The McMansion has worn out its welcome, hope for prefab is fading, and anyone with a sense of contemporary design taste shudders at what homebuilders are producing these days. But for most people who want to build a modern, “architectural” house, the price is out of their reach.

That’s where Hometta, a new Houston-based company, comes in. Launched in late June, coinciding with LA’s Dwell on Design conference, the firm offers house plans (available on its website via .PDF) designed by contemporary architects from across the country, and then guides owners to finding a way to build them.

Currently the company offers 26 house plans from 24 architecture studios—many of them from California. The plans themselves cost about $3,200, and once clients choose a house, they can look for a contractor using Hometta’s online Construction Guide, a growing list of modern-friendly builders that the company recommends. The guide also educates novice homebuilding clients on topics like siting, building orders, and so on.

A good example of one of the plans is LA architect Wes Jones’ cube-like Rubix House. The three-story, 1,585 square foot residence has a small footprint, leaving extra room for a yard. And its interesting volume combines alternating glass and corrugated metal panels, single and double-height spaces, large sliding glass doors, and cost-saving modular construction. Other plans include Roger Sherman’s copper-clad, upside-down Rollover Dorothy house, Mike Jacobs Architecture’s planted Seed-em House, and Far Frohn and Rojas’ tent-like Wall House.

Roger-Sherman's topsy turvy Rollover Dorthy house.

Co-founder Andrew McFarland, and his team of four architects and designers from the Houston area (many are affiliated with or attended Rice University’s architecture school) picked the talented firms after a thorough search. Co-founder Mark Johnson, a builder based in Houston, said that their group of architects and house plans will grow much larger by the fall, which is what sets Hometta apart from the plethora of other sites offering home plans online: designer cache. That, and the sense of community the company attempts to foster through its playful, interactive site.

All projects are single family houses, and none measure more than 2,500 square feet, part of the company’s niche-oriented business plan—“If you can afford to build a larger house, and you can find an architect that you like, then you should,” said Johnson—and also a way to assure that the non-custom projects don’t overwhelm contexts. Johnson notes that if clients do want to customize the homes after buying the plans they are welcome to work with the designers.

Johnson estimates that after buying the plans, most clients will pay from $100 to $300 per square foot, depending on where they choose to build, and what contractor they choose. “Most people can barely afford to buy a generic tract home,” said Johnson. “We’re trying to meet a need of a size and type of house that it’s hard to do economically.” While spurring interest, the idea has raised a few eyebrows in an architectural community where customization is still king.

Johnson acknowledges this drawback, but says his firm is a needed alternative that will open architecture to a wider audience. “We totally believe that custom is the best way to do it,” he said. “But we also want good design and we want exciting, progressive residential design to get out there in the world,”