Frequently Asked Questions
Straight answers about how I work, what it costs, and what to know about building at Lake Texoma.
Process
Do you design homes at Lake Texoma?
Yes. I design custom homes, lake homes, and golf course homes around Lake Texoma from my studio in Pottsboro, Texas.
I work with clients in Pottsboro, Denison, Sherman, Gordonville, and Cartwright, including lake communities such as Tanglewood and Rock Creek.
Do you design homes on the Oklahoma side of Lake Texoma?
Yes. I design custom homes and lake homes for lots on both the Texas and Oklahoma sides of Lake Texoma, working from my studio in Pottsboro, Texas.
On the Oklahoma side, I work in Kingston and the surrounding Marshall County, including the Pointe Vista development.
If you haven’t found a lot yet, I can help you look on either side of the lake.
Why do you specialize in Lake Houses and Golf Course Homes?
A home on the water or on a fairway is designed from the outside in. The view, the sun, the slope, and the way neighbors and golfers see the house decide where every room goes. I have designed homes around Lake Texoma since 2018, and that repetition lets me read a lot quickly and know where the house wants to sit.
Every home I design is a Custom Home, drawn for one family and one lot. I don’t design spec houses or tract homes. Lake and golf course lots give families the creative freedom to express how they live, something urban and suburban lots rarely allow, and that is where I do my best work.
How long does the design process take?
Ten weeks. I have a system for that, and it works like this:
Every Friday, I share your project’s progress. You review it over the weekend and send me your feedback on Monday, or Tuesday at the latest. That gives me time to prepare the next Friday’s delivery.
Each design phase follows this weekly rhythm. It’s how I keep your project moving through a ten-week design process, with your feedback and approvals along the way.
If your feedback arrives later, I still work toward Friday’s delivery, but I can’t guarantee it. Delayed feedback or scope changes can extend the timeline. The system works when we both keep that rhythm.
Your start date depends on how many projects are already on my schedule, with a minimum of two weeks before design begins. I use that time for Site Analysis: a site visit, a drone flight, a study of the surroundings, and a review of your topographic survey. At our Preliminary Meeting, I estimate your start date and confirm it when your project is scheduled.
That preparation happens during the waiting period. The ten-week design process begins at our Initial Design Meeting.
What do I need before we start?
To begin the conversation, all you need is the idea of a custom home. If you don’t have a lot yet, I can help you find one.
Before design begins, you’ll need a lot and a topographic survey prepared by a licensed surveyor. You can provide the survey, or I can arrange it for you at your expense.
If you have a plat, HOA requirements, or photos of homes and spaces you like, those are helpful too.
Will I work directly with you?
Yes. You’ll meet and work directly with me throughout the process.
My team’s role depends on the service you choose. With Studio, they develop the design under my direction and review. With Premiere, I do most of the design work myself. In both cases, I’m your direct point of contact.
On Premiere projects, Eduardo, my BIM manager, joins the closing meetings to operate the 3D model live while you move a wall or a piece of furniture and approve it on the spot.
How do design changes work?
Your feedback is part of each design phase. You’ll review the design after Concept, Layout, and Model, with revisions included in each round. Changes at these stages can include adding or removing rooms or adjusting the garage.
Once the design is complete, I prepare the Bid Set, the drawings your builder uses to price the home.
After the Bid Set, adjustments within the completed design are included without limit. These include dimension changes, minor area adjustments, door and window changes, engineering recommendations, and plan corrections.
Changes that require returning to an approved design phase, such as reworking the room program or structural layout, are billed hourly.
Cost
What is the difference between Studio and Premiere?
Both services include working directly with me. The main differences are my involvement in developing the design and the included visual materials.
With Studio, my team develops the design under my direction and review. You receive a 3D model you can walk through and explore on your own.
With Premiere, I do most of the design work personally, and renderings are included.
Homes under about 3,000 square feet of living space are often a good fit for Studio. Larger homes tend to fit Premiere, but you can choose either service at any size.
How much does home design cost?
The cost of design varies with the type of project and the scope of work. I created two service levels, Studio and Premiere, to serve clients with different needs.
Studio costs $2.45 per square foot of designed space under roof, including living areas, garages, and covered patios.
For Premiere, I prepare a custom quote based on your home’s size and complexity and any additional services you choose, such as interior design, finish and furniture selection, construction supervision, supervision of furniture and lighting installation, or final staging.
After our Preliminary Meeting, I will send you a proposal outlining the scope and design fee for your review before signing.
Why do garages and covered patios count toward the design fee?
Those spaces must be designed as part of the home. Their dimensions, layout, rooflines, and connection to living areas all affect how the house works and looks.
That’s why the design fee is based on the total area under roof, including garages and covered patios.
How much does it cost to build a custom home at Lake Texoma?
As a planning reference for 2026, construction costs among the builders I work with typically range from $200 to $300 per square foot under roof, depending on the project and finish selections. Luxury homes start around $350 per square foot.
Your lot’s topography, finish selections, and construction changes all affect the final cost. Your builder will prepare pricing for your specific home.
Is structural engineering included in the design fee?
Structural engineering is separate. The builder usually arranges and pays for it as part of preparing an accurate construction bid.
Builders
Can I work with my own builder?
Yes, as long as I review and approve the builder before we begin. A good working relationship between the designer and builder matters throughout the project.
I work closely with Ceci Bates Custom Homes, and their projects make up most of my portfolio. I’m also open to working with other builders.
Can my builder follow the design as it develops?
Yes. Your builder can access your Project Console, including the project chat, to follow the design and review updates.
That helps us work from the same information as the project develops.
Can I visit homes you have designed?
For Premiere clients, I can arrange visits to completed homes, often with the owners there to share their experience, with their permission and subject to availability.
You can also explore completed homes in the gallery on this site and see many of my designs on the Ceci Bates Custom Homes YouTube channel. In those videos, I interview the owners, so you hear about their experience in their own words.
Lake Lots
Can you help me find a lot at Lake Texoma?
Yes. I work with a local real estate brokerage and can help you find a lot that fits your needs and budget.
Before you buy, I can review a lot with you and tell you where the buildable area is, how the flowage easement or setbacks affect the footprint, which direction the house should face, and roughly what size home the lot supports.
Can my lot affect the cost of building?
Yes. A sloped lot can require more complex foundation work, and a flat lot can still have soil conditions that affect construction costs.
That’s why I study your site before designing. The site visit, drone flight, and topographic survey help me understand the land and how the home should fit it.
What should I know before buying a lot on Lake Texoma or a golf course?
Check five things before closing: the flowage easement and setback lines; the slope and soil of the buildable area; the direction of the best views relative to the afternoon sun; HOA or community design guidelines; and utility access, including septic. On golf course lots, position on the hole matters for privacy and stray balls.
Before you buy, I can review a lot with you, and if you haven’t found one yet, I can help you look.
What is a flowage easement on Lake Texoma, and how does it affect my lot?
A flowage easement gives the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers the right to flood designated portions of privately owned land, and it restricts how that land can be used, including where a home can be built. The recorded easement documents establish the restrictions for your property.
Before design begins, I review the easement boundary shown on your survey and how it affects the buildable area.
For context, the flood control pool and spillway crest at Lake Texoma are at 640 feet. The record high reached 645.72 feet in June 2015. For Lake Texoma homes, my design standard is a finished-floor elevation of at least 648 feet, a little over two feet above that record. The final elevation also accounts for site conditions and applicable requirements. Elevation is one part of reducing flood risk. It doesn’t guarantee a home will never flood or determine insurance eligibility.
How do you design a home to capture lake or golf course views while keeping privacy?
I start by mapping the view corridors, the sun path, and the sight lines from neighbors and the course. I orient living spaces and the Master Suite toward the view and service spaces toward the street. Window placement, porch depth, screened areas, and landscaping all play a role in privacy, and on golf lots I also consider exposure to stray golf balls when placing the home, windows, and outdoor spaces.
The goal is a home that feels open to the lake or the fairway and private everywhere else.
How I Work
What does a residential designer do?
I design custom homes, lake homes, and golf course homes around Lake Texoma. My work includes floor plans, exterior design, and the residential construction drawings your builder uses to price and build your home.
You work directly with me throughout the design process. Your builder arranges the foundation and structural engineering with a licensed engineer who works from my drawings.
What is your approach to designing a home?
I think of my role as a translator. You may know how you want your home to feel without knowing how to put it into plans. I translate that into a document a builder can price and build, and the builder translates the document into the house.
At our Initial Design Meeting, I start with a blank sheet of paper, ask questions, and draw the house live in front of you. By the end of the meeting, the rooms and their relationships are on paper. From there, the design grows in small approved steps: Concept, Layout, Elevations, Model, Preliminary Set, and the Bid Set. At each step, I explain where the idea came from and why. You approve it, and we build on it.
I work best with clients who stay involved throughout the design. Weekly feedback helps us make decisions together, keep the design moving, and stay on schedule.
Do you still draw by hand?
Yes. Every project starts with a freehand sketch. It’s the most direct way for me to explore a house with you at the table: we can try an idea, discuss it, and adjust it together.
Once the direction is clear, we develop it in 3D. The sketches stay with the project as a record of how your home began.
What does old school, new tools mean?
My background began with painting, drawing, and sculpture, and I still think through a house with a pencil in my hand. At our Initial Design Meeting, I sketch with you so we can explore ideas together as we talk.
From there, I develop the design using digital modeling and BIM. You can walk through the home in 3D, and the model helps coordinate the drawings your builder will use.
The tools have changed over the years. I still begin with hand drawings.
How do you present a design before anything is built?
You see the home in stages before construction documents begin: concept sketches, a layout, elevations, and then a walkable BIMx 3D model. The first time you see the house in 3D is in my studio, on a large screen from the sofa, while I show you how to use the model so you can take it home, explore it at your own pace, and share it with family.
Premiere projects add finished renders of the exterior and key interior views. Changes are cheap on paper and expensive on site, so I invest in showing you the house early and clearly.
What is included in a set of construction documents?
A complete set includes a site plan, dimensioned floor plans, exterior elevations, a roof plan, building sections, electrical and lighting plans, interior elevations for kitchens and baths, door and window schedules, and general notes. The foundation and framing plans come from the licensed engineer your builder engages, who works from my drawings.
The set is what your builder uses to price, permit, and build the home.
How do you keep the design process from feeling uncertain or stressful?
Designing a home is one of the biggest decisions a family makes. Most of the stress comes from the unknown: what happens next, what the house will look like, what it will cost, and whether everyone is looking at the same information. I use tools that help you understand the design and what comes next:
- A published schedule of design phases with dates, so you always know which stage the house is in and what decision is coming.
- Sketches, a layout, elevations, and a walkable 3D model, approved step by step, so you can see the house before you commit.
- The Project Console, with a progress bar, a message board that explains every update and drawing by phase, and a chat shared with you and your builder.
- Builder involvement from the start, so your builder can give cost feedback as the design develops and help you understand how design decisions affect the budget.
- A consistent point of contact, from the first sketch to the final set.
What makes working with you different?
Five things define how I work. First, I sketch with you during our Initial Design Meeting so that we can explore your ideas together on paper. Second, I specialize in custom homes for lake and golf course lots, considering the views, privacy, and how you want to live. Third, you work directly with me throughout the design. Fourth, if you don’t have a lot yet, I can help you find one through a partner brokerage. Fifth, you can explore completed homes in my gallery and on video. For Premiere clients, I can also arrange visits with the homeowner’s permission and subject to availability.
Your Project Console
What is the Project Console?
It’s where you follow your design, review updates, and share feedback with me.
You’ll find your project’s progress, key details, and completed design phases in one place, along with your survey, site photos, drone videos, and inspiration images.
I use it to explain what’s changed and what decisions come next, so you know where things stand throughout the process.
How do I get started?
Select Start a Project on this site and create an account with your project name, email, and password.
You’ll arrive at a welcome page that explains the process and guides you through the project questionnaire. Once you complete it, I set up your Project Console.
Next, we have a Preliminary Meeting. I explain how I work, and you tell me what you have in mind and what you know about your lot, if you already have one. If you have a topographic survey, you can share it beforehand so I can take an initial look before we meet.
If we’re a good match, I’ll send the agreement, followed by the invoice. Once you sign the agreement and pay the invoice, I’ll add your project to my schedule.
Whenever you want to return to your project, select Enter Your Project Console.
Have a lake lot or a custom home in mind? Start a project, or look through the homes I have designed first.
Have a lake lot or a custom home in mind? Start a project, or look through the homes I have designed first.
