Looking to build an Acadian style home up here in Okie Land. LA architect recommendations?

A. Hays Town

As a builder, I designed, built and sold over 100 Acadian style homes in some of Mandeville's better subdivisions. Let me offer some thoughts:

Since the Acadian requires a symmetrical front porch, it severely limits flexibility of the interior flood plan ... center foyer, room right, room left. When designing a home, you either start with what you want on the inside or how you want the exterior to look ... pick one first, you then limit the other.

The cost of the front porch equals the cost of a room. Therefore, your home has one less room than you could have had ... probably a BR + bath.

A front porch is like owning another car or a boat. It has to be maintained properly. It has to be cleaned regularly. Do you really want to spend a Saturday morning cleaning your front porch?

Would you get more use from a rear porch? or an outdoor kitchen pavilion?

Builders do better building homes similar to what they have previously built. It doesn't have to be a duplicate, but if you can find something in OKLA that you're happy with, modify it, then build it.

Just some considerations.

I used Zaunbrecher Design in Lafayette. We didn't end up building the home, but they did a great job listening to us and designing something unique but still traditional to meet our requirements. Check out their website to see some of their residential designs.

For the record, if you are building a true home and not just something you plan to have to sell sometime soon, I would recommend spending entirely too much time thinking it through.
And I would read stuff by Marianne Cusato. Just start with her website and read through the principles by which she designs. She's the lady who designed the Katrina Cottages.

And in reply to your latest post, listen to the builders but remember most of them simply serve themselves and will not have your best interest in mind.

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Steve Madden Homes in Denham Springs

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Michael Campbell in Lafayette

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fricking gross. None of those are "Acadian" style homes. Those are builder-grade, track-house, abominations of cultural appropriation for the masses.

THESE are "Acadian" homes...









Build it right or stop calling it Acadian and ruining the term.

The best of the best -
Mike Sullivan with LRK

Ken Tate from Jackson, MS does some great plans. This is my sister in laws place.

Here ya go okietiger...