Since its launch in concert with Dwell in Design in Los Angeles in 2008, Hometta has signed 35 architectural studios to showcase plans for proven, uber-cool homes. For a reasonable fee, clients can purchase a complete set of blueprints or construction drawings, ready to take to a builder.

Founders Mark Johnson and Andrew McFarland started the firm in Houston, recruiting 24 design studios from across the nation. They recently added eleven more. Home sizes top out at 2,500 square feet, roughly the average of all new American houses built today. Builders on the Hometta web site are recommended by the design studios.

“Our potential customers are people still dreaming for their own home,” said Ann Chou, managing editor for Hometta. “They plan to build within the next three to four years, and they may or may not have land yet. We’re finding that the younger age group seems interested, but the older age groups have real inquiries.”

The studios they choose are small, up-and-coming and published. “They’ve won awards, and they’re fruitful in their own practices,” Ann said. “They want to see their designs created at a more affordable level and with a bigger cross-section of clients.”

All Hometta’s plans call for stick construction, since transportation costs can drive pre-fab costs up.

Among the 24 original firms represented are Roger Sherman of Los Angeles, davidclovers of Hong Kong and Min/Day of San Francisco. Recently selected are Vincent Snyder Architect of Austin, LTL Architects of New York and Vernacular Studio of Raleigh.

The founders are careful about who they select, and why. They chose Vernacular, for example, because they’d identified that young North Carolina studio as a group with a substantial body of built work that combined traditional and modern elements.

“We’re looking for enthusiasm,” Ann said. “We’re looking for studios that take a good idea and go beyond.”

For more on Hometta, go to www.hometta.com