One Can Rebuild a Home Designed by a Top Architect at Reduced Cost

[caption id="attachment_37754" align="aligncenter" width="640"] (Editor's note: these photos of homes are among the more than 50 that were submitted by top architects, who will make the plans available to residents at a much reduced cost.)                                      Photos: Courtesy of Crest Real Estate and Case Study 2[/caption] What would you say if you could live in a community that existed of homes designed by national and international top architects? Think of the beauty . . .think of the resale value. But, most likely you would say it cannot be done. A new development would have cookie cutter houses, and no developer would pay for top architects to design them, the cost would be too much. Thanks to Case Study 2, click here led and developed by Crest Real Estate and Chief Executive Officer Steven Somers, there are now options for people who need or want to rebuild – and rebuild beautifully. Altadena and Pacific Palisades, which have large swarths of homes destroyed now have the opportunity to become a showcase for the United States with new houses designed by key architects at reduced costs. A new project Case Study 2, led by Sommers and Crest, allows people whose homes were destroyed in the fire a choice of 53 different designs from 45 renown architectural firms. Those designs include one-story and two-story options, contemporary, traditional and modern. After the fires, Crest provided architects with different standard parcel sizes and asked them to prepare a “standard” plan that could be put in a catalogue and available for those rebuilding. Criteria given to the architects for the design:

• Had to be beautiful – quality designs
• Durable – fire-safe and resilient
• Customizable – allowing families to add their own touches
• Sustainable - efficient
• Economical – designs through reduced fees
• Faithful (faithful to rebuilding the history and character of the neighborhoods destroyed by fire.)

Sommers said, “the last five months fire rebuild is all I’ve been working on.” Of his 40 member staff, four are now working exclusively on the Case Study 2 project. Other top architectural firms have joined Crest to work on this project pro bono. “It has become a passion project,” he said, noting his uncle, friends and former clients had lost their homes in the fire. Several architects lost their homes and almost everyone knows someone whose home was destroyed in either the Palisades or Eaton Fires. The completed plans are being compiled in a catalogue of designs, allowing people to examine a wide variety of options and then to select the one they prefer. Once an option is selected, the person directly contacts an architect for the plans. All architects involved with the project have agreed to take 25 percent of their standard fee or $25 a square foot. Those plans, once purchased, will include an architectural drawing set and specifications Sommers said that structural engineers have also agreed to work for $3 a square foot. Crest has also negotiated with contractors and suppliers to get a reduced cost for materials and appliances. If more than one home of a design is being built in an area, the cost of building goes down. “If we achieved full scale (five homes with the same blueprint), construction costs will be dramatically reduced by economy of scale,” Sommer said. If you can convince your neighbor to build a similar house, “The more of one design built, the more one saves,” Sommer said. He was asked if those rebuilding wanted to put a larger home on their current lot, would the City still expedite the project? “Yes, according to Mayor’s executive order,” he said. Does the home selected have to fit in the same footprint as the prior home? “No,” Sommer said. The kickoff for the Case Study 2 project will be held on June 26 and people can sign up now to be alerted when the catalogue is released. This project is patterned after Case Study Houses, a 1945 project sponsored by Arts & Architecture magazine that commissioned major architects to design and build inexpensive and efficient model homes for soldiers returning home after World War II. That program yielded 36 designs – of which 25 were constructed.