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Started By
Message
Looking for draftsman or architect recs in BR area for custom home
Posted on 1/15/26 at 10:09 pm
Posted on 1/15/26 at 10:09 pm
Purchased 1.16-acre lot and I'm now planning the house with my daughters.
I've spent way too much time reading old TD threads on what to do/not do when building custom, plus I've got a bunch of saved pics from contractor sites and galleries that really have helped me visualize what I want. It will be a custom house, not a cookie cutter.
I've looked at a ton of online plans from places like Madden Home Designs and Architectural Designs, but none of them are quite right— I'm wanting something fully custom tailored to the lot and my ideas.
One name that popped up in some older posts is Kabel House Plans over in Denham Springs. Anyone have recent experience with them?
Also open to other solid draftsmen or architects in the Baton Rouge area who do true custom residential from scratch. Preferably someone who listens to your vision, incorporates pics, and delivers buildable plans without a ton of revisions (providing I am set on what I want initially).
Budget-wise I'm realistic, but not looking for the ultra-high-end firms.
If you've built custom recently (or know someone who has), who did you use for the design side? Any names to check out or avoid?
Thanks in advance — appreciate any input!
I've spent way too much time reading old TD threads on what to do/not do when building custom, plus I've got a bunch of saved pics from contractor sites and galleries that really have helped me visualize what I want. It will be a custom house, not a cookie cutter.
I've looked at a ton of online plans from places like Madden Home Designs and Architectural Designs, but none of them are quite right— I'm wanting something fully custom tailored to the lot and my ideas.
One name that popped up in some older posts is Kabel House Plans over in Denham Springs. Anyone have recent experience with them?
Also open to other solid draftsmen or architects in the Baton Rouge area who do true custom residential from scratch. Preferably someone who listens to your vision, incorporates pics, and delivers buildable plans without a ton of revisions (providing I am set on what I want initially).
Budget-wise I'm realistic, but not looking for the ultra-high-end firms.
If you've built custom recently (or know someone who has), who did you use for the design side? Any names to check out or avoid?
Thanks in advance — appreciate any input!
6
Posted on 1/16/26 at 7:07 am to Will Cover
Trampas Amadee
Posted on 1/16/26 at 7:25 am to Citica8
Did you use him to build as well? 
Posted on 1/16/26 at 7:30 am to Will Cover
John Guillory
LINK
He isn't cheap, but he is excellent in what he does. He brought things up to us that we wouldn't have thought of on our own and they were practical.
LINK
He isn't cheap, but he is excellent in what he does. He brought things up to us that we wouldn't have thought of on our own and they were practical.
Posted on 1/16/26 at 7:41 am to jojothetireguy
I appreciate the recommendation, and I will look closer at his work.
Keep the recommendations coming.
Keep the recommendations coming.
Posted on 1/16/26 at 7:46 am to Will Cover
I did, as well as a few friends who also custom built in the Ascension area.
You can start out with a Madden plan and get him to tweak it to fit your needs or go completely from scratch.
Spent years before walking through parade of homes seeing what we liked, but you don’t get to look at the plans while you walk through it. We ended up going to our friends houses who built and took their plans while we were walking through the house to get a feel for the measurements, mainly for the living room/kitchen, and back patio, but seeing the difference between an undersized vs oversized laundry room, and master closet was the most helpful.
You can start out with a Madden plan and get him to tweak it to fit your needs or go completely from scratch.
Spent years before walking through parade of homes seeing what we liked, but you don’t get to look at the plans while you walk through it. We ended up going to our friends houses who built and took their plans while we were walking through the house to get a feel for the measurements, mainly for the living room/kitchen, and back patio, but seeing the difference between an undersized vs oversized laundry room, and master closet was the most helpful.
Posted on 1/16/26 at 8:58 am to Will Cover
the best thing you can do to keep costs reasonable on design is have something to start with…a general plan that you are comfortable with. Purchase a set of drawings as a starting point (make sure you own them) and then redline those along with a narrative of wants/needs/etc and bring those to your designer for quotes.
Two things are paramount…SF under roof equals money, decide on your overall size and stick to it. And secondly, constructability rules the day…don’t design something that requires specialty construction methods unless you’re sure your budget allows.
If those two things get away from you, you could wind up with an expensive set of drawings that you can’t afford to build from
Two things are paramount…SF under roof equals money, decide on your overall size and stick to it. And secondly, constructability rules the day…don’t design something that requires specialty construction methods unless you’re sure your budget allows.
If those two things get away from you, you could wind up with an expensive set of drawings that you can’t afford to build from
Posted on 1/16/26 at 11:31 am to cgrand
I can't vouch for all of their work, but we supplied materials for a custom home done by Design Studio Plans of Ridgeland MS. nice set of plans.
Posted on 1/16/26 at 12:16 pm to Will Cover
Lionel Bailey. He's the best. No question. Listens, takes lots of notes. My husband and I are very pleased with what he designed for us.
Posted on 1/16/26 at 2:20 pm to Will Cover
Are you using a custom builder? If you’ve selected a builder, I’d get recommendations from them. Many will include an allowance for plans in their pricing, and have preferred designers they work with and trust.
We used Madden for a custom plan, modified from some of his existing. His designs are decent, but he’s a terrible dude and I’d never recommend him for a true custom design.
Kabel is solid and he did my first house. Not sure if he’s coming around to a more modern process/design/style yet. He was still doing ONLY hand drawn plans even like 5–10 years ago.
We used Madden for a custom plan, modified from some of his existing. His designs are decent, but he’s a terrible dude and I’d never recommend him for a true custom design.
Kabel is solid and he did my first house. Not sure if he’s coming around to a more modern process/design/style yet. He was still doing ONLY hand drawn plans even like 5–10 years ago.
Posted on 1/16/26 at 9:09 pm to KajunLass
quote:
Lionel Bailey. He's the best. No question. Listens, takes lots of notes. My husband and I are very pleased with what he designed for us.
Ditto. Absolutely love our house Lionel designed.
Posted on 1/17/26 at 7:18 am to Citica8
quote:
Citica8
quote:
Spent years before walking through parade of homes seeing what we liked,
I have quite a few pictures that I have collected saved that I want to show as a visualization of what I would like certain rooms to look like in terms of design and structure.
quote:
You can start out with a Madden plan
I'll look more closely at these plans to help get me started.
Posted on 1/17/26 at 7:21 am to LSUtigerME
quote:
Are you using a custom builder?
Yes, I plan to. I have a couple in mind. I thought it would be best to have a set of plans designed to my liking, and then present them to 2 or 3 builders who are known for their work.
quote:
Many will include an allowance for plans in their pricing, and have preferred designers they work with and trust.
This is a good idea as well -- I suppose this would be deducted if I already come in with what I want built.
quote:
We used Madden for a custom plan, modified from some of his existing. His designs are decent, but he’s a terrible dude and I’d never recommend him for a true custom design.
You are the 2nd person in this thread to suggest this. I will certainly take a closer look.
quote:
Kabel is solid and he did my first house. Not sure if he’s coming around to a more modern process/design/style yet. He was still doing ONLY hand drawn plans even like 5–10 years ago.
The old tried and true method.
Posted on 1/17/26 at 7:21 am to KajunLass
quote:
Lionel Bailey. He's the best. No question. Listens, takes lots of notes. My husband and I are very pleased with what he designed for us.
Thank you for the recommendation. Do you recall what he charges?
Posted on 1/17/26 at 7:22 am to jfw3535
quote:
Ditto. Absolutely love our house Lionel designed.
I'm going to check out his website.
Posted on 1/17/26 at 7:25 am to cgrand
quote:
the best thing you can do to keep costs reasonable on design is have something to start with…a general plan that you are comfortable with. Purchase a set of drawings as a starting point (make sure you own them) and then redline those along with a narrative of wants/needs/etc and bring those to your designer for quotes.
This seems to be the overcall consensus for a good starting point. I'll follow eveyone's suggestion here.
quote:
Two things are paramount…SF under roof equals money, decide on your overall size and stick to it. And secondly, constructability rules the day…don’t design something that requires specialty construction methods unless you’re sure your budget allows.
The only thing that I would like "special" is looking at having staggered wall studs where possible for soundproofing (hotel-style framing), in addition to either acoustical or batt insulation on all interior walls -- along with solid core doors.
quote:
If those two things get away from you, you could wind up with an expensive set of drawings that you can’t afford to build from
I have a fairily healthy budget due to the equity in my current home, plus my new lot will be paid for. And I only want to build something about 150 to 250 more sq ft. than what I have now.
Thank you for your help.
Posted on 1/17/26 at 9:05 am to Will Cover
Highly Recommend Mark Matthews. Reputable, Honest, Attention to Detail. Tons of Experience.
Posted on 1/17/26 at 9:39 am to bamaswallows
I will add him to the list.
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