Budget Breakdown: In Texas, a Designer Clears Out His Overgrown Backyard to Build a $318K Studio

After 10 years in the Pacific Northwest, Isaac French, 27, moved back to his home state of Texas to marry his wife, Helen, in 2020. An accountant by trade with an entrepreneurial bent, Isaac had another six years under his belt working in the family construction business. As he settled into his new home, Isaac took to his makeshift office—which amounted to an iPad on a sofa—and designed his first hospitality project, a small resort in Waco, Texas.