Design a 3,100 sq ft, four-bedroom house on a steep, tree-covered Marin lot and produce a complete construction document set the family could take to competitive bid — with renderings good enough to settle design decisions before the drawings went final.
The challenge
The buildable area was pinched between a 28% slope, a creek setback and a stand of protected oaks that could not be removed. The house had to step down the hill on three levels, which put the structure, the drainage and the driveway grade all on the critical path at once.
Marin's review includes wildland-urban interface requirements and a tree-protection plan, and the family lived two hours away. Every site decision had to be resolved on drawings and renderings rather than a walk-through.
How we matched
The estimate priced a full construction document set for a 3,100 sq ft custom home, with the visualization package as an add-on and Marin's jurisdiction complexity folded in. The family reviewed three CA-licensed architects with hillside residential portfolios and hired one directly at $38,500 for the full set.
- ✓Architect verified as actively licensed in California
- ✓Filtered for hillside residential and wildland-interface experience
- ✓Structural and MEP consultants coordinated under the architect's set
- ✓Fixed fee paid directly to the architect against milestones they agreed
“We approved the massing off a rendering from two hours away and never once felt like we were guessing. The bids came back within four percent of each other, which tells you how clear the set was.”
— The Okonjo family · Marin County, CA
The outcome
Sixteen weeks produced a full set — site and grading plans, three floor levels, elevations and sections, framing and foundation sheets stepped to the slope, Title-24 compliance and full mechanical, plumbing and electrical coordination — plus a photoreal visualization package used for both the family's decisions and the county submittal.
Marin issued the permit after one round of comments, all of them on the tree-protection plan. Four contractors bid the set and the spread between them was under four percent.