Plenty of attention is focused on the ceilings in many of these homes. The office ceiling in one home took several months to finish. “They’re all labors of love,” she adds. “We depend on the craftsmen that work with us, and we stick with them over the years. We know that they’re first rate and we never have any problems. For the ceiling on the English gothic home, we had a tradesman working on that ceiling for four months. When you walk in there, you look up and it takes your breath away.”

When an architect submits plans for a new home, rarely does Gage need to make many changes — a benefit of using the same designers time and again. Plus, with no clients to make hundreds of changes, the process goes quite smoothly, Larry Gage notes. “And when an architect is done with a plan, we give it to a structural engineer to make sure roof framing is engineered properly, for example.”

All-in from day one

Alexis Gage is involved with each home from day one, making choices for both exterior and interior materials. She works with the architects, goes back and forth on interior and exterior choices, while choosing all the colors and materials throughout the homes.

“I work along with the architect during the design process,” she says. “I toss out my ideas, they give me theirs, and we go back and forth until we’re both satisfied. It’s very stimulating work, and incredibly creative. I’m always up for learning about new and exciting ideas. I enjoy it,” Alexis Gage says.

Alexis gets involved after construction begins only if there are issues or questions that pop up. For example, if a question surfaces about using stone or brick on a fireplace, or how the flooring is being laid, or what kind of lighting to use, Alexis will step in. “It’s wonderful to be able to do whatever we want to do with these homes [without clients],” she adds. “The projects move incredibly smoothly because of it.”