Feb 22, 2026 · 1 hr 4 min · 11 segments
Designing Your Own House explores why architects hesitate to design their own homes: pressure, endless choices, ego vs livability, money, and what it reveals.
Andrew HawkinsHost
Eric SpositoGuestBut I will say that, so the idea for this show, it really comes, like, the idea that an architect should eventually design their own home hangs around this profession like it's some sort of credential, something that people assume is inevitable once you've been doing this long enough.
Where would it be and what kind of house would it be and how would you like to use it and how big is it? And I bet I could go up to a majority of architects, and they will have some version of these answers kind of already blocked out in their head.
And so the thing that's interesting about this for me is that there's a weight to an architect designing their own house, because I think people feel like how they design it says something about them, while you're trying to make it something meaningful for you.
I mean, if you're an architect who designs houses for a living, you might be evaluated through a different lens because your home reads like a permanent portfolio piece.
if you're a commercial architect, you know how to keep water out of a building, but it's a different animal altogether.
Not that it's not when you're a residential architect, but the residential one has the additional layer of this is how skilled you are.
Whereas if you're a commercial architect, and I don't design houses, it's still a personal statement, but it doesn't really hang over my ability to actually do what I do.
It, it's different, it's a different perspective, I think, from that standpoint.
But I will say that, so the idea for this show, it really comes, like, the idea that an architect should eventually design their own home hangs around this profession like it's some sort of credential, something that people assume is inevitable once you've been doing this long enough.
Where would it be and what kind of house would it be and how would you like to use it and how big is it? And I bet I could go up to a majority of architects, and they will have some version of these answers kind of already blocked out in their head.
And so the thing that's interesting about this for me is that there's a weight to an architect designing their own house, because I think people feel like how they design it says something about them, while you're trying to make it something meaningful for you.
I mean, if you're an architect who designs houses for a living, you might be evaluated through a different lens because your home reads like a permanent portfolio piece.
if you're a commercial architect, you know how to keep water out of a building, but it's a different animal altogether.
Not that it's not when you're a residential architect, but the residential one has the additional layer of this is how skilled you are.
Whereas if you're a commercial architect, and I don't design houses, it's still a personal statement, but it doesn't really hang over my ability to actually do what I do.
It, it's different, it's a different perspective, I think, from that standpoint.
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