Verdigris

Working with Chip and Brian on the design of a new home was a complete and thorough pleasure. Both are great listeners, eager to understand their clients dreams, desires, needs and concerns. Armed with that information, they work closely with their clients to design a building that delivers on all accounts. Our project was a complex one with a great many challenges, yet they made the design process fun and interesting for us. The resulting house design deftly met all challenges and satisfied all our criteria. We give Verdigris our highest recommendation.

We dreamed of a light, airy and functional tiny house in the back of an existing house in Santa Cruz. Brian and Chip helped us to turn the dream into reality, with great innovative ideas and meticulous realization. Not only does everybody who now steps into the house gasp, but we can actually envision to live in 570 sqft of efficient gorgeous living space.

Verdigris worked closely with our staff to design unique, custom, cat condos to showcase adoption cats for the Marin Humane Society. They created an attractive, functional and efficient environment in a very small space. The result is welcoming and stunning. With cats living in the space, special care was given to comfort, vertical interest, stress reduction, HVAC, natural light, and cleaning ease. We highly recommend Verdigris!

Creative, nerdy in a good way (meaning on top of technology), easy to work with, problem solvers and ultimately beautiful results. Chip (the talker/big dreamer) and Brian ( the more techy, pragmatic one, attention to every detail) worked so well with me that my bathrooms are enviable and stunning. I enjoyed the process of working with them. I love the results.

I hired Verdigris to design my loft, which was a raw warehouse space at the time. They helped beyond my expectations, and provided help throughout the entire process, which was wonderful as this was my first "build" experience. Their advice throughout the process was invaluable - pragmatic and experienced. They helped me keep within my budget and provided lots of options along the way, spending the time to show me catalogs or examples of things as trivial as fixtures, or as important as tiles or wood floors. Most importantly, when I wanted a "wow" feature, a helix-shaped staircase, they went above the call of duty and not just designed it, but found someone to actually build it. It ended up great. The loft was a real show place and Verdigris' involvement made it so. I would (and have) turn to them again for help with any future project.

Our 1960s ranch house in Mill Valley was in dire need of an overhaul. The galley kitchen was the main reason for the remodel; however, other issues included creating more storage, improving the living space and creating a private place for teenagers. Verdigris' attention to detail, and their appreciation of symmetry and contemporary design really spoke to us. The team was able to provide us with an open living plan, and a separate mud room that has a 12' closet, nook and laundry room (an unexpected bonus – previously located in the garage and we thought that was where it would have to stay). Excellent use of space means that the house functions exactly as we wanted it to, a credit to Verdigris' design sensibility and precise planning.

As a professional designer, I spend my days obsessing over the minutia of television commercials, websites and print advertising. So you can imagine how challenging it might be to find an architectural firm who shares in this ethic. I'm happy to say that Verdigris fits the bill perfectly. They have helped us design modifications to our Mill Valley home (bathroom, living room, and dining room) over the past decade, and I am thrilled with the results. While it's a pleasure to work with a firm which has excruciating attention to detail, I find it refreshing that they are equally skillful at the big picture. Verdigris helped us prioritize our goals, focus our thinking, and made creative (and cost saving!) suggestions throughout the process. Bonus: they are small enough that your job won't be handed off to an intern or junior architect. Chip and Brian are both seasoned pros and on top of their game.