THE BUILDER Business

Curious about the roles of builder, architect and designer? Designer Kelli Fontana Vogelgesang breaks it all down.

• VARIABLES. All home industry professionals go about their process of developing a home differently. For instance, some builders work with an architect to develop the floor plan and an interior designer for the materials and finishes, while other builders make all the decisions and selections themselves. This is the method West Bay Homes uses.

CREATIVE COLLABORATION. Kelli comes to the architects with a vision for the home in question. “Together the architects, the builder and I develop the floor plan,” she says. “We go through a process of revisions until we feel it’s right.”

DESIGNER DETAILS. The interior designer is heavily involved in the floor plan concept and overall ideas for the layout and flow. “Either I or the designer is responsible for assembling the finish selections in a detailed presentation,” Kelli says.

ARCHITECTURE ADVANCE. The architect has the important technical task of taking ideas for the floor plan and producing structurally sound plans, elevations and accurate detailed dimensions of the home.

BUILDER BASICS. The builder takes the architect’s plans and reads all the information to produce the physical home structure from the ground up. The builder also goes about the business of hiring and scheduling subcontractors.

The kitchen, with its back wall design inspired by Parisian pastry shops, includes a stone farm sink, open shelving, designer tiles and lighting, a coffee bar, built-in wine storage and a hutch. Wood is a huge star here. “I wanted to create a kitchen that has an upscale exposed commercial-kitchen quality, yet is still totally approachable for a residential-kitchen environment,” Kelli says. “Wood is a way of bringing in warmth.”

Heated 24" x 24" concrete tile and clear alder custom cabinetry systems with cane-and-glass insets and leather door pulls create a mesmerizing mudroom. Kelli envisions the mudroom as a transitional bridge between public and private life. “It’s a room to come in from the outside world and transition into the home,” she says.