EP 363: From Drafting Doubts To National Luxury Homes

What makes John Lively with John Lively & Associates a good neighbor?

 John believes a truly distinctive home starts long before a floor plan—it starts with an honest conversation about how you live. In this episode, he takes us inside the mindset behind large-scale custom residential design, the myths that derail timelines, and the straightforward marketing approach that has taken his work across the country. From a doubting high school teacher to a state drafting win to a career designing landmark homes, John shares how personality and daily rhythm shape every decision he makes on a project.

For John, the hardest work isn’t drawing walls but discovering who the client is—how their days flow, which moments matter most, and what “home” actually feels like to them. That discovery becomes the blueprint for everything: a family room designed to be the true social anchor, chef-level kitchens that perform for real life, great rooms with glass walls that dissolve the boundary between indoors and out, and details tailored to the way a family moves through each day. He brings the process to life with stories from current projects, including a six-story concrete single-family home in downtown Dallas and a sprawling ranch house in Texas, proving that “unique” isn’t about size—it’s about intention.

We also get tactical. John breaks down why custom architecture can’t be rushed, what realistic timelines look like, and how a small team markets effectively without buzzwords—simply by showing finished homes and in-progress details on Instagram. He talks about designing coast to coast—from Jackson Hole to Florida, Colorado to Tennessee—and how climate, code, and local culture guide decisions without forcing a one-size-fits-all template. His throughline is simple: step out of the box, ask the “weird” questions, and let the home reflect the people who will live there.

John Lively & Associates is a custom residential design firm specializing in distinctive homes of all sizes—from small tailored plans to exemplary estate residences. Their success comes from thoughtful design and precise, highly accurate drawings created with state-of-the-art technology, streamlining the building process and helping builders deliver a smooth, profitable, and satisfying experience for their clients.

To learn more about John Lively & Associates go to: www.livelydesigns.com

 John Lively & Associates
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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_01 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Sophia Yvette.

SPEAKER_02 (00:10):
Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast.
Are you in need of a residentialdesign firm?
Well, one may be closer than youthink.
Today I have the pleasure ofintroducing your good neighbor,
John Lively, with John Livelyand Associates.
John, how are you today?

SPEAKER_00 (00:26):
I'm doing wonderful.
How are you doing?

SPEAKER_02 (00:28):
I'm doing wonderful also.
Now we're excited to learn allabout you and your business.
Can you start off by telling ourlisteners just a little bit
about your company?

SPEAKER_00 (00:38):
We're a um high-end residential design firm.
Um we primarily do umlarge-scale projects for our
homes and uh secondary homesacross the country.
So full catering design firm, soall the way up from start to
finish.

SPEAKER_02 (00:57):
Now, how did you originally get into a business
like this, John?

SPEAKER_00 (01:03):
Uh I started really early.
I was in high school and didsome drafting classes and stuff
like that, and they told me Iwas horrible.
And so my teacher was justreally against me kind of going
further with it.
So they got a little competitionand I drew a little thing and
went to state and won statecompetition and all kinds of
stuff.
So teacher was a little off onthat, but uh realized my

(01:25):
passion.
Um, I like construction and Ilove I love modern homes, so and
that kind of set me on thecourse to kind of go into that
field, and I just worked my wayinto it all the way through
college and then um out andstarted working immediately, and
here we are today, you know.

SPEAKER_02 (01:40):
Amazing.
Now, what is the most commonmyth or misconception you
typically come across in yourindustry?

SPEAKER_00 (01:48):
Oh uh that probably part of it is uh many, but one
would be uh that you can justbasically sketch out a house and
make it have constructiondrawings in a few days and
things like that.
It takes a long period of time,it takes more time sometimes
getting the information out ofthe clients than than actually

(02:09):
doing the drawing part.
So because sometimes they're noton the same page and different
things like that.
So, but there's not too, I mean,there's not too many, but that's
a the the the time frame canshock them sometimes at how long
on a large-scale custom homelike we do.
So it's not something we're justpumping out plans all the time.

SPEAKER_02 (02:25):
So now we know marketing is the heart of every
business.
Who are your target customers orclients?
And in terms of marketing, howdo you attract them?

SPEAKER_00 (02:36):
Marketing is an interesting one, it's always
seems to be changing ineverybody's world, but our main
focus is primarily on we justput our product out there and
and you know, almost pray thatit gets seen, so on many
platforms and different thingslike that.
And that's primarily how we doit.
We're a small office, so we haveyou know six to eight people
working here all the time, andand so it's not we don't have a

(02:58):
marketing department or thingslike that, but but we you know
uh we do a unique product andwe're very proud of it.
So we see it get spread around,and then surprisingly the people
call from all over the country.
And uh we do, you know, we havealmost every state we've done a
project in since I've started.
So but it's kind of a uniquesituation.
So uh that's our primary peoplein in the architecture world

(03:22):
want to see it, so it's notsomething we can just really
explain too much, they just wantto see what you do.
So that's that's what we have todo is just show it, just put it
out there.

SPEAKER_02 (03:29):
So so John, it sounds like you're not limited
to just Texas, so you can doprojects all over the U.S.
Is that correct?

SPEAKER_00 (03:37):
Correct.
We currently projects fromJackson Hole to Florida to
Colorado, um, Tennessee, it'sall over currently.
That's what we're doing rightnow working on.
So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (03:50):
Now, have you ever thought about doing your own
podcasts?

SPEAKER_00 (03:54):
No, I'm gonna let you handle that.
And it's just not my thing toomuch.

SPEAKER_02 (03:59):
Now, outside of work, what do you and your
family like to do for fun?

SPEAKER_00 (04:05):
Uh, we're still in the sports stage of high school,
so we do a lot of that.
So um I have a family ranch umout in West Texas.
I grew up, I didn't really growup there.
I was shipped out there insummers to work out there, and I
grew up every summer working outthere, which now I, you know, I
just cannot, you know, as soonas I'm done, I want to be out
there all the time now.
As a you know, growing up, butyeah, we spend a lot of time out

(04:27):
there.

SPEAKER_02 (04:27):
So and what is one thing our listeners should
remember about John Lively andAssociate?

SPEAKER_00 (04:35):
Uh one thing they should remember.
Well, it's they're wantingsomething unique, uh, anything
goes kind of house.
That's what we do.
We're known for that.
So we have, you know, we've gota home going up right now in
downtown Dallas.
It's six stories tall, concrete,um, and it's a single family
home.
It's going to be the largest inTexas and the second largest in
the United States.

(04:56):
And we just completed a ranchhome out in uh in Texas that's
pretty much the widest home, uh,ranch home in the United States.
We're still trying to figure outif that's truly, we're not
trying to break any kind ofrecord.
It just happened this year.
It's kind of some stuff thatwe've gotten into.
So, but we're unique.
We can make anything happenwhere a lot of firms are kind of

(05:17):
standardized and stuff likethat.
We step out of the box quite abit.

SPEAKER_02 (05:20):
So amazing.
And what our listeners reallywant to know today is where can
they go to learn more about JohnLively and Associates?

SPEAKER_00 (05:30):
Uh, we have a new website coming, it's not up
right now, so I don't want toreally want to send too many
people there since they're gonnaflood it after this this uh
podcast.
So uh Instagram's best becausewe instantly can put up
currently what we're working on.
So we're working on a newplatform for our website, so
it's gonna take probably we'rehoping before the end of the
year to have it set up.
So, but it's a little moreinteractive and it shows how we

(05:51):
create and how we're doing it.
And so it's not just likehouses, so it's a little more
the backdrop of what we are.
So but Instagram will be thebest right now.

SPEAKER_02 (06:02):
And any final words of wisdom for our audience today
about John Lively andassociates.

SPEAKER_00 (06:08):
Oh, words of wisdom.
Uh, don't be scared to step outof the box.
Um, when we meet with clients,we interview them more about who
they are and what they do andhow they function.
Um, and it tells us a lot aboutthe house instead of how many
rooms and square footages andall that, and what the end of
the day is.
It's uh we design a home thatcaters to them and they'll make
comments sometimes going, Haveyou ever done this or does this

(06:30):
sound weird?
And that's our favorite thing tohear because that means it's not
going to be something thateverybody's seen everywhere
else.
So, and that's one thing we doand do it fairly well.
So we're very proud of uh ourunique houses that we do.

SPEAKER_02 (06:41):
Okay, one question for you, John, that just came to
mind.
What is the most important roomin a house and why?

SPEAKER_00 (06:50):
Oh, that's a good question.
Um, I would say the family roombecause it's a it's the
gathering of all the spaces andand holidays and things like
that.
So the kitchen's very populartoo because it's a kitchen, but
uh and our kitchens have gottenreally kind of chef kitchens and
crazy.
But family room, the the greatrooms are kind of the most
factor with fireplace and glasssliding doors and all the stuff.

(07:11):
You just feel like you knowyou're out in the environment
inside and out.
So I think that's the primary, Iwould think so.

SPEAKER_02 (07:19):
Well, John, I really appreciate being on the show
today.
We're with you and your businessthe best moving forward.

SPEAKER_00 (07:25):
I appreciate it.
Thanks for having us.

SPEAKER_01 (07:27):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on the
show, go to gmpfrisco.com.
That's gmpfrisco.com or callfour six nine two two two one
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