The Usual Schematics: Prototypical plans versus custom designs.

• Author: Rhode, Scott

Little boxes made of ticky tacky need not all look the same, but they often do. Everyone has had the experience of visiting a friend's home and recognizing the layout. Odds are the house was built from a familiar blueprint, such as the ranch or split-entry model.

One of the most popular models in Spinell Homes' hundred-plan library is the 1452 Forget-Me-Not. "I can't imagine that--if you've been in many houses, at least on the more affordable side--that you haven't been in it," says Andre Spinelli, president of the Anchorage building company. The 1452 Forget-Me-Not, so designated for its square footage, has been adapted as a duplex, four-plex, and six-plex, as well as stand-alone homes. Every builder has some version of it, Spinelli says.

Deja vu designs are partly a consequence of the Pipeline Boom of the late 70s. "A lot of people coming to Alaska back in the day weren't expecting to be here that long, so what happened was you got the cheapest, most cost-effective house," Spinelli explains. "People weren't looking at it long term as 'my forever home,' and that's what you see around Anchorage."

The 1452 Forget-Me-Not "has been around since before I moved to Alaska, and it still gets built today. Granted, we update things and make tweaks," Spinelli says. He credits Karen Cushman with drawing probably more house plans in Anchorage than anyone.

Rapid explosions of home-building are more infrequent these days. Spinelli has to think back to a recent housing development at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. "There's five models of houses, and we're gonna build 150 of these things," he recalls. "My plumber told me, 'Oh man, we got so good and so fast and efficient... You need to do this.' And I was like, 'Yeah, tell that to the home buyers.'"

As much as contractors would appreciate an assembly-line process, homes just aren't built that way anymore. Spinelli's experience has taught him that much. "I'm a design geek, so I think every lot has a plan that fits it, depending on slope, topography, views, access, or this or that," he says.

Alike All Over

Institutional buildings will reuse blueprints, especially where governments want low-cost functionality. For example, the Anchorage Fire Department has three stations with the same floor plan. Fire Station 7 in the Jewel Lake neighborhood was replicated as Fire Stations 14 and 15 on Campbell Airstrip Road and Southport Drive, respectively.

"The idea wasn't necessarily to develop a prototype fire station," says James E. Dougherty, managing principal for Alaska at RIM Architects. "The fire department really saw this as a good platform for a fire station and thought, That's pretty good. Rather than reinvent the wheel, why don't we just...