A custom home should do more than provide space. It should support the rhythms, routines, and realities of everyday life — today, and twenty years from now.

That’s the philosophy behind our latest custom home at The Foresman in Glenview, Illinois. And it’s the philosophy that guides every home Widler Architecture designs.

Why the Floor Plan Matters More Than the Finishes

When people begin thinking about building a custom home, the conversation often starts in the wrong place. Square footage, countertop materials, cabinet finishes, tile selections — these are the elements that feel most tangible and most exciting. They’re easy to picture. They’re fun to choose.

But they’re not what makes a home work.

The most important decisions in any custom home project happen long before material selections are made. They happen in the floor plan. How a home is organized — the sequence of spaces, the flow between rooms, the orientation toward light and views — determines how a family actually experiences the home every single day.

Think about the small moments that define daily life. The path you walk every morning from the bedroom to the kitchen. Where the kids drop their backpacks when they come home from school. Whether you can see the backyard from the kitchen while you’re making dinner. How easy it is for guests to move between the dining room and the outdoor patio.

None of those moments are determined by what countertop you chose. They’re determined by the floor plan. And unlike finishes, which can be updated over time, a floor plan is essentially permanent. Get it right, and the home feels effortless. Get it wrong, and no amount of beautiful materials will fix it.

How We Designed The Foresman for Long-Term Living

At The Foresman, our design process started with a single question: How does this family actually live?

That question shaped everything. The home combines classic Georgian architecture with a floor plan built around the realities of modern family life. Expansive gathering spaces encourage connection and make the home feel welcoming without feeling formal. Covered outdoor living areas extend daily life beyond the walls of the home, creating a natural indoor-outdoor flow that works across seasons in the Chicago suburbs.

We paid particular attention to the functional zones that often get overlooked in residential design — the transition spaces. The path between the garage, mudroom, pantry, and family gathering areas is one of the most-used sequences in any home. If that path is awkward or unclear, it creates friction every single day. At The Foresman, we designed that transition to be intuitive, so coming home feels easy rather than cluttered.

We also thought carefully about where morning light enters the home. The kitchen and breakfast area are positioned to capture early eastern light, which makes the most-used room in the house feel warm and energizing at the start of each day. That’s not an accident — it’s a deliberate decision made early in the design process, not something you can retrofit with a finish selection.

What Is a First-Floor Primary Suite — and Who Benefits from One?

One of the signature planning elements at The Foresman is the option for a first-floor primary suite. This is a feature that families sometimes overlook when they’re in their thirties and forties, but it can become one of the most valuable decisions they made.

For some families, a first-floor primary suite creates greater accessibility and long-term flexibility — whether that means aging in place comfortably or accommodating a family member who has mobility challenges. For others, it opens up possibilities for multigenerational living, allowing an aging parent or an adult child to have a private, ground-level retreat without requiring a complete renovation years down the road.

Rather than asking homeowners to adapt to a predetermined layout, the design adapts to them — now and in the future.

The Difference Between Designing a House and Designing a Home

A house is measured in square feet. A home is measured in how well it supports the people who live there.

That distinction sounds simple, but it has profound implications for how we approach every project. It means we spend more time upfront asking questions about how a family moves through their day than we do looking at image boards. It means we study how the sun moves across a site before we decide where to place windows. It means we think about what a family’s life might look like in ten or fifteen years — not just right now.

The result is homes that feel both timeless and adaptable. Because materials can be replaced and styles can evolve, but a well-conceived floor plan is forever.

Frequently Asked Questions About Custom Home Design

What should I think about before meeting with a custom home architect?
Before your first meeting, spend time observing how you use your current home. What’s frustrating about your daily routines? What spaces do you love? Where do you spend most of your time? What do you wish you had more of? These observations are more valuable than a Pinterest board when it comes to designing a home that actually fits your life.

How long does the custom home design process take?
The design phase for a custom home typically takes six to twelve months, depending on the complexity of the project and the number of revisions. This includes schematic design, design development, and construction documents. Building typically takes another twelve to eighteen months. Planning well ahead of your target move-in date is essential.

What is the most common mistake people make when designing a custom home?
Prioritizing aesthetics over function. Finishes, fixtures, and style are important, but they should come after the floor plan has been thoroughly resolved. Homeowners who fall in love with a look before thinking through how they’ll actually use the space often end up with a beautiful home that doesn’t work particularly well for daily life.

What makes Georgian architecture a good fit for custom homes in the Chicago suburbs?
Georgian architecture’s emphasis on symmetry, proportion, and formal balance translates well to larger custom homes in suburban settings. It pairs naturally with traditional neighborhood streetscapes while offering flexibility in interior planning. The style is also deeply durable — homes designed in the Georgian tradition tend to feel as relevant in fifty years as they do on the day they’re built.