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.
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.
The developer's side of the build — feasibility, spec homes, real numbers.
What building from the ground up actually involves — structure, permits, cost, decisions.
Architecture, culture, and the ideas worth arguing about.
Latest articles:
Hiring a Remote Architecture Firm: How It Works and Why It Opens Up Your Options
The tools that once made remote practice the domain of large firms are now available to boutique studios. Here's how remote residential architecture actually works — and why geography shouldn't be the deciding factor.
Building in the Caribbean: A Practical Guide to Climate, Materials, and Permits
Building a home in the Caribbean looks straightforward from a distance. The construction environment — materials, systems, permits, terrain — operates by its own rules. This guide uses the US Virgin Islands as its primary lens.
How to Choose the Right Roofing System: Flat, Pitched, and Mono-Pitched Roofs Explained
Flat, pitched, or mono-pitched — the right roof depends on your climate, your budget, and the building itself. Here's how to make the call before you commit to a system.
Home Renovation: 5 Principles That Actually Matter Before You Start
Most home renovation advice is a list of solutions. Change this, upgrade that, use these materials. The problem is that solutions without context are just guesses. What works in one home, for one family, with one set of habits, won't necessarily work in yours.
The five principles below aren't a checklist. They're a way of thinking about renovation decisions before you make them — and they apply whether you're updating a few rooms or gutting the entire house.
What Documents Do You Need to Build a House? A Complete Guide to Construction Drawing Sets
Every drawing and schedule in a construction set — plans, sections, details, A/S/M/E/P disciplines, and the difference between a permit set and a complete one that protects your budget.
What Actually Drives Up Construction Costs (And Why Square Footage Is Only Part of the Answer)
Square footage is only one input. The decisions that quietly inflate a construction budget are embedded in the site, the structure, the ceiling height, and the glazing — before a contractor ever quotes. Here's what to understand before design is fixed.
Architectural Design Phases Explained: From Brief to Construction Drawings
The four phases of designing a house, in plain English — what you receive and decide at each, and why every change gets more expensive the later it lands.
How modernism changed the profession of architecture…
You can’t go through architecture school without being bombarded by “The Fountainhead”, that is simply a fact. For those unaware, “The Fountainhead” is a novel written by Ayn Rand, later adapted into a movie, portraying the exploits of Howard Roark, architect, full time tortured artist and part time educator of the philistine public.