Phase 01 of 04 · 6 – 10 weeks
Discovery.
First, we listen.
Site, budget, and brief — we listen before we draw, and write down everything we hear.
Lakefront homesite · Central Florida
Typical duration
6–10 wks
From first call to signed brief.
Site visits
2
Half-day studio, half-day on the lot.
Deliverables
4
Brief, survey, budget, agreement.
Decision point
Go / refine
Two scope tiers, one budget bracket.
What this phase is
A house starts as a conversation, not a drawing.
We sit with you at the studio, then walk your lot — reading the light, the grade, and the trees worth keeping. Nothing becomes design until we agree on what the house is for.
How it unfolds
Six to ten weeks, four conversations.
Sit-down → walk → survey → brief
01
Week 1
Week 1
The studio sit-down
Both partners, half a day — lifestyle, precedent, and the non-negotiables.
02
Weeks 2–3
Weeks 2–3
The site walk
Solar path, wind, views, grade — the land sets the first rules.
03
Weeks 3–6
Weeks 3–6
Survey & due diligence
Survey, soils, flood-zone, and HOA — buildable from day one.
04
Weeks 6–10
Weeks 6–10
Brief & budget bracket
A written brief and an honest budget, with two scope tiers. You decide where the line sits.
Reading the land · phase 01
Where every Liberty home begins
The best decisions of the whole project are made before the first line is drawn.
What you leave with
Everything in Discovery is
written down.
01Written design brief & lifestyle profile
02Site analysis & survey report
03Order-of-magnitude budget bracket
04Phase-one design agreement
Where it sits
Discovery in the eighteen-month arc.
DiscoveryBrief · site · budget
Jan – Mar
DesignSchematic → CDs
Mar – Aug
BuildPermits → punch-list
Sep – Aug +1
StewardYear-one check-ins
Sep +1 – +2
Discovery questions
What clients ask first.
Do we need to own the lot before we start?
No. We’re often brought in to walk two or three candidate lots before a purchase — the land decision is part of Discovery, and getting it right saves far more than our fee.
How firm is the budget bracket?
It’s an honest order-of-magnitude range with two scope tiers, not a quote. The guaranteed-maximum price is set later, at the end of Design — but the bracket here is built to be one you can trust.
Can you work with our lender?
Yes. We coordinate with construction-to-permanent lenders from the first budget bracket onward, and structure our documentation so financing, appraisal, and draw schedules line up with the build — not against it.
What do you need from us to begin?
A first conversation and a willingness to talk honestly about how you live. Everything else — survey, soils, precedent — we organize.