In January 2025, both the MCTIGUE headquarters and my personal home were lost in the Pacific Palisades fire. Since then, MCTIGUE has been
helping many people rebuild their homes and communities. There are several questions that surface in these early conversations, three in particular I’d like to focus on with you today:
Why Not Use Old Drawings for Permits?
The simplest answer here is that the old drawings are for a house from another time.
Over the years, codes change, conditions change, and other factors come to play. For instance, right now we're very, very concerned about resilience in the materials we use and the systems we have in place, along with the sighting of a house — its size, and shape and relationship with its neighboring homes and its community.
An old set of drawings is for the house that was once there. New drawings will more aptly respond to today's conditions and economics, and your most current desires, goals, lifestyle, and economics.
Why Use an Architect to Help with Design?
Architecture is about meaning. And it’s about the relationship between form, space, and materials — a place where we spend time in deep connection with ourselves, our loved ones, our friends and others. Architects are trained to take your vision and turn it into a physical reality that connects with you personally.
The collaborative process itself also has a great deal of meaning. Together with you, we build a much deeper relationship of the parts, a much deeper consideration of ideas, and a much better solution — all of which add to the end meaning and value of the project.
We understand some people want to go straight to a contractor, go quickly, get through, plan check, get constructed, get back onto their property and get in. While a stock set of plans could be bought online and used to build a house on the land you own, no question - again - your house is so much more than a house. It's a home and a place. A place where friends gather. It’s where your family grows, shares memories, and returns to again and again as a constant even in changing times.
When an architect helps with design, they consider all of the factors beyond the simple elements of square footage, the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, heights, how big is your garage, and all the other quantifiable factors. You, your property, your neighborhood and your community are all unique, and combine together to create Place that deserves equally unique time, care, and attention.
Why Such an Investment of Time and Money?
Though concerns about expense are deeply understandable, money invested in design is a very small fraction of the overall project cost, including the cost of construction, your furnishings, your fixtures and finishes. Ultimately, the expense of design will return to you in many ways, with up-front coordinated design, tighter integration, less unknowns — leading to better costing, construction, and a better outcome for you and your family.
Similarly, while the duration of time spent to complete a design, getting it plan checked, and permitted for construction may indeed take some months to get through, your home will last for decades. Many of the homes that were destroyed in the Pacific Palisades and Altadena Eaton fires were built in the 1960s — some as far back as the forties and even twenties, meaning that there were homes burned in January 2025 that had lasted over a hundred years.
The time it takes to design is a small fraction in comparison to the life of that home, the life that you and your families can have on this property, in this place, and
the legacy you can leave for the future.
Architecture and architects create more than a building — they craft meaning. Meaning that translates into long-term financial value as well. If this all has some meaning and resonance for you, I invite you to take a look at some of our
Residential Projects. If you want to hear more,
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please reach out directly and let's talk.