Necessity or Luxury?

I started paying attention to LiveModern part way through the SageHouse blog.  Wow, I was so impressed by their frugality, direction, spirit, etc.  I think the sage blog affected my sense of what LiveModern was all about.  They were building a home for themselves, within their budget, that fit their taste.  In the end, it cost them less than buying an existing house, and it was designed to suit them. 

In the year or two since they've finished, I haven't seen another project like theirs come to fruition.  Seems like a lot of people can afford $200/sqft+++ for the structure alone.  What originally seemed like a process born of necessity, is looking more and more like a luxury. 

I'm not trying to say that's a bad thing!  I'm just wondering, of the people who are considering building their own home, and those that have, or are in the process, what's your motivation?   Could you buy an MCM for less than the house you would like to build, and refurbish it?  Is this the only way you can afford a modern home? 

I think my answer will be the same as most people.  I'd love to live in a house I had a hand in designing/building.  I certainly can't justify doing so as a $100k+ hobby.  In the end, the house has got to be worth at least as much as what I put into it.

We built most of it ourselves because:

1.) No stock of modern homes in our area (at any price)

2.) To have someone build it (too expensive)

Side benefit:

1.) We actually "built our house" (I'm a proud daddy)

It was a year of our lives, but we ended up at under $100 sq/ft.