Passive houses en Pawling, NY

“Michael Bird is a very talented and knowledgeable Architect specializing in Adirondack style homes. He designed our home and garage, obtained all permits, hired top contractors and supervised the entire construction and landscape project. The finished product is amazing. His attention to detail is impeccable. He and his staff are a pleasure to work with. They kept us up to date with progress reports and photos and met all deadlines. We are so very happy with the way our home turned out and would highly recommend Michael Bird and Adirondack Design. We will be working with Michael in the Spring of 2014 on a boathouse.”

“Hudson Design designed and provided construction management for our 3,500 sq. ft. house in Cold Spring, NY. The design process was an iterative one with many revisions resulting in a modern, loft-like weekend getaway that we use almost every week. We have become friends with the principal of Hudson Design.”

“I live in Manhattan and have a country house in the Catskills upstate. The house is a contemporary design built in the mid 1970's. The "bones" were great but the aesthetic was completely wrong. We had Kimberly redesign the interior of the entire house - from moving electrical work, plumbing, windows and walls to choosing finishes and fixtures. She is amazing and I have referred her to many friends and clients. Next.... the apartment.”

“Working with Jimmy Crisp and his associates was a great and valuable learning experience that could not have turned out better than it did. Jimmy truly met, and in many instances, went beyond our expectations. The project, which was a complete gut renovation, went very smoothly and it did come in on budget with the exception of new items that were included after our original quote. Of course there were differences of opinions and long discussions about changes/desired outcomes and new costs, however, I would say that because of Jimmy's constant presence at the site, complete knowledge of exactly what was suppose to happen at all stages of the project and calm manner we escaped situations that could, at the time, have been less satisfactory. Jimmy, the associates and clerical employees of his firm are all a 10 in my book! My experience with Crisp Architects makes me believe that anyone seeking a great architect, backed by a most professional staff, could not do better than to choose Crisp Architects.”

“We hired Dan and his company to do a renovation on our 1836 era home. They designed an open kitchen floorplan, added a stone fireplace, a butler's pantry, and office, and reconfigured our back entry and laundry room. They also added another bathroom upstairs and extended our patio outside. I loved that he reused original materials and also sourced beams, etc. that matched the home. (They found an original floor beam that was not in good enough shape to continue support, so they replaced this and he suggested using the good part of this beam as our new mantle. It looks great and I love using an original beam in a prominent place in the new room.) The design gave us an updated and more efficient way to use our old house, while keeping with the traditional look and feel. We also really liked the way Dan charged for his services. Instead of a percentage of the total job - which creates the incentive for the architect to increase the size of the job, Dan charged by the hour of his time. We could call him at any point in the job to come oversee the contractor or consult. And were always happy with his involvement. We felt that he and his firm were a great value.”

“Kim Hoover designed our house. During the process, she continued to turn challenges into opportunities to improve the project. Working off an existing sub-optimal foundation, she created a plan to maximize a great view, nestle the house into the landscape, and turned what would have been a dreary basement into a sun-filled room. She worked well with clients -- always listening throughout the process -- and with builders and contractors. Kim takes responsibility for her work, is on time and on budget. Her aesthetic sense is classic but imaginative. She's resourceful about new products on the market as well as time-honored techniques to make a house a showplace. In each stage of the process, Kim added value. We cannot wait to work on another project with her.”

“Trillium architects designed a beautiful home for us in Connecticut. I feel the house reflects what we wanted to achieve and for the past 4 years have been extremely happy here. We have space, light and a nice flow to every room and we receive many compliments on the exterior as well.”

“We had a complete renovation done of our bedroom wing with 3 bedrooms, 1.5 bathrooms and a hallway under Heike's guidance. This was the 2nd project we have done with her, and we are once more thrilled with the result! What we like about Heike is that, she is a nice person to work with, she listens well, does extra research, has a lot of knowledge of materials and where to get them, and last but not least the fact that she comes from Europe and understands our modern European taste well. She introduced a number of nice touches in the overall design and paid attention to the overall energy efficiency of the renovation. She also worked with our contractor and the building department of our town. We can full-heartedly recommend her.”

“I have worked with Peter Coffin of Doyle Coffin Architecture on a number of occasions both as a client (for my own homes) and as a design partner (for our mutual clients). The quality and beauty of Peter's work is undisputable but what I appreciate the most is the quality of the design process - anticipation and understanding of clients' needs, timeliness of delivery and communication skills. Doyle Coffin Architecture is a great asset when dealing with zoning issues and when finding creative solutions to design problems is a must. Peter's team is highly professional and responsive and I am looking forward to my next project with the firm.”

“Whereas many people wince at the thought of their experience designing and building a custom home, my experience with Trumbull Architects has been quite the opposite. Together we completed 3 projects over a 15-year period and it was a pleasure -as well as a lot of fun! These projects included the redesign/completion of a large home purchased halfway through construction (posing a unique set of problems), as well as the new construction of a small estate including a main house and numerous outbuildings (guest house, pool and pool house, garages). Debra and Jonathan have exceptional eyes for detail in context to the big picture; their designs are unique and span a wide breadth of genres. In addition, they work seamlessly with contractors through the completion of project. I would not consider using a different architectural firm to design my next home.”