Super Houses, with Robert Cardello
Architect Robert Cardello and builder Scott Hobbs join Boroughs & Burbs to take apart what a “super house” really is.
Watch · Boroughs & BurbsWhat a super house really is
On episode 23 of Boroughs & Burbs, hosted by John Engel and Roberto Cabrera, architect Robert Cardello of Robert A. Cardello Architects and builder Scott Hobbs of Hobbs, Inc. take apart the idea of a super house. Their answer: it is not about size. The Darien waterfront home they use as the example earns its complexity from the site, a round tower shaped to the sea wall, a curved wall of glass held up against hurricane winds, and a roofline worked around the town’s height limits.
From there they get into where the money actually goes on a custom home, why good design is the first thing worth paying for, and how an owner, an architect, and a builder who have worked together carry a project that runs years and millions. Watch above, or on Boroughs & Burbs.
What makes a super house
A super house is not a big house. Scott Hobbs and architect Robert Cardello are clear that the label is about design and craft, not square footage. The Darien waterfront home they discuss earns it with a round tower shaped to the sea wall and a panoramic Long Island Sound view.
Where the money goes on a custom home: Scott lays it out in real numbers, a window package that runs from $150,000 to a million, and an HVAC system that climbs from four or five zones to thirteen or fourteen with radiant heat and variable-speed air handlers.
Buy good design first. Scott’s rule is that the cost of good design over poor design is close, but the finished house is not. Design is where a custom home earns its keep.
Waterfront building is its own discipline. Rain comes in sideways, so a Hobbs waterfront home is detailed for hurricane winds and wave action, with curved walls of glass engineered to stand up to it.
Hobbs builds custom homes across the Hamptons, New York City, New Jersey, and the Fairfield County and Litchfield County area, with local crews and the capacity to run about thirty projects at once.
The owner, the architect, and the builder are a three-legged stool. On a multi-year, multi-million-dollar custom home, an experienced team that has worked together is the safeguard. A half-inch error in the drawings can mean a hundred thousand dollars of rework.
Super houses, in short
What makes a house a super house?
Not the square footage. Scott Hobbs and Robert Cardello frame it as design and complexity in service of the site and the owner. The Darien waterfront home they discuss earns it with a round tower shaped to the sea wall, a panoramic Long Island Sound view, and a roofline worked around the town’s height limits with an eyebrow dormer. See the range across our completed work.
What separates a custom home from a speculative one?
Scott walks through it in dollars. Roof shingles, a window package that can run from $150,000 to a million, and an HVAC system that grows from four or five zones to thirteen or fourteen with radiant heat and variable-speed air handlers that ramp up quietly instead of a blast at the back of your neck. The custom choices are the ones an owner feels every day. More in how we work.
Where does Hobbs build custom homes?
Hobbs builds custom homes across the Hamptons, New York City, New Jersey, and the Fairfield County and Litchfield County area, with local teams and the capacity to run about thirty projects at once. Scott’s preference is fewer, better homes over sheer volume. See our work.
Who is the right client for a custom Hobbs home?
Someone building a home to live in, not a five-year resale play. Scott is direct that a truly custom home costs more and takes longer, and that it pays off for an owner who values the result and wants it built for the way their family actually lives. When you are ready, start a conversation.
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Planning a house worth talking about?
Hobbs builds custom homes with the architects and owners who set the bar. Tell us about your project.
Featured on Boroughs & Burbs, the National Real Estate Conversation, hosted by John Engel and Roberto Cabrera.