Mark Eric Benner - Architects, Ltd.

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.

What it really costsWhat does it actually cost to build a custom home around here?Real numbers from my practice:• $350 t...
10/26/2026

What it really costs
What does it actually cost to build a custom home around here?
Real numbers from my practice:
• $350 to $750 per square foot to build in Northern Illinois
• On an $800,000 construction budget, design fees of $64,000 to $96,000
• About half a year of design and permitting before anyone breaks ground
I'd rather you hear the real number now than get surprised later. Full breakdown: https://youtu.be/G4Sqhwyeix0

10/26/2026

A zoning reviewer told me I was wrong.
Then my client hired a second architect to double-check my work, and he said the same thing.
So I drove out to the house and measured the roof myself.
It turned out it had been framed several inches lower than the drawings showed—years earlier, by somebody else. Those few inches saved the project.
I open the new video with this one. Twenty-five years in, and the lesson was: go look at the building.

10/25/2026

Over-budget bids usually start in design, not construction.

10/24/2026

Real numbers on building a custom home in Northern Illinois.

Thinking about building a custom home on the North Shore? Start here.My new video walks through the whole process in und...
10/23/2026

Thinking about building a custom home on the North Shore? Start here.
My new video walks through the whole process in under 10 minutes: the six phases, what it really costs, how long it takes, and why the cheapest place to fix a mistake is on paper.
It's the first of a 14-part series. Watch it here: https://youtu.be/G4Sqhwyeix0

10/23/2026

Every homeowner asks the same question first, and almost nobody in my profession answers it. How much?
So I put the actual numbers in the new video.
What a variance costs. What a delay costs. And the one threshold that quietly turns a small addition into a five-figure site work bill before anybody breaks ground.
Not ranges, not "it depends." Real figures, out loud.

A builder brought me in recently to finalize construction documents on a home addition — a design the homeowner and buil...
10/23/2026

A builder brought me in recently to finalize construction documents on a home addition — a design the homeowner and builder had already agreed on.

As I reviewed the zoning code, I found a problem. The addition increased the building's perimeter, which triggered a rule about counting exposed basement area toward total building size. The existing home was fine. The addition changed the equation.

Finding it early meant options. Finding it during construction would have meant change orders, a variance process, or both.

Zoning complications like this are invisible until someone looks at the right time. If you're curious what that review involves, I have an Investment Guide that walks through the full process. Message me and I'll send it over.

An inch and a half.That's how far one house sat over its side yard setback. The owners didn't do it — it was built that ...
10/21/2026

An inch and a half.
That's how far one house sat over its side yard setback. The owners didn't do it — it was built that way decades before they bought the place.
That inch and a half was the difference between a $200 form and months of delay that ended in a public hearing, where any neighbor could stand up and object.
Nobody in that story did anything wrong. That's what should worry you.
The whole thing is in the new video.
https://youtu.be/NwbMIOfO2Vw

10/19/2026

New video is up.
I've spent twenty-five years getting permits in the villages around here — Northbrook, Glenview, Lake Forest, and Chicago when a project takes me down there. This one is everything I wish homeowners knew before they started.
Real numbers. What each village actually cares about. And the one thing to do before you buy a house, which almost nobody does.
It opens with a story about me being wrong, so there's that too.

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.

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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