Success by Design

If you're a busy professional, you probably know the morning drill. You're frantically trying to get out the door only to find that you've grabbed the wrong key ring, forgotten to recharge your cell phone and misplaced your briefcase. While digging through the pockets of yesterday's clothing for loose change, you realize you'll have to borrow 50 cents from a coworker to use in the office coffee machine.

A married couple, both of whom invariably started their days in such frantic fashion, asked Jim Lucia to design their new home. The pair got the home of their dreams and something more-a system that made their frenetic morning preparations virtually hassle free.

"We designed what we called a docking port," says Lucia, partner in Lucia Kassik & Monday, a Winter Park-based custom-home design and remodeling firm. "It was a tongue-in-cheek reference to the place in Star Trek where you dock your spacecraft up to the main space station."

Lucia's "port" was a small space, but a crucial one, strategically situated between the garage and the cocktail nook in the kitchen so as not be missed.

"You come in the door and you put your briefcase in a designated place," Lucia says. "You also have a place for your cell phone with a charger already installed. You put your change in a holder and your keys on a key rack. That way, you keep track of everything you're going to need."

The docking port turned out to be such a clever solution to a universal problem that it has become almost a signature of Lucia's home designs.

Today, Lucia's company is celebrating its 30th anniversary. And over the past three decades, the deceivingly easygoing Central Florida native has hammered out a reputation as a creative powerhouse whose eclectic new homes and authentic historic rehabs are distinguished by the details.

Among Lucia's best-known clients is former Orlando Magic star Horace Grant, who wanted his Winter Park home to be "a living sculpture." Lucia describes the resulting 20,000-square-foot, $5 million mansion as a very abstract blend of the boxy geometry of International Contemporary and curvilinear Art Moderne.

Although Lucia is responsible for many of the region's most eye-popping new and remodeled homes, he is not an architect. He is a building designer, and past president of the Florida Chapter of the American Institute of Building Design (AIBD). The not-for-profit organization, established in 1952, provides educational programs and other services for its members.

Lucia is also certified by the National Council of Building Designers (NCBD), an organization affiliated with AIBD, and is a state-licensed general contractor. He's a sought-after seminar speaker on home design topics and has judged numerous design and construction competitions. Recently, he helped to found a designers' council within the Home Builders Association of Metro Orlando.

Unlike architects, home designers are limited by state law to residential design--a fact that Lucia touts as a competitive advantage. "Homes are our forte," he says. "It's the only thing we do." Still, the distinction between architect and building designer is of little importance to Lucia's clients, which include both individual homeowners and the region's most respected custom builders. His work has earned a number of regional and national kudos, including six Parade of Homes Grand Awards for Remodeling/Renovation.

"To me, the guy is just a creative genius," says custom builder and remodeler Stephen Gidus, president of PSG Construction. "He comes up with brilliant plans that are just beautiful, but they're also practical and functional. You don't find too many people who can combine those things."

Lucia, who grew up in suburban Maitland, says his interest in home design can be traced to his childhood. His father, a maker of fine furniture, was the handiest dad on the block-but even this master do-it-yourselfer found himself flummoxed by the assembly of a custom armoire. That's when the youngster had an epiphany.

"I was about 14, and I was helping my dad cut and assemble the pieces," Lucia recalls. "I looked at the drawing and I just made some suggestions off the top of my head-and they worked. It was just an intuitive thing for me. After that experience, and a few more like it, I came to realize that I had an ability and a talent to put things together."

After some technical training and six years of apprenticeships at architectural firms, Lucia opened his own company, Lucia Custom Home Designers, in Lake Mary. By 1987, Lucia was well established and his firm was benefiting from a housing boom that was sweeping through Central Florida. That year, he rented space in his office to Karen Kassik, an ambitious 22-year-old who had recently opened her own drafting business.

Kassik, who was the only female to take drafting classes during her years at Apopka High School, had designed roof trusses prior to drafting homes. Lucia, who used Kassik for some drafting assignments, was impressed with her talent and work ethic. Soon it became apparent to both that they possessed complementary strengths.

"We decided that our best roles would be for me to handle operations so Jim could concentrate on design," Kassik says. "So I joined the company, and basically those have remained our roles."

Last year, Lucia brought on a third partner, architect Gordon Victor Monday, so the company can pursue commercial design projects. The name was changed from Lucia Custom Home Design to Lucia, Kassik & Monday in March.

Kassik, who's company president, is responsible for administration, sales and customer relations. As certified designer, her industry knowledge, combined with a friendly and reassuring manner, makes her an ideal point person for clients who become anxious during the sometimes vexing building or remodeling process.

"You really get two designers when you hire us," says Kassik. "I bring a woman's perspective to our projects. I think our clients appreciate that kind of teamwork."

Lately remodeling projects have become a major part of the business-which is fine with Lucia, who's an aficionado of traditional architecture. On weekends, he can often be found bent over a drawing board, sketching historic homes. These pen-and-ink drawings, often colored with pencil or paint, generally wind up as treasured gifts to friends and clients.

In addition to historic homes, Lucia also stays busy revamping 1980s boom-era homes that now appear dated.

"I know for a fact that I can do a brand-new home and it will be beautiful," he says. "That's all well and good. But if I can go into a neighborhood of average homes and create a little jewel, and if that inspires other people to do the same thing, well, it's like a beautification process. It's ego-boosting, too."

Ego aside, it's Lucia's custom homes that get the most attention. He says that relatively few buyers-even those prepared to spend $400,000 and up-are willing to go through the process of designing and building a true, one-of-a-kind custom showplace. Most, he says, are content to buy a spec home, or to take an existing plan and make minor modifications.

"But if you design your home exactly to your specifications, then your money is put to better use," Lucia contends. "You're getting what you want rather than buying something at $150-per-square-foot with a bunch of space that you're not going to use that much."

That's why Lucia insists on spending "quality time" with his custom home clients, learning their likes and dislikes and observing every detail of their daily routines. As he did for the harried homeowners who couldn't get organized in the morning, Lucia tries to design features in each custom home that are tailored to meet the specific needs of the occupants.

"If they've got things about their lifestyle that they don't enjoy doing as much as other things, and if I can design something that makes life more rewarding and satisfying, then I've given them something they hadn't even considered when they came in and said, 'I want a new design,'" he says.

Though homes are Lucia's work and his hobby, the three designated motorcycle parking spaces outside his Lee Road office signal another aspect of the man who got his first bike at age 14 and now owns 10. Four years ago, Lucia founded Central Florida Cycle Riders, a motorcycle enthusiasts' club that already boasts 280 members. The club rents a suite at the Daytona International Speedway during Bike Week to watch the races.

Lucia says he enjoys the skill, talent and mechanical innovation demanded by speed. "Riding requires intense concentration, and as a stress reliever it works awesomely," he says. "After your normal day, you get on a motorcycle, ride for an hour or two and come back refreshed and ready to hit it again."

For more information about building designers and their qualifications, call the American Institute of Building Design at (800) 366-2423 or visit the organization's Web site at www.aibd.org.