$1500 Plans So Long, and thanks for all the fish

Today we announce our impending price increase. The price of Construction Prints will be increasing from $1,500 to $4,750 on 24July2008. Yes, this is a significant increase, on the order of 3x, but still a small fraction of the cost of a home and they remain a tremendous value in comparison to custom design charges.

The new pricing is part of a marketing agreement we have made with stock house plan vendor Houseplans.com who will now also be distributing our designs (by also we mean that we will still be selling plans direct from our site as always). This is part of an effort elevate the level of design offered in the form of stock plans, not only modern houses, but of all styles. This has been a goal of mine since starting this venture, and for the first time in the leadership at Houseplans.com I have found a similar vision. Yes, they offer the usual array of mediocre design, but they are behind this idea and are committed to marketing better designed home plans in a different way - a way in which design is more important than square feet, or bedroom count. The offering that they will assemble will completely out-class the offerings of other vendors and it is my sincere hope that this brings pressure to bear on them to improve their game. The end result, I hope, is the enlightenment of the buying public to better design, the creation of demand for better designed homes, and the inevitable move of the market to fill that demand. End game - better designed homes readily available for everyone, particularly for my camp of modernists.

This really brings the introductory phase of our house plan venture to a close. We now have 8 different designs and 3 variations on one design available in Construction Prints for a total of 11 different plan sets, and another on the way in Design Prints only right now. And there are more great designs on the way. Customers have stepped up to the plate, and if you have been watching our blog you will have seen many houses under construction at all ends of the country. Our house plans have found their way into media, appearing in the New York Times, Dwell, This Old House magazine, soon Metropolitan Home, and numerous blogs covering design online. Our thanks go out to those early adopters and the journalists and bloggers that have covered them. As well as this launch has gone it has been a struggle to create the designs, market them, and maintain the sites to promote them, all while running a local architectural practice to keep our roof above our heads. The new pricing will allow us to dedicate more time to producing more product, so truly good things lie ahead. Thank you for following this adventure with us.

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