by Michele Newbern Gillis
Staff Writer
Hiring a high quality architect, contractor and interior decorator are key to creating a well-built high-end home.
“A lot of times there is a architect, contractor and interior designer involved in the complete design from the very beginning. That is essential to do it right,” said Rick Morales III, the president of Morales Construction whose company builds about three multi-million dollar homes a year. “Putting your team together at the very beginning is the best advice I could give to someone building a multi-million dollar home.
“You have them all together throughout the whole house design to make the design as efficient as possible for cost reasons, instead of trying to make all the decisions at the end and then trying to make them fit or trying to change things.”
Choosing a good contractor, architect and interior decorator up front can save the buyer a lot of headaches during the two year process of planning, building and completing a multi-million dollar home, Morales said.
“The people who make the least changes are the ones who hire this trio, if you will, up front, worked with them and developed a plan,” he said. “And they save a fortune. You can build the same house for 10 percent less by planning it all up front, rather then building it on the fly.”
The difference between building a multi-million dollar house versus a less expensive home is not always in the size.
“You can build the same size house for different amounts of money,” said Morales. “When building a multi-million dollar house, you are going to build a finer house, you are not always going to build a bigger house.”
The process goes like this.
A buyer contacts a builder and explains that they would like to build a fine home. It’s probably on a waterfront lot.
“Typically, people don’t build multi-million dollar homes that aren’t waterfront,” said Morales.
The lots themselves are hard to find under $1 million, notes Morales.
After the buyer decides he wants a fine home, he and the buyer work together to find a designer and architect that will fit their individual style.
When building a home, an architect does not have to be involved, whereas with commercial buildings they are required.
“For a house, literally anybody can draw it,” said Morales. “But, when you are going to spend that much on a house, you hire a licensed architect to actually draw a set of plans.
“Then you start the process just as you would a less expensive house, but the materials and the finishes you are looking at are of a much higher grade. The sticks and bricks for a multi-million dollar house and a less expensive home are basically the same. But, the materials and the finishes in the multi-million dollar home will be very high-end compared to what would go in a 3/4 of a million dollar house, which would be still be a very nice house.”
The materials and the finishes are part of what makes the house so much more expensive.
One problem high-end contractors run into is that a lot of the materials desired for a
$1 million-plus homes are not found in Jacksonville.
“We do not have the showrooms for a lot of the products here,” said Morales. “Some of the high-end plumbing fixtures, kitchen cabinets and lighting fixtures are not found in Jacksonville.”
But, they can be found in Atlanta and Miami. Therefore, their interior designers do a lot of traveling with the buyers to allow the them to choose the products in person for the home.
In addition to the lack of local high-end materials, there is also a limited supply of qualified subcontractors.
“There are basically about four or five contractors in Jacksonville who build the really expensive houses in town,” said Morales. “But, we all use the same subcontractors. We have all found out there are only two or three guys who can really do that grade of work like trim carpentry. There is a limited pool of fine craftsman when it gets to the very expensive houses.”
Another difference is that multi-million dollar homes usually have a full-time supervisor dedicated to overseeing the construction of the home whereas with less expensive homes, the supervisor usually has several houses going at once and can sometimes be hard to get.
Over the past 15 years, Morales’s company has built many multi-million dollar homes . His clients have included Tom Petway, part owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars, and Wayne Davis of the Winn-Dixie family.
“Most high-end buyers are a little more demanding,” he said. “Our clients are a little bit of everyone.”
Business executives of very large corporations, professionals like doctors and lawyers, professional athletes and owners of companies are the type of buyers who build multi-million dollar homes.
Even though the bricks and sticks of the house are basically the same in less expensive homes, one main difference Morales has seen in the higher-end homes is the implementation of a media/home theater room.
“These are some of the neatest rooms that we do,” said Morales. “Almost all of the homes have an incredible home theater.”
Other technological advances in the higher-end homes are evident in the higher-end security systems, back-up generators and overall wiring of the house.
“For the most part, the kitchen in a 3/4 million dollar house and a kitchen in a multi-million dollar house aren’t that much different,” said Morales, “because in most homes, that is where people spend most their money because that is where they spend most of their time.”
Fancy staircases, wine rooms and libraries are also common in multi-million dollar homes.
Outside the home, the biggest difference is that many buyers usually hire and independent landscape artist to accentuate their multi-million dollar home.
“They spend a fortune on landscaping,” said Morales.