Good Neighbor Podcast: Frisco

EP 363: From Drafting Doubts To National Luxury Homes

• Sophia Yvette

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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
+1 (972) 781-0555

SPEAKER_01:

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Sophia Yvette.

SPEAKER_02:

Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Are you in need of a residential design firm? Well, one may be closer than you think. Today I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, John Lively, with John Lively and Associates. John, how are you today?

SPEAKER_00:

I'm doing wonderful. How are you doing?

SPEAKER_02:

I'm doing wonderful also. Now we're excited to learn all about you and your business. Can you start off by telling our listeners just a little bit about your company?

SPEAKER_00:

We're a um high-end residential design firm. Um we primarily do um large-scale projects for our homes and uh secondary homes across the country. So full catering design firm, so all the way up from start to finish.

SPEAKER_02:

Now, how did you originally get into a business like this, John?

SPEAKER_00:

Uh I started really early. I was in high school and did some drafting classes and stuff like that, and they told me I was horrible. And so my teacher was just really against me kind of going further with it. So they got a little competition and I drew a little thing and went to state and won state competition and all kinds of stuff. So teacher was a little off on that, but uh realized my passion. Um, I like construction and I love I love modern homes, so and that kind of set me on the course to kind of go into that field, and I just worked my way into it all the way through college and then um out and started working immediately, and here we are today, you know.

SPEAKER_02:

Amazing. Now, what is the most common myth or misconception you typically come across in your industry?

SPEAKER_00:

Oh uh that probably part of it is uh many, but one would be uh that you can just basically sketch out a house and make it have construction drawings in a few days and things like that. It takes a long period of time, it takes more time sometimes getting the information out of the clients than than actually doing the drawing part. So because sometimes they're not on 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 can shock them sometimes at how long on a large-scale custom home like we do. So it's not something we're just pumping out plans all the time.

SPEAKER_02:

So now we know marketing is the heart of every business. Who are your target customers or clients? And in terms of marketing, how do you attract them?

SPEAKER_00:

Marketing is an interesting one, it's always seems to be changing in everybody's world, but our main focus is primarily on we just put our product out there and and you know, almost pray that it gets seen, so on many platforms and different things like that. And that's primarily how we do it. We're a small office, so we have you know six to eight people working here all the time, and and so it's not we don't have a marketing department or things like that, but but we you know uh we do a unique product and we'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 have almost every state we've done a project in since I've started. So but it's kind of a unique situation. So uh that's our primary people in in the architecture world want to see it, so it's not something we can just really explain too much, they just want to see what you do. So that's that's what we have to do is just show it, just put it out there.

SPEAKER_02:

So so John, it sounds like you're not limited to just Texas, so you can do projects all over the U.S. Is that correct?

SPEAKER_00:

Correct. We currently projects from Jackson Hole to Florida to Colorado, um, Tennessee, it's all over currently. That's what we're doing right now working on. So yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Now, have you ever thought about doing your own podcasts?

SPEAKER_00:

No, I'm gonna let you handle that. And it's just not my thing too much.

SPEAKER_02:

Now, outside of work, what do you and your family like to do for fun?

SPEAKER_00:

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 um out in West Texas. I grew up, I didn't really grow up there. I was shipped out there in summers to work out there, and I grew up every summer working out there, which now I, you know, I just cannot, you know, as soon as I'm done, I want to be out there all the time now. As a you know, growing up, but yeah, we spend a lot of time out there.

SPEAKER_02:

So and what is one thing our listeners should remember about John Lively and Associate?

SPEAKER_00:

Uh one thing they should remember. Well, it's they're wanting something unique, uh, anything goes kind of house. That's what we do. We're known for that. So we have, you know, we've got a 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 in Texas and the second largest in the United States. And we just completed a ranch home 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 out if that's truly, we're not trying to break any kind of record. It just happened this year. It's kind of some stuff that we've gotten into. So, but we're unique. We can make anything happen where a lot of firms are kind of standardized and stuff like that. We step out of the box quite a bit.

SPEAKER_02:

So amazing. And what our listeners really want to know today is where can they go to learn more about John Lively and Associates?

SPEAKER_00:

Uh, we have a new website coming, it's not up right now, so I don't want to really want to send too many people there since they're gonna flood it after this this uh podcast. So uh Instagram's best because we instantly can put up currently what we're working on. So we're working on a new platform for our website, so it's gonna take probably we're hoping before the end of the year to have it set up. So, but it's a little more interactive and it shows how we create and how we're doing it. And so it's not just like houses, so it's a little more the backdrop of what we are. So but Instagram will be the best right now.

SPEAKER_02:

And any final words of wisdom for our audience today about John Lively and associates.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, words of wisdom. Uh, don't be scared to step out of the box. Um, when we meet with clients, we interview them more about who they are and what they do and how they function. Um, and it tells us a lot about the house instead of how many rooms and square footages and all that, and what the end of the day is. It's uh we design a home that caters to them and they'll make comments sometimes going, Have you ever done this or does this sound weird? And that's our favorite thing to hear because that means it's not going to be something that everybody's seen everywhere else. So, and that's one thing we do and do it fairly well. So we're very proud of uh our unique houses that we do.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay, one question for you, John, that just came to mind. What is the most important room in a house and why?

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, that's a good question. Um, I would say the family room because it's a it's the gathering of all the spaces and and holidays and things like that. So the kitchen's very popular too because it's a kitchen, but uh and our kitchens have gotten really kind of chef kitchens and crazy. But family room, the the great rooms are kind of the most factor with fireplace and glass sliding doors and all the stuff. You just feel like you know you're out in the environment inside and out. So I think that's the primary, I would think so.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, John, I really appreciate being on the show today. We're with you and your business the best moving forward.

SPEAKER_00:

I appreciate it. Thanks for having us.

SPEAKER_01:

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gmpfrisco.com. That's gmpfrisco.com or call four six nine two two two one nine three four five.