Tips and Advice For Custom Home Building

New homeowners often make the mistake of hiring a contractor for a “quick fix” or an interior designer before knowing if structural walls can even come down. This piecemeal approach leads to wasted money, mismatched aesthetics, and instant buyer’s remorse. ​The One-Stop Solution: At Julie Laughton Design Build, we walk the property with you—even while […]

Older homes in Laguna Beach and Newport Beach often have great “bones,” but awkward 1980s layouts that block natural light and ocean views. ​The Visionary Advantage: It takes a trained eye to look past outdated finishes and see what a home could be. Because Julie Laughton is a female architect, interior designer, and general contractor, […]

The ink is dry on your closing docs. Every month your new home sits idle waiting on plans and permits is a month you’re paying a mortgage on a house you can’t enjoy. Traditional remodels stall out because the architect takes three months to draw plans, the engineer takes two months to review them, and […]

You just made one of the largest financial investments of your life buying a home in coastal OC. The last thing you need is the stress of refereeing a battle between an architect and a builder. The Problem with Multiple Contractors: When something goes wrong on a job site—a window is ordered the wrong size, […]

In the luxury markets of Newport Beach and Laguna Beach, the traditional way of remodeling a home is fundamentally broken—and it’s costing homeowners hundreds of thousands of dollars in hidden fees. When you hire an independent architect, a separate interior designer, and an outside general contractor, you are creating a recipe for financial friction. The […]