The McMansion has worn out its welcome, hope for prefab is fading, and anyone with a sense of contemporary design taste shudders at what homebuilders are producing these days. But for most people who want to build a modern, “architectural” house, the price is out of their reach. That’s where Hometta, a new Houston-based company, comes in. Launched in late June, coinciding with LA’s Dwell on Design conference, the firm offers house plans designed by contemporary architects from across the country, and then guides owners to finding a way to build them.
Co-founder Andrew McFarland, and his team of four architects and designers from the Houston area (many are affiliated with or attended Rice University’s architecture school) picked the talented firms after a thorough search. Co-founder Mark Johnson, a builder based in Houston, said that their group of architects and house plans will grow much larger by the fall, which is what sets Hometta apart from the plethora of other sites offering home plans online: designer cache. That, and the sense of community the company attempts to foster through its playful, interactive site.
All projects are single family houses, and none measure more than 2,500 square feet, part of the company’s niche-oriented business plan—“If you can afford to build a larger house, and you can find an architect that you like, then you should,” said Johnson—and also a way to assure that the non-custom projects don’t overwhelm contexts. Johnson notes that if clients do want to customize the homes after buying the plans they are welcome to work with the designers.
