Jun 25 2009
Nothing floundering at Flatfish Island Designs
When it comes time to design your new home, working with a full-service custom architectural firm isn’t always in the budget. Yet Herlong & Associates owner Steve Herlong believes that budget should not stand in the way of having a well designed home. With this in mind, he and his team of designers have launched a new “sister” company, Flatfish Island Designs.
With Flatfish Island Designs, customers can purchase completed house plans from a wide range of styles and sizes. The company currently offers 18 designs with more on the way.
“These home plans cater to a segment of the marketplace that appreciates livability and design aesthetics, but may not have the opportunity to truly customize a home,” Herlong says.
With the current move to smaller, more efficient homes that are both less expensive to build and easier to maintain, these designs will fill a void by giving homeowners the architectural detail and functionality that is often missing in the typical builder’s inventory.
This concept has been a long time in the making for Herlong. Over the years, people would contact his architectural firm wanting to purchase plans for a Herlong house they saw featured in a magazine, but those are personal, highly customized home designs and not for sale. Herlong considers those one-of-a-kind investments for their owners.
With Flatfish Island Designs, the Herlong team has taken its experience designing these unique homes and channeled it to create a collection of intuitively designed homes available “right off-the-shelf.” The plans cater to Herlong’s area of expertise: waterfront and coastal homes. Many of the plans are oriented to take full advantage of water views with their large windows and porches.
“Living and working on these barrier islands, there is no shortage of inspiration,” Herlong. The team plans to add more home designs to Flatfish Island Designs on a regular basis. In fact Flatfish Island is indeed a real island just up the waterway from Herlong & Associates’ Isle of Palms office and a spot where the company holds regular office retreats.
Customers can review the plans on the Flatfish Island Designs Web site and then contact the company to place an order. Customers can also make a few tweaks to the design for an added fee or they can take the plans as they are and head to their builder or contractor.
