Journal
A practitioner's perspective on custom builds in the US Virgin Islands and coastal Florida, renovations in Romania, and residential architecture more broadly — the design decisions, market realities, and project knowledge that don't usually get written down. Published weekly.
Featured articles:
The USVI New Build Field Guide
The complete overview for anyone planning a custom home in the US Virgin Islands — islands, permits, timelines, cost drivers, and what the process actually demands from the start.
USVI Construction Costs Per Square Foot
Honest cost ranges for a USVI build, what pushes numbers up, and what to pressure-test in a contractor quote before you commit.
What Does the USVI Permitting Process Actually Look Like?
The permit path from submission to groundbreaking — timelines, agencies involved, common reasons projects get sent back, and what to have in place before you file.
St. John vs. St. Thomas vs. St. Croix
A practical comparison of the three islands for buyers deciding where to build — infrastructure, permit paths, cost differences, and which fits which project.
Cisterns, WAPA, and Water in the USVI
Every USVI home runs on rainwater. How cistern capacity is calculated, what WAPA can and can't be relied on for, and how water infrastructure shapes design decisions.
What Is the USVI Coastal Zone Permit and Do You Need One?
When CZM review applies, what triggers it, and how coastal zone requirements affect timeline, buildable envelope, and cost on a USVI project.
Adding a Guest House in the USVI
What lot coverage rules, utility capacity, and the permit path actually allow when adding a detached structure — for owners evaluating whether their property supports it.
Adding a Pool to a USVI Property
Coastal zone triggers, cistern math, site excavation realities, and honest cost ranges for a pool addition — before you commit to a design or a contractor.
The Romania Apartment Field Guide
The complete framework for buying and renovating a Romanian apartment — building eras, structural realities, permit path, budget structure, and what to check before you commit.
Renovating in Romania: What Budget Estimates Always Miss
The costs contractors leave out of their initial quotes, why Romanian renovation budgets tend to overrun, and how to build a realistic envelope before you start.
Contents:
What building on St. John, St. Thomas, and St. Croix actually involves — from land to permit to construction.
Building on the Florida coast — from flood zone to permit to construction.
Renovation in Romania — what the building, the process, and the design actually involve.
How we work with clients across time zones, jurisdictions, and project types.
What building from the ground up actually involves — structure, permits, cost, decisions.
What existing buildings require before, during, and after — structure, regulation, and cost.
Architecture, culture, and the ideas worth arguing about.
Latest articles:
What Does "Substantially Damaged" Mean for Your Florida Home?
If your Florida home was damaged in a storm, "substantially damaged" is the term that decides whether you can repair it or must rebuild to current code. This guide explains what the 50% threshold means, how the determination is calculated, how to challenge it, the ICC funding you may be owed, and how to stay in control of the repair-or-rebuild decision — calmly, and before you commit to anyone.
What Does an Elevation Certificate Tell You Before You Renovate a Florida Home?
What an elevation certificate tells you before you renovate a coastal Florida home — whether you're flood-compliant, and whether the 50% Rule governs your project.
Renovating a Coastal Florida Home in a Flood Zone: Permit Path, Elevation, and the Insurance Reality
The permit path, elevation and freeboard rules, and 50% substantial-improvement threshold that govern what's actually buildable — and how to shape scope around them before design begins.
What Is Florida's 50% Rule — And Why It Decides Your Renovation Before Your Budget Does
If your planned renovation costs 50% or more of your home's structure value — the building only, land excluded — Florida's substantial-improvement rule requires the entire structure to be brought up to current flood and building code, which in a coastal flood zone almost always means elevating the house to Base Flood Elevation plus local freeboard. This is the FEMA 50 percent rule as Florida enforces it under 44 CFR § 59.1, and it applies to voluntary renovations, not just storm damage.
The threshold governs the scope, feasibility, and viability of your project before you've hired an architect, priced a contractor, or spent a dollar. For an older, lower-elevation home, understanding where that line sits is the first design decision — and the one most owners discover too late.
What Does Coastal Florida Construction Actually Cost — and What Drives the Number?
Honest cost ranges for a coastal Florida build, what pushes numbers up, and what to pressure-test in a contractor quote before you commit.
How Does Coastal Florida's Climate Shape Building Materials and Detailing?
Coastal Florida's climate is the single biggest determinant of which building materials and details survive there, and which fail years ahead of schedule. Salt-laden air drives corrosion, near-constant humidity feeds rot and mold, wind-driven rain forces water through joints that would stay dry inland, and intense UV breaks down the sealants and finishes meant to hold everything together. In this environment, coastal Florida building materials and the detailing around them are not finishing decisions — they are the first decisions. The homes that last decades are the ones designed from their envelope outward, where material and detailing choices were settled early and the architecture followed from them.
This article explains how salt, humidity, wind-driven rain, and UV actually degrade a home, which materials and details hold up against them, and why these are design decisions rather than things to sort out on site.
What Does the Permitting Process Actually Look Like on the Florida Coast — and How Long Does It Take?
The permit path from submission to groundbreaking on a Florida coastal project — timelines, agencies involved, and what to have in place before you file.
Building in Miami-Dade's High-Velocity Hurricane Zone: What HVHZ and Product Approval (NOA) Rules Mean
What HVHZ and NOA product approval rules mean for a Miami-Dade project, how they shape material and system choices, and what any renovation or new build in the zone needs to comply with.