One of the ironies of the home-building
industry is that despite its being
the most fragmented industry in the
country, populated by small builders,
its products are standardized and
unimaginative rather than customized
and site-specific.
A recent job illustrates my point. A
young friend, soon to be married,
called me to help her and her fiance
with their new home. They were buying
a three-bedroom builder's Colonial
in a new development outside Boston,
and they asked me to look over the
plans.
I did, and we made some changes
that added about $10,000 to the
$190,000 purchase price (houses are
beastly expensive in these parts). Plus,
they added a $10,000 "farmer's porch."
Now married, they are slowly accumulating
furniture to fill