Within 2 weeks after listing the Periscope House on MLS, we have a signed purchase agreement with a wonderful and excited couple. Construction of the project will begin mid-October with an anticipated completion date of June 1 or before.

The buyers are looking forward in participating in the process of construction and selection of finishes with us as we tune it to meet their level of style and taste. They see themselves as stewards of modern architecture and are anxious to start living in a house that effectively takes advantage of exterior space as an extension of the interior. We are thrilled to have people that appreciate and understand the house, how it was designed and want to take advantage of what it offers as a living experience.

This is a custom house on every level, except that it was designed not to a specific customer, but instead to most favorable use of the existing conditions of the site and the surrounding context. The scale and composition of the building was considered as a direct response to the surrounding neighborhood; not to blend in, but to create a counterpoint.

The fact that the form of the building and the layout of the rooms was designed prior to having a buyer in an ideal situation for many buyers in that the majority of the decision making has already been made, however, because it has not yet been built, it allows us to be flexible on the selection of finishes. The design process can be a time consuming and difficult process for a client and many (I would guess most) buyers would like to eliminate the uncertainty by seeing a finished house. Because of the tools that we have as architects, we are able to create accurate, lifelike renderings shown in context, so although the buyer can't walk through the finished product, they can get an accurate feel for what the project will be. That worked for these buyers and as we found out during the sales process and the enthusiastic response by potential buyers, it also worked for several others.

We love the way the process has worked on this project and we are actively looking for new projects to create other one-of-a-kind modern projects. As soon as we figure out the next one, we will post some images. In the meantime, we will be posting images as Periscope is being build.

Peter Nicholas