Building a home inspired by you

Anyone who has experienced the nightmare of building, remodeling or renovating a dream home might think this should be shelved in the fiction section, along with “Finding Mr. Right in Five Minutes.” Connell, a Yale-trained architect and builder, is familiar enough with budget blowouts, delayed deadlines and delusional architects, but he’s also convinced that building dream houses doesn’t have to end in litigation.

Showcasing 21 well-photographed houses, including space-constrained Venice Canal projects and sprawling colonial wonders in need of renovation, Connell chronicles the ways in which homeowners, architects and contractors collaborate to create what he calls inspired houses, the kind of homes that reflect the owner’s personality and needs, not the architect’s.

True, Connell’s world is a touchy-feely one in which contractors listen, clients offer to pay above bid price to express gratitude and architects try to make homes that won’t jar the neighborhood. For anyone who doesn’t need to hear another contractor cautionary tale, however, Connell’s glass-half-full approach offers concrete advice on finding and working with your dream-house building team.