The Architect

1

- Hi.

- A colonial?

- Yeah, I always

liked colonials.

- I know. I just didn't think

you were serious.

- It's the perfect

combination...

Old-world charm,

modern convenience.

- Where are we...

18th-century New England?

No, I don't want to live

in some fairy-tale replica

of a bygone era...

It's ridiculous.

- It doesn't matter

what the style is, anyway.

The important thing

is a practical floor plan

and a good location...

How far is the commute,

how good are the schools.

- Schools are important.

- Yeah, they increase

property values.

- What a transformation.

- I can't tell the old

from the new.

- There isn't any old left.

We just kept the facade.

Everything else is new.

- Wow. That's

a million-dollar view.

- It's closer to 1.3 million.

- Now there's a water view

in every room.

Remember how awful the place was

when we bought it,

with that chartreuse shag rug

and the sprayed-on

cottage cheese ceiling?

- We thought the ceilings

were only 8 feet.

But believe it or not,

they were 11 feet.

- We only found out

when we poked through

to put in those skylights.

- You remember how it was

laid out like a train,

just all long and narrow?

- Mm-hmm.

- We completely opened

all of this up.

We ran a huge steel beam

the entire length

of the house for support.

It cost us 20 grand.

- It was so worth it.

Our architect had a lot

of creative ideas.

- It's a brand-new house.

- It's completely different.

I-I don't even

recognize the place.

- That's because

when we opened it all up.

We had to relocate

the staircase.

- Which completely changed

the layout upstairs.

- Wow.

- Ouch!

- Yeah, would have been

cheaper to build new.

- You're kidding.

- Well, there are a lot

of hidden conditions.

I mean, you don't know

until you open up the walls.

- It was not cheaper

to build new.

Ivan did a lot

of the work himself.

- You did?

- No.

- You programmed the audio

and lighting systems

throughout the whole house.

- That can be tricky.

- Yeah.

No, I hope you wore

a hard hat for that.

- Remember the kitchen?

It was totally

original condition,

hadn't been updated at all...

Formica counters,

electric stove,

avocado-green fridge, linoleum.

- It was sweet.

- Sweet, yeah, but not really

suited to our lifestyle.

- We gutted it completely.

- Mm-hmm.

- Oh, I've gotten

so many compliments

on your plates, Drew.

- Oh, that's so nice.

- Drew, you made those?

Oh, my God, those are beautiful!

I had no idea

how creative you were.

- She has a great eye for color,

doesn't she?

- Right? I keep telling her

we can grow a business.

With the right marketing,

you could be moving

thousands of units.

- Moving units.

That's so funny.

- Would you make a set for us?

Seriously, we'd commission you.

- Ah, you signed it.

I was gonna ask you to sign it.

I have no doubt

these are gonna be worth

some money down the line.

Drew Davis?

- I use my maiden name

for artistic pursuits.

- Huh.

- So I heard

you guys found a house.

- Ah, we made an offer.

There's been

some back-and-forth.

It's practically a tear-down.

- Aw, that we're going

to lovingly restore.

It's our dream house.

- Don't say "dream house."

If we invest ourselves

emotionally,

it will be harder to walk away.

- I don't want to walk away.

- Well, you don't want them

to know that.

It gives them the upper hand.

- If you find something good,

you have to move fast.

- We have to balance the need

for a quick decision

with the need

for the right decision.

- Sometimes you have

to take a chance.

Go on a gut instinct.

- Drew, we need to settle down,

overcome our emotions,

and make a sensible

home-purchase decision.

You know, a house

is like a marriage, right?

You can't just jump in.

And you can't just jump out

if you want to unload it.

You're stuck with that decision

for a very long time...

hopefully.

- It is like a marriage.

You do go by intuition.

It's not something

you can analyze.

- Intuition is a feeling.

You don't base

big decisions on feelings.

- You said it was

like a marriage.

- Yeah, marriage is

the biggest decision of all.

You don't base that

on just mere feelings.

- Have you seen

our warming drawer?

- Ooh.

- Mm-mm.

- I like the way

they did that recessed

rectangle in the ceiling

and the way it was lit up.

- Oh, that just killed me.

Here they have

a classic mid-century modern,

and they remove

all the original fixtures

and replace them

with recessed cans.

- I like recessed cans.

They work.

They're bright.

You can see.

- You can see too much.

- I'm ovulating.

- What?

- I'm ovulating.

- Right now?

How can you possibly tell?

- Well, you just can.

I know my body.

I don't want to go into details,

but, you know...

Discharge.

- Oh.

I paddled 11 miles today.

I'm totally exhausted.

- Why do you always have

to go so far?

- That's not that far.

I mean, I'll do

16 or 17 next time.

You c... you can't expect me

to turn on

like a faucet, you know.

At least try to seduce me

a little.

- Batten down

the hatches, Seattleites.

We've got a big storm system

blowing in from the west,

a bit of lightning and thunder

with wind gusts expected

to get 60 miles per hour.

- Aren't you a little

underdressed?

- It's Saturday.

- You look like a little boy.

- Who do I have to impress?

The broker works for us.

- What about me?

- Honey, we're married.

- Hello, Drew. Hello, Colin.

It's good to see you again.

Your contractor's already here.

It looks worse than last week.

- Oh, it just needs

a little TLC.

It's got good bones.

- It's great to find something

that hasn't been ruined

by a spec developer.

- It's gonna need a ton of work.

- It's cosmetic.

That's why

it's such a good deal.

This location

and the water view...

it's got endless possibilities.

You just need

a little imagination.

Oh.

- Gonna need to replace

all the windows.

But you don't need to use wood.

Vinyl is cheaper.

- Vinyl is weird.

- Well, I recommend composite.

It's not vinyl,

and it's not wood,

but it looks like wood,

and it lasts forever.

- If it's not vinyl

and it's not wood,

then what is it?

- Composite.

- Overall, what do you think?

- Oh, seems pretty sturdy...

I mean, there could be

hidden conditions.

I'd have to pull off

some of the siding.

But, uh, let's see.

- It's so peaceful and quiet.

- Country living

close to the city.

There's history here too.

This house was rented one summer

by Courtney Love.

- Okay, so, roughly, ballpark,

what's it gonna take

to clean this up?

- Top of my head, um...

$200 a square foot,

depending on finishes.

- Really?

$200 a foot, 2,500 square feet.

That's $500,000.

- You can finance

the home improvements

along with the purchase price.

- Here we go. Here we go.

- So cool.

- Congratulations

on your new home.

Oh! Oh! Wow!

- Oh, my God.

- Jesus.

- Ooh.

Whoa!

- It's all right.

It's their tree, so it's okay.

- So you just closed yesterday?

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