Arthur Dallas Stenger first began building homes in the 1940s in Austin, mostly on Arthur Lane in the Barton Hills area, which was named after his father (the first Arthur Dallas Stenger), who was also an architect. Though Stenger attended architecture school at the University of Texas after returning home from World War II, he never graduated. He did get his architecture license as an undergraduate, and began building homes for post war Austinites.

Though FHA loans had design restrictions built into them, it didn’t stop Stenger from creating unique homes that were moderately priced, even if he had to help the homeowners find loans. He also worked differently from other builders, by purchasing land (mostly in the Barton Hills and Pemberton Heights areas), finding a buyer, and building a home without making his clients sign contracts. There was no pressure for the buyer to take the house upon completion, though clients rarely backed out after seeing the home.

A Stenger home will stand out, with signature low peaked roofs, clad with concrete, wood rock and other organic materials. He also used rock and stone quarried from the home site as siding or built into the fireplace, helping the house fit easily within its surroundings. Stenger had a love for long, low slung fireplaces reminiscent of 50s lounges, so every home he built included a wood burning fireplace, though not particularly necessary in the heart of Texas.

The houses also have many of the amenities that Austin’s big modern building boom now cherish, with walls of windows and clerestory windows hanging just below the exposed roofline, and tinted concrete floors, now pricing out around 10 dollars a square foot. He also used the organic building theory of “bringing the outside in,” by running exterior stonework through the house and into its interior.

Though Barton Hills was featured as “the world’s largest air-conditioned subdivision” in the 1956 Parade of Homes, Stenger didn’t build his homes with central air. Instead, he built large windows to catch morning light, and not the hot sun light of mid afternoon, and a floor plan to allow for a breezy pass through ventilation when the windows were opened.

In 1957, when Stenger’s friend, radio host John Henry Faulk, ended up blacklisted as a communist in the McCarthy era, he built and financed a home for him, knowing his friend was swamped with legal fees. He took his other clients financial situations into account as well, helping offset furniture costs with several built ins, and pricing his houses between $18,000 and $22,000, though today they can range from $400,000 to $600,000.

Stenger built around 100 unique homes in the Austin area, building his last for his wife Jean in 1999, a few years before he died in 2002 at the age of 82. Today’s battle lies between those seeking out Stenger houses for their originality and great use of space, and others who prefer to tear down these houses to build larger homes, since the locations are highly sought after for their land alone.

By: Ki Gray

About the Author:

I have been dealing with home designers and architects for quite some time and when it comes to protecting their business, there’s some things that these people will never say. Personal liability has become a big problem in the home building business, and architects are not immune to large lawsuits.

Don’t forget, that these people are considered to be professionals and have usually spent quite a few years educating themselves. Where a contractor on the other hand, might have got his education through hands on experience and might not have enough know-how, to protect themselves from architects, engineers and even your local building and planning departments.

Most homeowners, had even less experience, dealing with architects and professionals, than most contractors do. Some of these lessons are hard to learn and could be costly so I would like you to pay attention, because what I’m about to say, could save you thousands of dollars.

Get everything in writing. You can stop reading the article right here, this is the best advice that I could get anyone, dealing with any professionals in the home building business, especially a licensed architect. Most architects will require homeowners and contractors to give them everything in writing, to protect themselves from liability issues later on.

But you will find that most architects, will try to avoid giving you some things in writing. This also protects the architect later on down the road. It’s knowing the difference, that makes the difference. If you don’t know the difference, you’re going to be safe, if you get every single thing, every single change, every thing that you discuss over the phone and the architect approves or disapproves in writing.

I cannot stress how important this is. I just wish that most homeowners and contractors could read this article, before actually dealing with professionals in the home building business. It cost my father a lot of money and I will never forget it. This information doesn’t cost you a thing, unless you don’t apply it in the future.

By: Greg Vandenberge

About the Author:

When building your own custom home, perhaps the biggest problem people have to face is getting finances for starting and finalizing the project. This implies purchasing the piece of land, paying the architect for the plan, purchasing the tools and construction materials you need, taking into consideration the design issues and so on.

The best, but not the happiest way for someone to obtain finances for these types of projects is a loan. It’s not music to your ears, but, still, it’s the best possible way when you need lots and lots of money quickly. There are loaners who offer finance possibilities for building custom homes, but they have severe rules when helping you building your own custom home by offering you the money you need for this.

The disadvantages for this are quite worth to be taken into consideration: they want the house to be completed in time and on budget. A very good solution for you in order to get rid of the extra cost issues that appear on the run is to go for a construction cost estimation solution. This way, you will know exactly how much money you need and what quantity of construction materials is required. Although this can be a bit costly, it’s very efficient when building a home with a fixed sum of money – the one that the lender offers you.

Should you have a bank account with some saved money, it’s not very wise from you to spend it all on building up the house. You have to struggle to keep the price score down so as to finalize the project successfully. Remember that there are registered a few custom home construction disasters due to the lacking finances for project completion. So, analyze all the offers lenders have on the custom home construction loans and then take the wisest decision.

By: Iuliana Vornicu

About the Author:

Chief Architect has established itself in the industry as one of the most renowned home designer software companies there is. They have been known for designing and developing programs that are not only very useful, but also quite reasonably priced. One of these said programs is the Home Designer Suite which is available for a very affordable price tag of only $99. What’s even better is that it is also compatible with Microsoft’s newest OS, Windows 7. Below are some of the main features of this program.

User-Friendliness

Not only is this piece of software very powerful, but it also happens to be a lot of fun and quite easy to use. It is an excellent tool for designing one’s home, from remodeling all the way to landscaping. There are also thousands of sample plans included in the kit, as well as home style templates that can either be used directly or serve as an inspiration for one’s own design. The House Wizard tool is also great for custom designs and features such as automatic framing, stairs, and roof generation make things even easier.

If one might need some help with anything regarding the program, it has an option to either go on the internet and access the product’s online help system, or makes use of the dozens of tutorial videos that provide very helpful step-by-step guides.

Great for Both Interiors and Exteriors

The Home Designer Suite is also great for designing both the interior and exterior of one’s house. Another pre-installed feature is the Material Painter which allows users to apply different materials and colors on nearly all surfaces. There are also hundreds of different interior items to choose from which includes fabrics, sofas, tables, and chairs, to name a few. With the Smart Design Objects also on board, it becomes as simple as dragging and dropping various design objects from the program’s expansive library.

3D Virtual Tools

Aside from 2D, users of the Home Designer Suite can also make use of a couple of other different views to ensure that all the angles are covered before the plans are finalized. One can choose from various 3D views (with an automatic camera tool), the Glass House view (translucent view), or even the Doll House view (roof-less view from the top). It is also an option to go on the Virtual Tour which can also be customized depending on one’s own desires. Adjusting angles and lighting is also made easy by the night and day views, as well as the shadow generation tool which is also on board. Designing one’s home has never been this easy – and enjoyable as well.

By: Robert Diarioti

About the Author:

When you are building a new home, you want to have it your way, and rightly so. Everything from the floor plan layout, the home’s character and style, features, systems, materials, and d

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