Getting personal

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“We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us.”—Winston Churchill

The first home I knew was a small two-bedroom house my parents built shortly before I was born. By the time I was four years old, they had added an addition, nearly doubling the size of the house in a way that seemed to me to be both magical and immediately familiar. My parents took on a much bigger project when I was seven. They bought a lot on a large lake in a new development outside of town. They found a plan in a magazine and built the house that I grew up in. Although my dad made his living as a rural mail carrier, he was skilled in many things and proved it by wiring our new house for electricity. Enlisted to be his “helper”, I spent many hours on the construction site, marveling at the daily changes and watching the house come into being. I was smitten with the process. At the age of ten, I found Frank Lloyd Wright’s autobiography at the library. In the book, the famous architect spoke so eloquently about his life and his work, that by the time I had finished it, “an architect” was my answer to that question that every adult always asks: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” In time, I grew up and became an architect—and happily designed the house that would become my parents’ last home together. 

At this point in my architectural career, I not only bring talent and a lot of experience to potential clients, I bring a desire to help you find your story. To paraphrase architect Tom Kundig, “People who build their own homes are courageous and curious about life.”  To you, courageous or not, I offer a very personal service, thoughtfully working to create a genuine home, authentically suited to you and your modern life.

—Dwight McNeill, AIA