'Vibing' on property part of choosing site for dream home

Choosing the site for your dream home depends completely on your dream. Some of us have dreams of living out in the woods, on a farm, in an exclusive suburb community, in an established neighborhood, or even downtown. In order to choose a site, you need to have a dream to begin with.

One of the keys to selecting a site you will be happy with is personally surveying the site.

There is no substitute for walking around the property, including all borders of the property, to make sure there are no surprises like a quarry that blasts twice a day, or the train tracks just beyond the trees at the back of the property.

Drive the neighborhood. Someone else the seller, for instance may select the best way to get to the property in order to avoid any negative environments. Spend the time to drive through all areas around the property.

Check the topography (the lay of the land).

It may look flat on a piece of paper or in a photograph, but paper and photographs are deceiving.Ê

Sometimes a little slope is good, and will provide an opportunity for a walk-out basement. Completely flat sites may have drainage problems. A steeply sloped site may be perfect for a great overlook deck.ÊJust try to picture your home on the site.

Do your due-diligence homework on setbacks, easements, flood plains and the like.

Make sure you are aware of any potential restrictions (or requirements) related to building your home. Minimum square footage, limited selection for construction materials and requirements about your garage door placement are all potential restrictive covenants of which you need to be aware.

Once you have selected a site, then comes the placement of the house.Ê

In a neighborhood, because of the size of the lot, you may not have many choices. Other sites provide a plethora of choices.

There was a project I worked on with a colleague of mine several years ago. It was a house for an attorney who had more than 90 acres of rolling hills and woodland.

The client was a very down-to-earth, common-sense oriented, environmentally sensitive attorney.

He wanted us to visit the site, and, in his words, "vibe" on the land to help him select the most appropriate spot for the house.

After some internal chuckling, we realized that what he was getting at was an extremely important part of selecting a site for a house.

Your builder or architect will supply you with a site plan, showing how they have located the structure on the property. You (or a surveyor) should take some stakes and a long measuring tape, and roughly stake out the corners, potential door and window locations and get a good feel for how the house will lay out.

Look for potential views, grade transition problems, etc. Now is the time to change your mind, not after the first footings are placed.

Ideally, the best time to do this is during the schematic-design phase, before your builder or architect has finalized the plans for your house.Ê

In short, take the time to do things right. Selecting your site and situating your house upon it are two of the most permanent decisions you will make in your life.Ê

Wallpaper and cabinets can be easily changed later. The location of your home is more difficult.Ê

(Bruce K. Adib-Yazdi, AIA, NCARB, is a partner with Butler, Rosenbury & Partners Inc.)

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