Mark Eric Benner - Architects, Ltd.

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Mark Eric Benner - Architects, Ltd. Creating uniquely personal living and working spaces through the use of virtual architecture

Chicago and North Shore's top three-dimensional residential architectural designer. Featuring creative designs and state of the art development tools to provide the best design experience possible.

Here's something most people don't realize until it's too late. The same decision can cost nothing or cost a fortune, de...
10/15/2026

Here's something most people don't realize until it's too late. The same decision can cost nothing or cost a fortune, depending on when you make it.

Moving a bathroom wall two feet costs almost nothing when it's a line in a sketch. After the framing is up, it means demolition, rework, and a change order priced by someone who knows you're already committed.

The design phase isn't just about making something look right. It's the window when you can still change your mind without paying for it. That window closes faster than most people expect.

10/11/2026

My fellow ham radio operators joined in support of the Bank of America Chicago Marathon for emergency communication support.

We just posted a new video: 7 Ways To Cut $100,000 From Your Custom Home Without Making it Smaller.Most people assume cu...
10/07/2026

We just posted a new video: 7 Ways To Cut $100,000 From Your Custom Home Without Making it Smaller.

Most people assume cutting budget means cutting square footage. It doesn't. The bigger savings usually come from decisions made earlier in the process, before the drawings are locked in and the contractor is already on site.

In the video, we walk through seven specific moves that protect your budget without shrinking your home. If you're planning a project for next year, this is worth 10 minutes.

Watch it here: https://youtu.be/RMdpgQxnLkk?si=bEmZ80hobrH_c5Mb

10/03/2026

A family I worked with last year could afford to build their house. They sold the lot instead. Nobody made a mistake. That's the part I keep coming back to. They wanted one floor — accessibility was the entire reason for the move. Straightforward program, about 6,000 square feet. The lot was wooded, private, plenty of room for the wider footprint a ranch needs. Then the topographic survey came back. And every decision after that was reasonable.

A one-story program needs a wide footprint. A slope under a wide footprint rules out a crawl space for most of it. A full-depth foundation on a slope becomes a walkout. A walkout gets used. And on an accessibility project, space you use is space you have to be able to reach. Design development came back at 11,116 square feet.

They had asked for 6,060. I found about $150,000 in a two-week redesign. It wasn't enough. They sold the land and never broke ground. So I made a video about where that money actually hides — seven places to look before anybody suggests making the house smaller. Real numbers from two real projects, one that got built and one that didn't.

It also includes something I got wrong on both. I'd rather say that out loud than let a future client discover it the hard way (https://youtu.be/RMdpgQxnLkk?si=NUmq92EYmzjXebWy). If you build or sell houses and have watched this happen, I'd like to read your version in the comments. I suspect it's far more common than any of us let on.

One thing I've learned over the years: the projects that run smoothest are usually the ones where the relationships were...
09/15/2026

One thing I've learned over the years: the projects that run smoothest are usually the ones where the relationships were built before anyone needed them.

I've been spending time recently with Heph Balsitis, the general manager at Marble Emporium in Northbrook — getting to know their materials, their capabilities, and how they work. Not because there's a project requiring it right now, but because when there is, we want to already have a working rhythm together.

Collaboration without that foundation tends to create friction. And friction in a project shows up in the budget, the schedule, and sometimes the final result.

Building codes are updated roughly every three years. And when they are, municipalities often layer on their own interpr...
09/08/2026

Building codes are updated roughly every three years. And when they are, municipalities often layer on their own interpretations — which means the local version of a code can differ meaningfully from the state version.

We recently worked through exactly this on a home addition. The Illinois State Plumbing Code and the local municipality's code each had their own matrix for water service requirements. We ran the numbers on both, carefully and methodically, and confirmed that no new water service line would be required.

It wasn't complicated math. It was disciplined process. That's usually where surprises get caught before they become expensive problems.

Most of what determines whether a home project succeeds or struggles doesn't happen during construction. It happens mont...
09/01/2026

Most of what determines whether a home project succeeds or struggles doesn't happen during construction. It happens months before.

Where does the house sit on the lot? How does it capture morning light in the right rooms? What does the zoning actually allow? Is the budget realistic for what you're actually trying to build?

These are foundational decisions. Get them right, and the rest of the project flows. Get them wrong, and you spend the back half working around them — usually at significant cost.

This is why early planning isn't a formality. It's the most important work we do.

A client recently started cutting calls short, asking to skip steps in our process. When I asked why, she admitted she w...
08/25/2026

A client recently started cutting calls short, asking to skip steps in our process. When I asked why, she admitted she was hoping to reduce her architectural fees.

I appreciated the honesty. I explained that our fees aren't based on hours — they're a flat fee tied to the project's construction cost. That structure exists so we have adequate time to explore options and make sound decisions at every stage.

She said it made sense. Then she added something that stayed with me: she hadn't realized how much research goes into even a modest project.

That's often the part clients don't see. But it's where a lot of the real value lives.

07/31/2026

Tour of Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island during our recent Seattle tour.

06/28/2026

The Kingfish really took it to the Pit Spitters in today’s game.

Address

1725 Ferndale Avenue
Northbrook, IL
60062

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 5pm
Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 5pm

Telephone

+18474120692

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