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.
The Coastal Florida Building Field Guide
A coastal Florida architect’s field guide to renovations, ADUs, and new builds — flood zones, hurricane code, permitting, and cost, and how to start in control.
What Is Florida’s 50% Rule?
Florida’s 50% Rule can turn a renovation into a forced rebuild. An architect explains how substantial improvement works — and how to plan around it before you commit.
Building Seaward of the Line: What a CCCL Permit Requires
Building or remodeling seaward of Florida’s Coastal Construction Control Line — what a CCCL permit requires, and how it stacks on local and flood rules, from an architect.
How to Renovate a Communist-Era Apartment in Romania: The Short Guide
How to renovate a communist-era bloc apartment in Romania, step by step: check the building, what's legal, layout limits, what a full renovation includes, what it costs, who does it and how long it takes.
What Does It Cost to Build on the Florida Coast?
What coastal Florida renovations, additions, ADUs, and builds really cost — range-first by an architect, plus why an independent number beats a quote you can’t check.
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.
Ghiduri in limba romana despre noul Cod al urbanismului, renovarea apartamentelor de bloc si construirea unei case noi.
What building from the ground up actually involves — structure, permits, cost, decisions.
Architecture, culture, and the ideas worth arguing about.
Latest articles:
The Two Mistakes First-Time Residential Developers Make (And Why They Have the Same Fix)
Misreading how real estate investment works and asking for money before you have skin in the game. Both mistakes are common, both are avoidable, and they have the same underlying cause.
The Anthropic Report, the LinkedIn Feed, and What AI Actually Does in Architecture Right Now
The Anthropic Economic Index ranks architecture among the fields most exposed to AI. Here's what that claim looks like from inside a practice that has actually tested the tools.
Do You Actually Need an Architect? (And When You Don't)
An architect's role on a residential project runs across six phases — from brief to construction administration. Here's what that responsibility looks like at each stage, and why gaps between phases are where projects most often go wrong.
How Your Construction Budget Is Set — and Protected — Through Design
Budget control in residential architecture isn't a checkpoint at the end of design — it's a discipline embedded in every phase. Here's how it works, and where most projects lose control of the numbers.
How European Architects Work Differently — And Why It Changes the Project
European and US residential architecture differ in process, not style — how the team is structured, how long design takes, and how materials and energy performance are treated. Here's what that means for your project.
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.