we were and what is important to us. A lot of the friends we made in Worcester are friends. The art we collect of them tell their as well as our story. A story of growth, pain, progress, life and friendship. If I show you our art I show you fragments of my life.

I can hardly wait to be able to exhibit our lives on the walls of our future home.

At the outset we have three main objectives and needs for our new our home: Big open living space, views and big walls to accommodate our art.

The photos of sketches at the top is whrer i had to give measurements of every single important piece of furniture in the house. The story continues…