Iron Sharpens Iron: John Cannon Homes and Visbeen Architects Forge a Strategic Partnership

After more than 30 years in the custom home business, Sarasota, Fla.-based John Cannon Homes and Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Visbeen Architects had the idea to put their heads together and streamline operations.

Wayne Visbeen, principal and founder of Visbeen Architects

Though headquartered in Michigan, Visbeen Architects also operates an office near John Cannon Homes in Sarasota. During a recent trip there, Wayne Visbeen, founder and principal of the architectural firm, says he became aware of John Cannon’s work through the builder's strong presence in the local high-end market.

Cannon has been building luxury custom homes for approximately 36 years, completing more than 2,000 homes throughout Southwest Florida in that time. Visbeen, meanwhile, has designed more than 2,500 luxury homes across the U.S. and in Costa Rica since founding his firm in 1992.

Intrigued by Cannon's success, Visbeen decided to reach out to explore mutual opportunities for both businesses.

“I've been doing this a long time ... and I have never met a builder more competent, more organized, more able to look at detail and teach me how to be a better architect," says Visbeen. "At my age, you think that you'd be past learning, but, in fact, I'm learning every day here. Iron sharpens iron. I'm becoming a better architect because of my friendship and my partnership with John and I think that I'm helping their team become more creative.”

Iron sharpens iron.
- Wayne Visbeen, on his partnership with John Cannon Homes

A Mutually Beneficial Relationship

With Visbeen’s design insight and John Cannon’s in-house residential and interior design team, the partnership aims to deliver faster build times, lower costs, and more streamlined processes for clients throughout Southwest Florida.

The collaboration allows John Cannon Homes to add new dimensions to its architectural offerings, while Visbeen benefits from the builder’s operational efficiency, allowing his firm to focus on conceptual design while Cannon’s team handles construction.

“It really is a two-way street. It's giving us the ability to provide this service to our clients, and, it's enhancing our design capability,” says Cannon.

The partnership between the two firms also delivers tangible financial advantages. Cannon’s long-standing relationships with vendors allow for bulk purchasing and fixed pricing. Combined with Visbeen’s design approach, projects can see savings of up to 5% on architectural costs, the team says.

Sketch from Wayne Visbeen — The partnership will bring Visbeen's designs to Cannon's clients in Southwest Florida.

What Can Others Take Away From This Partnership?

For clients, the collaboration means access to high-end architectural design, reduced project costs, accelerated timelines, and a seamless design-to-build process.

Both firms say they will still operate independelty while continuing to foster their newfound partnership. The real value, they say, has been in what they've learned from each others’ processes.

Architect Wayve Visbeen notes that while contractors and architects can sometimes have "adversarial relationships," the partnership has taught him how collaboration between the two groups can push projects forward, not just quicker but also with improved quality for customers.

Both will continue to run their own shops, but the lines of communication will stay open.

“It’s a strategic alliance,” Visbeen says. “It’s still Visbeen Architects, and it’s still John Cannon Homes, and we’ll just keep working to make each other better.”

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