Stone House llc

The reasons that I wholeheartedly recommend Colleen Stone and Stone House to my friends are the same as those that will cause me to use their services on my future projects. Colleen exceeded my expectations with her creative yet practical and cost-conscious approach. A key distinctive of Stone House work is their ability to combine extensive (industry) experience with the unique needs and desires of the client and the particulars of the site. Colleen’s attention to detail results in a smooth design and construction process, and most importantly a wonderfully livable result. Stone House has designed and coordinated two large projects for my husband and I: a large kitchen renovation that included a laundry room and full bath addition and a 3-story addition that added a gym, a first floor office and a large master bath. The new spaces and existing spaces flow seamlessly together. And several of the design solutions Colleen created have proven to be so crucial in the beauty and functionality of the space. For example, her design for the island I wanted, in a rather long but narrow kitchen incorporated a curved counter top over stock-sized cabinetry, finished with a single-piece curved wood back. She worked with the cabinet manufacturers to design and execute something that they had never done before and the result is the functional and aesthetic heart of my kitchen.The design and building process is exciting, but it also can be very complicated and stressful. I can’t emphasize enough how important it was to us to have Colleen’s meticulously thought-out and designed plans to start with and then her help and oversight throughout the project. It saved us many potential headaches and cost overruns. I am eagerly anticipating our next project- remodeling the basement and adding a wine cellar.

I enjoyed working with this architect. She listened to what my intentions were for the space, took the time to learn some of my aesthetic likes and dislikes, and ultimately designed rooms in which I enjoyed spending time.

My wife and I received preliminary concepts from four architects, including Colleen, some of whom are the most recognizable residential architects in Washington. Most of those fellows have "a look" that we loved, but in the end, I think "the look" limited each of them. Colleen was far and away the best at listening to us and integrating the way we actually live into the design for our renovation. And to be clear, the design she developed wasn't a compromise -- it was all we wanted – plus, it is more exciting than anything we'd previously envisioned. My spouse and I culled literally hundreds of design magazines and spent lots of time on Houzz to get ideas for what we wanted. Who'd have thought Colleen would've come up with ideas we'd never seen before? Astonishing. My advice to you: read enough to get an idea for what styles you like, then just sit down with Colleen and let her imagine with you how to make that a reality. My wife and I had never built or renovated a house before, but Colleen never talked down to us and handled the most basic questions with as much interest as the more interesting topics. Bottom line: she's great for newbies. She's all you want in a professional: timely, intensely focused, available, organized, and deeply experienced with the building process. She sets high standards and didn't let us, her clients, get pushed around by sloppy builders. When needed, she'd go toe-to-toe with some pretty tough tradesmen on our behalf. With her in our court we got a better product at a more reasonable price than we'd have gotten with a less-involved architect.