Budget Confirmation: Nailing Down the Price Early in the Process Congratulations. You are one of the lucky people who can pay cash. Or you have such a large amount of equity in your property, that banks will actually think about giving you a construction loan. Your project is viable…. now what? Homeowners don’t want to end up with their final design being $100,000 over budget. They also don’t want a project that will not appraise in the end. We have experienced mistakes lik

Here are photos from this weeks construction meeting at the Monastic Heritage Center. Framing is complete, and windows are in. To learn more about the Monastic Heritage Center and how you can help contribute to the project, please visit www.trappist.net. Check out the next construction update: Monastic Heritage Center Update 2/3 Back to JonesPierce.com #constructionupdate #MonasteryoftheHolySpirit #MonasticHeritageCenter

Custom Projects Require Custom Teams Who is the crew for your home movie? Owners mobilizing a team for custom home construction are looking for a one-of-a-kind design solution. We contend to produce the one-off design, a custom team should be assembled to fit the needs of a project. Think in terms of producing a film: what major “players” and crew are needed for a project and how they are engaged? The major “players” are easy. The Owner produces, creating the conditions for

Monastic Heritage Center For this project update, we would like to focus on the Monastic Center at the Monastic Heritage Center Campus. Together with the Historic Barn, this building will house the main exhibits and galleries, giving visitors a comprehensive history of Monasticism and of the local Monastery and its founders. About the Exhibit Exhibits designed by Malone Design/Fabrication will first take visitors on a journey through the Monastic Center and will introduce th

A lake home designed by Jones Pierce Studios on Lake Martin, was recently published in Lake Magazine’s Lake Martin edition. Read the full magazine article here Here are the images from the article: Back to Freshwater View View another Lake Martin project: Water’s Edge on Lake Martin Back to JonesPierce.com #lakehouse #LakeMartin #published

Here are some construction progress photos from the 11/23/2010 site visit to the Monastic Heritage Center at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, Georgia. Completion is expected to be around Easter. Monastic Heritage Center Construction Photos View of the complex from the entry road. The parking lot for the Heritage Center is underway. View from inside the Abbey Store. A 6′-0″ tall clerestory of windows will span the entire north facade between trusses to maximize nat

Contemplating Renovation: Does it Make Sense? To renovate or not to renovate. . . to build new or not to build new. Viability is the first key question in the homeowner’s mind. Viability is also one of the most important of the 10 Principles developed by Jones Pierce Studios to assure your project’s finacial success. Determining viability involves giving you the information you need to make sound decisions before starting a transformation process on your home. An appropriate

Determining the Sustainability Prescription for Your Home Renovation Large overhangs shade this Lake Lanier home’s large windows which maximize view and natural light. Sustainable building Sustainability is the new frontier of residential design and construction. Key stakeholders are working hard to have a say in what is green and why. Government has been quick to incent sustainable building. And most importantly, owners are increasingly asking for it. Everyone involved in a

Here are some interior progress photos of Creek House in Virginia Highlands. This home will be LEED-For-Homes certified. It is being built by Abraham Properties and is expected to be completed in January. The family room of creek house will contain stained coffers, a masonry fireplace, and a TV cabinet. The masonry and trim-work is completed. The dining room trim work is complete in Creek House. Trim work is complete in the formal living room and kitchen. Cabinets are up in t

Owning an older property can have low mortgage expenses, but likely has increased maintenance costs and marketing expenses. Many times we have owners come to us wanting to improve the curb appeal of a building. Sometimes the building must be completely renovated; other times it is simply a facelift. Sustainability Remodels or renovations can have additional attributes other than increasing the marketability of the building; it can help the operational costs. Over the past few

A new phenomenon we’re seeing is a transition from clients updating intown pre-war bungalows to a focus on Ranch and Split level renovations. It is inevitable that the homes of the next great era of home building would need remodeling to suit modern tastes and be reconfigured for contemporary lifestyles. Split Level Renovation Before Before photos of the front and rear of this Marietta, Georgia Split-level home. It was the desire of our client here, a husband and wife contra

The Wimberly Residence: A Jones Pierce Not-So-Extreme Makeover The Wimberly Residence Sometimes what owners conceive as a potentially large-scale renovation can be made more manageable with a priority check. Tom and Sarah walked us through long-term plans for their recently-purchased home off West Wesley near Nancy Creek. However, the focus for the first pass was the front façade and the long front yard. Due to the of the placement of the house on a deep, wooded lot the long

Why Can’t Homes Last a Lifetime? Home builders, realtors and developers have pushed an agenda that homes are stepping stones in life’s path. From starters, to family homes, to empty nests, to retirement homes. Why not create a space that strive to accommodate all life phases? Even in a down market people still get married, have babies, home school, work from home, send kids to college, and have multiple generations living under the same roof. When housing values were accelera

Whether it is a down economy or good times, there is merit (and profit) in enhancing your investment. Jones Pierce can assist the real estate investor using our creative talent and understanding of construction. Creative thinking is what we bring to the table when tackling clever solutions for dull or aged properties. Curb Appeal There are many reasons for commercial “makeovers”. The underlying reason is to increase the property value. Property value is important no matter if

My wife loves football Saturday’s…… on the lake. in October. 80 degree days with water temps still in the 70s. Low humidity nurtures the best sunsets of the year. The seasonal water level draws down on Lake Martin, Alabama exposing our favorite beaches. We share the same opinion, unless somehow I have scrounged up 2 tickets to THE monster SEC game of the weekend and fostered a plan to show my oldest daughter the meaning of the big game: The idea of boat up tailgate vision ev

Jones Pierce Studios and our sister company Insight Design have teamed up together for a new project. We have been selected to do an addition and interior renovation to the Boys and Girls Club in Atlanta. The existing structure is located off Berne Street. The existing 1960’s building has 2 exterior courtyards. In the new design, one courtyard will be enclosed with a glass curtain wall system, providing additional square footage for the club’s teen center. Over 2800 square fe

The Site – Highlands, NC Within a golf community, the site was heavily forested and included an EPA-governed stream, which pushed the house close to the street. There was little room to transition from road, to driveway, to woodland-facing privacy. Naturally, the house would stretch horizontally along the stream. This established the home’s most prominent feature: the long rear porch, which is accessible from all the public spaces in the house. The Style Wanting inspiration

Are you trying to sell your house? Have you found the perfect house, but it needs some help? Love the location but not the home? Let Jones Pierce help you with the Not So Extreme Makeover! Back to JonesPierce.com #remodel #residentialarchitecture #notsoextrememakeover #JonesPierceStudios #renovation #Atlantaarchitects #homemakeout

Lanier Enclave Lanier Enclave is a new three-home development in Virginia Highlands neighborhood of Atlanta. All three homes will be prairie style and designed by Jones Pierce. “Creek House” is the first of these homes to be built. It is located at the rear of the property, along the creek. The unique shape of the home is due to the tight restrictions of the lot, including a 75 foot stream buffer. This home is LEED-for-Homes certified! Lanier Enclave Site Plan Creek House Ba

Weaving Coherence Between Your Home and the Adjacent Neighborhood …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. The newest renovation on the block never fails to elicit emotion from everyone. Some projects seem just right, and others seem, well…wrong. To avoid what we call “Archi-Torture,” the project has to be undertaken in the context of its environment and use. A renovation planned with context in mind doesn’t cost more—but does significantly increase the value of the ho