Bower Leet Design

Our project was a custom built home. Susan and Brent of Bower Leet Design worked closely with us throughout the lengthy (30 month build --hey, it was the pandemic) project, and provided great expertise and support throughout. Susan welcomed our input, and tailored her design to our wants and needs. She worked very well with our builder (Buraski) to create a very positive, professional and synergistic relationship. The feedback we got from Buraski and the sub contractors throughout the project about Susan's work and involvement was always very positive and appreciative. They commended the tremendous detail provided in her work, as well as her practical and useful input in problems occurring in the construction phase. In the end, we are living in our dream home that is an architectural work of art.

When we started thinking about building a new house, someone suggested that I Google Susan Bower, Architect, of Bower Leet Design. I quickly assessed that we would at least want to meet with her and discuss our project, as she was given the award of "Top Three Female Architects in St. Louis." After meeting with her in person, we felt even more excited about the prospect of building a new home. My husband and I had some specific ideas, some of which we had sketched on graph paper, and we had some specific style requirements as well. Susan Bower was both open-minded to our input and willing to rise to the challenge that we presented. Once we showed her the partially wooded 14 acre site, she seemed intrigued, and started taking photos on her phone. At that moment, I realized that she was guardedly excited by this project, and willing to work with us. Through the course of designing and construction, she was with us all of the way. There were many highly specific architectural features which we were grateful to have Susan advocating for us. And of course, everything was highly detailed in the blueprints, which exceeded seventy or eighty table sized pages. So, it was not easy for any subcontractor to claim that there was any "confusion" about any detail. She held everyone fully accountable--even reviewing bids and allowances versus actual charges, as well as change orders when they occurred. She was there to advocate for her clients every step of the way. I cannot imagine building a home, especially with these architectural details, without her. I am happy to recommend her fully and without any reservation. And I cannot imagine accomplishing this project with anyone else. Respectfully, Debra N. Smith

From the moment I met Susan from Bower Leet Design I knew we were in good hands. She had creative vision in transforming our historic home's kitchen into a bright and open space that maintained the character of its founding. Susan is patient and kind, making the architectural design process a delight!

Bower Leet Design did a marvelous job translating our vision for an ultra-modern but warm and inviting home. Our home exceeds our expectations. Every day we find another little feature that surprises us and delights us. On top of Susan Bower's technical skills, she was also very kind and patient with us.

Susan Bower designed our new-build house, incorporated the style/elements we asked for, and added a lot more "details" that we would not have thought about. Her attention to detail was exceptional. She was a pleasure to work with, and we are very happy with our new (forever) home.

Our project was a custom home, with primarily a modern feel, but also some mid-century touches. From concept to finalization of design (and passing through models and change requests), it was a pleasure working with Susan Bower. She is very conscientious of correctly integrating myriad details into the final design, and would very much recommend her.

Susan helped me renovate my 1972 mid-century home that was filled with every bad 80's & 90's fad. What has emerged is my dream home. She took the original beauty and bones of the house and renovated it to a seamless beauty of design light and nature. While it has much of the best of mid-century it is not cliche. or stuck in a time warp. Instead it builds on those influences with the best products and technology of the today. After renovating the entire house I am happy to say that there is nothing I would change. I love it all.

We were recommended to Bower Leet Design by a trusted design industry professional for a major backyard renovation, including new detached garage and pool. Susan and Brent were knowledgeable, patient and clearly have a deep understanding of design. They proved to be very trusted advisors to refine the plans and scope of the project. They also identified both the general contracting partner and the landscape design partner based on our needs, budget and disposition. We live in a 100+ year old home and Bower Leet Design designed a thoughtful, functional plan that integrates seamlessly with the main house and general neighborhood. They were willing to explore and problem solve to meet our budget. In looking back at the original inspiration photos we sent to Susan at the outset of our inquiry, our completed project is exactly what we had hoped for. Thank you, Susan and Brent!

We just completed a major home renovation—complete overhaul of the kitchen and 2 bathrooms and smaller changes in a couple of other rooms. Susan Bower worked with us from the inception of the project to the very end and was invaluable throughout. She is very creative, has great design sense, and pays close attention to detail. She has extensive practical experience and was able to help us anticipate and navigate issues during construction. We could not have gotten through this project without her help, and are very pleased with the results!

Susan Bower did an outstanding job as the architect for the remodel of our condo at Lindell Terrace in the Central West End of St. Louis, MO. We purchased our condo for many reasons but one of the principal attractions was that this particular building allowed us to easily take down walls to open up the space and redo the layout to our liking. Susan was instrumental in helping design the perfect home for us. She started by trying to understand our vision and then offered alternative designs that took our initial thoughts and translated them into the clean, modern, practical, beautiful and elegant look we wanted. The use of lighting, something we had not focused on, was a creative way to enhance the space and give it a perfect atmosphere. Also, her vision on how to use all the space (where to put doors and where to move walls) was simply the best use of the space to achieve our goals. Besides her talents as an architect and designer, Susan demonstrated professionalism, competence and an ability to relate to people. Her communication skills and construction knowledge were evident when she was asked to help find solutions to construction related issues. She has been a pleasure to work with in all facets of the project and we highly recommend her for her design skills, her people skills and most of all her ability to take our vision and implement it adding her own spin to make it the perfect home. Jim and Vicky Zimmerman St. Louis, MO