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You have three options in terms of professionals who can draw up blueprints: a draftsperson, an architect, or a structural engineer. A draftsperson can sometimes draw up plans for new construction, but they more often work from approved plans for alterations or to provide 3D drawings. Architects are usually the best option for standard residential construction projects. Structural engineers might be necessary for custom home builds or for alterations that could affect your home’s structural integrity. Draftsmen cost the least of the three, followed by architects and then structural engineers.

Italianate architecture is a reinterpretation of Renaissance styles, combining elements of Italian farmhouses and villas with Victorian materials and construction. This home style emerged in the Victorian era, gaining popularity in the U.S. in the mid-to late-1800s. The style came about in response to what many then viewed as the too-rigid and stuffy Classical style designs. 

Above all, the downside to building a new house is a longer timeline. You need several months to finish the build, depending on the supply chain and labor availability in the meantime. Building a home compared to buying one is also more expensive, both in the building process and when it comes to mortgage rates and property taxes.

British architect John Nash is credited with creating the Italianate style of architecture. The style was further popularized in the U.S. by landscape architect Andrew Jackson Downing and architect Calvert Vaux. The style spread across the U.S. due to Downing’s popular book on the style and the availability of plans and materials due to the mass production of the Industrial Revolution.