We hired Studio 101 Designs to do an extensive remodel that completely transformed our aging ranch…read morehome into a modern, green, energy-efficient home. Studio 101 Designs has a great process, and immediately understood the kind of home we wanted and did a great job moving the project throughout the various phases from early sketches to schematic design to construction administration. Because they have extensive green building experience, they had great advice on materials and product choices. Our project had a number of issues throughout the construction process, but Studio 101 Designs was always able to deal with issues in a reasonable way. We found them to be very responsive throughout the whole process. They were excellent to work with, talented architects, very honest, and thoughtful, and I highly recommend them.

When we purchased our home 3 years ago it needed a ton of work. The potential was there, but the…read morehouse had no flow (each room had a different theme), was not very functional (i.e rooms dominated by over-sized and outdated fireplaces), and desperately needed a major remodel after +30 years since the last update. Scott and James listened to all of our needs and ideas and were able to transform our home into a contemporary gem within a very modest budget for the scope of this project. Hard to explain in words- I'll let the before and after pics of the "San Rafael Remodel" on their website speak for itself. Beyond the quality of their work, Scott and his team know how to manage expectations and are great people to work with. The only bad news about this house is the projects never end. We're looking forward to working with Scott and the Studio 101 team again this spring to design a guest house/office addition

We worked with Steve on our retirement home in Petaluma. From the first meeting with Steve we knew…read morewe had selected the architect that was perfect for us. Before our first meeting he had already visited our house site and had some great ideas. Steve really listened to us regarding our wants/needs for our new home. Beyond designing the house, Steve worked with us on landscape design and paid particular attention to the kitchen and bathrooms. He not only was our architect but also our project manager, working with several different engineers and vendors to get us to the permit process. Once the plans were submitted to the city of Petaluma, Steve handled all interaction with them through to getting our permits. In addition, to all of this - Steve worked hard to help us find the right builder for our project. Building a home from the ground up is not an easy task and our project was complex because the lot is on a slope. Steve had so many good ideas and was always available for questions. If we ever built again, we would definitely use Steve as our architect.

I called Steve to talk about a project and we met at his studio. He started drawing design sketches…read moreon the spot with his magic marker! I knew right away that I was going to hire him to provide Architectural and design drawings/plans for my tenant improvement project in Petaluma. He was very professional and listened to my needs. I love the designs and the plans passed through the City planning and building dept. smoothly, which can sometimes be a hassle but Steve gracefully navigated the red tape. I highly recommend Steve Charlip Architecture!

Even though they weren't able to help us with our project, Becca responded promptly and went above…read moreand beyond by giving us referrals to other local companies. I appreciate it Noah Young Law Group

Thrive renovated our 1975 contractor's spec house, taking advantage of all the property's pluses…read moreand eliminating the minuses. After living here 18 months, I still marvel at the high level of comfort, functionality, and beauty that Thrive achieved. Quality subcontractors, piles of practical knowledge, and genuine human beings.

Wafa was very responsive to my call inquiry about a new property I acquired in Sonoma County. She…read morewas generous in giving me her time on a zoom call to go over the scope of the project. Though I elected to forgo my plan to redesign the roofline, if I had decided to go through with it, I would absolutely have gone with Wafa. Her knowledge and experience is strong and she was very easy and pleasant to talk with. We elected to keep the house roof line as it is, and focus on interior upgrades and improvements. Thank you Wafa, for being so kind and amazing. We will definitely choose to use her services in the future when a new architectural need arises. Recommend.

I converted a study room in my three cars garage without a building permit years ago. It was…read morealways been my goal to legalize it but didn't have time and energy to do it until my retirement now. I didn't have any idea as where to start the project. I joined a Facebook ADU Group and started learning about the permit and construction process. It was suggested that I should start finding an architect to draw up a design plan and submit it to the City for approval. I read through many Yelp reviews and found Wafaa at waArchitecture + Design for she had great reviews and the professionalism I was searching for. Wafaa helped me designed and received building permit for converting my existing garage room and laundry space into a 270 square foot JADU of one bedroom. Waffaa was responsive, patient, and flexible during the design phase. What impressed me the most was that her and her team's speed of correspondence. There were no revision requested from the City and my JADU design plan was submitted the first week of February and was approved by the City of Fremont at the end of April. If you are looking for a responsible, highly skilled professional Architect, look no further, I highly recommend Waffaa of waArchitecture + Design.

Beware. Colleen Mahoney, the principal and owner at Mahoney Architects earned my trust in November,…read more2021 by relating to our remodel objectives and budget. I've done two large remodels in the past so am experienced with the process. As far as remodels go, this was considered on the small side and largely consisted of opening up the kitchen to the living & dining room and opening up the space to the outside. We allocated a budget of $230,000 for this project. Colleen said that was reasonable and estimated her architectural services would run 10% of the total budget or $23,000. She assured me that her firm was excellent at managing their services to a budget. Short story is Mahoney Architects completed about 35% of the project for 100% of their estimate. Their invoices reflected rework and unnecessarily working on designs that did not meet project objectives and could have been easily resolved by talking to the client. Perhaps worse, is that Colleen never saw an issue with her invoices. A more detailed account follows. Mahoney Architects started the project on Nov 16, 2021, measuring the house and drafting the As Built Drawings in AutoCad. Because of a bookkeeper error, I did not receive the November invoice until Dec 30. At $5,926, it seemed high but after I asked how much of the project that invoice represented, Colleen emailed that it represented "20 - 25%." That projected total architect fees of $23,704 - $29,630, which is higher than the original estimate, but still in the ball park. On Jan 7, 2022 I received the December invoice for $18,098. I was stunned the two invoices totaled $24,024. There was no communication that their billings were already over the estimate. All that had been completed was As Built Drawings (Site Plan, Floor Plan, Elevations, Cross Section of Floor Plan) and two design sketches that did not meet the project objectives. We still did not have a workable Design nor Construction Documents (Demo Plan, Floor Plan, Electrical/Mechanical Plan, Interior Elevations, Exterior Elevations). After I requested that all work stop until we had a discussion, Colleen took 6 days to write me a formal letter in which she listed everything they did and said it was all appropriate. She never acknowledged that they were over the estimate. She estimated that it would take at least another 100 hours or roughly $19,000 to finish a design and create the construction documents. We met to attempt to come to a reasonable resolution. But Colleen could never answer why the As Built Drawings were so far above the estimate, nor did she acknowledge or recognize why a client would be worried about that. There was no project scope increase and measuring and drawing the existing house is the most predictable part of a remodel project. In the end, I paid her firm $20,426 for the release of the four As Built Drawings. A very expensive lesson for being too trusting on what I was sold.

I have worked with Colleen for the better part of 25 years. She has always been very professional…read moreand has beautiful designs that the client is always happy with. I would recommend her highly to anyone that is interested in new construction, remodel/addition. Walt Kehr

Top quality professionals Accommodating, creative practical and above all a superior value.read more

Joe is an extremely competent architect that we have used many times, including the design of our…read more3,700 sq ft home. Joe is a value and client driven design professional that has great vision. I strongly recommend Joe. Joe delivers his product when he says it will arrive and his services are extremely cost competitive. He is a really good guy too. David Coduto

Joe designed a 1,000+sf addition/remodel of our home in Santa Rosa, and we couldn't be happier…read more It was a complex project. The roof had to be completely realigned, and we had some pretty precise demands with regard to how our kitchen needed to be. The design exceeded our expectations in every way. We now have a beautiful, large living space/kitchen with exposed beams and lots of open space, and a spacious master suite - just what we wanted!

My husband and I highly recommend Martinkovic Milford Architects! Blake, Amanda, and Amelia were…read moreour brilliant team of architects overseen by Brian Milford. They designed our dream home and also monitored the construction/renovation process in addition to recommending a great contractor to build our home.

Disappointed by my experience here. I got more value from a 15 minute phone conversation with a…read moredifferent architecture firm than I did from my interaction with this firm, which involved multiple hours of billable research.