We work closely with our clients and builders to develop drawings and specifications that support the construction of comfortable, durable homes. Homes that feel calm, quiet, and easy to live in, and perform consistently through changing seasons and daily life.
At Mottram & Maines, we believe a home should be comfortable to live in every day, not just impressive on move-in day.
About Us
Mottram & Maines is a residential architecture and design firm focused on Pretty Good Houses: well-designed, thoughtfully detailed homes shaped through integrated design, building science, and a collaborative process. Whether you are planning a new home, an addition, or a major renovation, we hold architecture, structure, comfort, indoor air quality, durability, climate performance, and budget together from day one. These are not separate decisions or add-ons. They work best when they are considered together. The result is a home that feels calm and easy to live in, and performs reliably through real seasons and everyday use.
Custom Design
Custom design starts with the way you want to live. From the beginning, we shape the enclosure, layout, daylight, comfort, indoor air quality, durability, and budget as connected parts of the same whole.
A custom home gives you the freedom to tailor the program, flow, structure, light, and character of the house to your life and your site. Our work is grounded in high-quality building and building science, so the house stays comfortable through real seasons, supports clean indoor air, and is detailed for long-term durability and resilience. Pretty Good, in all the right ways.
Semi-Custom Plan Sets
Start with a reliable framework shaped by experience, then refine it with expert guidance. Our semi-custom plan sets are designed to give you a strong starting point while making room for site conditions, budget priorities, and performance goals before construction begins.
You and your builder get clarity on key details, material choices, and refinement options so the finished home stays aligned with the intent of the design. At this time, we only revise Mottram & Maines plan sets. If you purchased a plan from another designer or are bringing outside plans as a starting point, that work falls under custom design.
Shared Fundamentals
What happens when you work with Mottram & Maines? You work with a team that connects thoughtful residential design with building science to create homes with comfort you can feel and quality you can see. Mottram & Maines brings together the complementary strengths of Emily Mottram and Michael Maines, long-time collaborators and contributors to the building science and residential design communities. Emily helps translate complex design and performance decisions into clear, human outcomes, with steady guidance that keeps the process manageable. Michael brings deep experience in building, residential design, and constructable detailing, adding rigor and clarity to how projects are developed and documented.
The result is not a signature style. It is careful listening, deliberate design, and decisions that hold up over time, technically, environmentally, and in everyday living.
Contact Us
If you are exploring a project and want to see whether we are a good fit, let’s start a conversation. Most clients come to us because they want a home that feels comfortable and easy to live in, with clean air, steady temperatures, and details designed to last. We design Pretty Good Houses: practical, performance-minded homes where comfort, durability, energy use, and design quality are considered together from the beginning, alongside budget.
Send us a note with your project location, project type, and general timeline, and we will follow up with next steps.
