Stewart Summers and Steve Murch were invaluable to our home renovation and new ADU build project…read more From overall design to the nitty gritty technical minutiae we had a great experience with SKS. I was able to reply on SKS during the entire process, from wading though the city, county, and State permitting, construction costs, and straightforward talk & solutions to the surprises that come along with any major home renovation. I highly recommend SKS.

Stewart Summers is the guy you should hire! He's easy to talk to. He listens. He's creative. He's…read morekind. He's talented. He develops YOUR ideas and not just his own. He's very collaborative and has a great team of people working with him. I am speaking from experience. After having worked with FIVE previous architects, this is the ONLY guy I will work with going forward. He's.....amazing! AND! You should see my house. It belongs in architectural digest!! Color me: Really happy to have crossed paths with such a splendid human being.

If I could give this architecture firm a negative I would. Beware doing business with Jay and…read moreGeorgina and their staff. He was hired by our restaurant to draw the plan for an outside canopy and he assured us the plans would be accepted by the city in a couple of months. This was early February 2016 and to-date, he has been unable to successfully work with the city to approve the plans. He was charging me thousands of dollars every month and sometimes every week and he was making no progress with the city. In fact, it didn't make sense why he was charging so much to just have a meeting with the city to discuss the plans. He replied with emails explaining what he did but it was always repetitive work. He would make excuses as to why the city was having problems with the material he had suggested we use for the canopy. To give you some background on his lack of detail and how he managed to take money for no work, our restaurant canopy was originally made of cloth. However, we hired him to design a canopy made of glass and wood. He said he would ask the city what materials the city would approve. 6 months later and 10k plus in fees, he comes back over email and says the city wants to go back to the original cloth canopy, which is what we wanted to change. This is ridiculous. He charged us for nothing and was unsuccessful in what we agreed. He lacks thorough knowledge in architecture. I'm surprised he is a licensed contractor. For example, he billed us for doing research on non-flammable material which is something that he should know as someone licensed and with experience. In fact, I could have done the research myself and saved the money using Google. As far as having a budget, he never provided one. How can a licensed architect with supposed experience not draw up a budget? Also, he lacks good communication with his clients. We would call him and leave him voicemails and he would not call back. To make matters worse, Jay and Georgina Dicarlo have retaliated against my wife by posting negative reviews on her private personal business social media accounts unrelated to this agreement. They alleged non-payment as a reason to act so childish. This shows how unprofessional and spiteful Jay, Georgina, and his staff are. Overall, please stay away from them and never do business with them or recommend to your friends or family members you care about. You have so many more options out there to choose from so don't let what happened to us happen to you. It's a lot of money and stress and you work hard for your money so please stay away from him and his staff.

Jay has always been very friendly and warm while maintaining professionalism in my experiences. He…read moreis extremely talented and I would trust him with any of my architectural needs.

Keith is an exceptional architect with an incredible eye. I've partnered with Keith on a number of…read moreprojects and am continually impressed by his professionalism and depth of knowledge. His attention to detail is paramount. I cannot recommend Kirley+ Architecture highly enough.

I recently renovated my home in Sonoma. And Kirley Plus Architecture did an amazing job planning…read moreand producing our drawings! They were fast and easy to communicate with. They had a lot of great design ideas. I'd highly recommend this team to anyone looking for a reliable architect.

Wow. I'm blown away. I'm working with him on a current project and I'm extremely fortunate that our…read morepaths have crossed. I'm a fairly detailed person, and Dave puts me to shame. Most times I'll double check work for thoroughness and sense when a vendor is lazy, not Dave. He goes way above and beyond, and the fact that he shows genuine care in the project is such a rare service. His responsiveness and follow through is A++++!!!!

We were lucky enough to have Dave Deppen as our architect for a bathroom remodel on our Victorian…read morehome in San Rafael. Dave is a meticulous planner, he listens and pays attention to what WE wanted for our new addition, and he took all our concerns into consideration in the drawings he prepared. I was really amazed by how much he paid attention to our dreams, and he was very easy to work with. No drama, no fuss... just quietly competent and thorough. An attentive communicator and a super nice guy too. Will absolutely use him on any future projects.

We found our way to Winder Gibson through our realtor and could not be more grateful. We worked…read moreclosely with Geoff and Daniel to design our dream home. They were an absolute pleasure to work with and took on all details at every stage, including handling a difficult neighbor. At the same time, they were efficient and budget conscious, helping us stay on track both financially and time-line wise. They made what could be an overwhelming process move smoothly and enjoyably. We unreservedly recommend Winder Gibson.

My wife and I had the pleasure of working with Geoff and his team on a full demolition and new…read moreconstruction of a single family home with ADU in San Francisco. We loved our experience and wholeheartedly endorse Winder Gibson to anyone looking for a full service architecture firm. From the outset, Geoff and his team demonstrated an exceptional understanding of our family's needs, which they transformed into a beautiful house design that resonates with our aspirations and lifestyle. We are currently transitioning to the construction phase, and are excited to raise our family in such a thoughtfully designed space. Also, Geoff and team are true experts at navigating the San Francisco permitting process. They efficiently moved us through permitting, both reacting to feedback from the city and helping us manage our neighbors. Honestly, we could not have permitted the house without their guidance. In a city where building homes can be difficult, the one two punch of beautiful design + the knowledge and skill to get it across the line was invaluable. We are so appreciative of Geoff and team.

Art Chartock helped us with a major remodel on our home in Fairfax. We did the project in 2004…read morebut I am writing this review in 2013 because I marvel every day at the design of our home and how he really used the available natural light and the setting to the best advantages. Art worked with us to determine what was important to us, and then designed our kitchen and family room addition to work with the available space and light. Art has a special interest in getting the lighting right and he really did a great job on this for us. He worked very well with Nick Calder as the contractor on our project and the job finished on time and on budget. We love our kitchen, family room and deck and are grateful to Art for sharing his talent.

From the owner: Residential architecture and project feasibility.read more

So I'm seeing cracks on my ceiling and they are starting to worry me…read more I checked Yelp and Nextdoor for some structural engineer recommendations. When I contacted them to get more information they responded timely. Made an appointment with them about a week and a half later. Arash came to the house and looked everywhere garage, outside, all the rooms. And thankfully he said there is no foundation concern. Took him I want to say about 40min to look everywhere. They are not cheap. My eyes almost popped out of my socket when I heard about their rate. But I want someone with experience to look at the house. Anyways, there is a little hiccup with the invoice but they reached back to me quickly to resolve it. The inspection cost is separate to the report fee. Just fyi. Nice people, happy to have found them.

They were responsive and provided a very fair price for their service, it's unfortunate that I…read morecould not use them because my client went in a different direction. However, I will certainly call them on a future when I have another project. I need Engineering and Design. I appreciate when you're working with someone in the trades and they're responsive and helpful.

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.

I had a great experience working with Annie and the rest of the team at ALI to furnish my home…read more I recently purchased a new construction home, and wanted help with furnishing the space. I loved the space as it was built and didn't want extensive changes, but window treatments were important to me -- the house has more windows than walls and didn't come with any way to cover them up -- which ultimately necessitated some remodeling. After selecting and interviewing 6 design firms based on their reviews and portfolios, I brought on Annie and her team to help. From the beginning of the process, I was impressed by Annie's depth of knowledge, her solution-oriented mindset, and her commitment to matching the space to my needs. Throughout the process, I found Annie and her team a delight to work with. They were always friendly, prepared, and efficient. More importantly to me, they were deeply collaborative. There were times when I knew exactly what I wanted (e.g. laying out a project space or cabinetry for an entertainment center), even showing up with custom specs or sketches, and Annie's team adopted them and made them happen. On the other hand, there were times when I struggled to decide on something, and they stepped in and offered their own recommendations. They were great at both, and switched effortlessly as needed. Even for things outside of ALI's scope, nothing gave Annie pause, and she always had someone on speed dial to solve the problem. My home has high vaulted windows, and I told Annie up front that I wanted motorized shades. She immediately agreed that made sense (another designer I spoke with seemed overwhelmed by the prospect), and subsequently brought in a general contractor, a drapery fabricator, and an installer. Not only were they also all friendly, reliable, and efficient, but they shared Annie's collaborative style. I felt shared ownership over the solutions we came up with, and the end result is fantastic -- it looks like it could have been built with the house. I would happily bring any of them back for future work. End-to-end, the whole project took about 14 months until installation (with a few stragglers), a month behind Annie's initial target. We were also slightly under budget, which surprised me. Throughout the process, Annie offered great options mostly at or around the target price, but often included a higher-end option. In some cases, I *loved* those options and chose to go over budget. But even though we ended up well over budget on cost of goods, we were so far under budget on time billing and other costs that it more than made up for it, a reflection of her team's efficiency. But most importantly, I am delighted with the results. Everything is beautiful, comfortable, works for my needs, and filled with creative touches that I would never have selected on my own. I feel like I got exactly what I wanted out of the process, and I would happily bring Annie and her team back if I need interior help in the future.

We've had the pleasure of working with Annie and her team at ALI on two design projects over the…read morepast three years. Her creativity and vision combined with her great expertise brought our homes to life in unique and beautiful ways. We first teamed up with Annie on an extensive remodel of our historic San Francisco home that included a full kitchen/dining area gutting, multiple new bathrooms, paint, art consulting and soft goods throughout. Our architect had recommended ALI based on Annie's experience updating historic homes like ours, but what stood out for us was how direct and organized her process was from day one, including a high level of budget transparency. One of the highlights of working with Annie over the course of this two-year project was her ability to cater to our preferences while also pushing us out of our comfort zone when she saw the opportunity for something really special. Two years into living in our home, many of our favorite elements are those things we never would have considered had she not nudged us toward them. Another strength of Annie's was listening to our needs when it came to functionality--with two young boys at home, durability and practicality were often a factor for us. In those cases, Annie managed to produce designs that elegantly and creatively addressed those needs, from hidden pull-out drawers for toy storage in a custom sofa to upholstery fabrics that are durable while still feeling luxurious. Annie's lighting selection and sense of color were also highlights for us. The fixtures she helped us select for our foyer and living room are far from simple sources of light, they are true works of art, hand-made by artisans from her unique repertoire of craftspeople. As for color, she pushed us (in a good way) to consider applications that initially felt dramatic but ultimately turned those areas into visually lush spaces that we love to be in. Our second project with Annie and team was for our vacation home in Wine Country, involving mainly soft goods and design consulting for both indoor and outdoor areas. Outdoors included new construction of a kitchen and pool with surrounding living areas. In contrast to our San Francisco home with all of its historic embellishments and the design to match, the Sonoma home is all modern, clean lines. Annie didn't skip a beat in pivoting to a more relaxed, organic style befitting of the more rural terroir. Whether indoors or out, the resulting spaces are comfortable yet elegant, and once again Annie delivered designs that are both beautiful yet functional. Annie and team helped turn both of our houses into homes that we love living in and that visitors constantly compliment us on. From managing the myriad details passing between us and our architect and contractor during construction, to presenting us with furniture and lighting pieces that we fell in love with, Annie made our renovation journeys inspiring and fun and we've been enjoying the results ever since.

We worked with Wagstaff and Eric to design our ADU…read more This was a rebuild of an existing internal space in our main house into an official ADU, so came with significant constraints on size and layout. Eric was great to work with; he was responsive and listened carefully to our ideas. Billing was clear and the final cost came in approximately at or under Wagstaff's estimates, including a number of design iterations. The design process was a partnership and contributions from both sides were crucial to the final product. We provided strong opinions on how the space was to be used and requirements. Eric provided design ideas, and used his good understanding of space, building constraints and opportunities to validate our ideas and turn them into reality (or provide alternatives). My main regret is that we did not use Wagstaff enough! We did our own construction observation, but next time I would ask Wagstaff to take responsibility for that. We're delighted with the result and would use Wagstaff again!

I worked with Eric on a new construction build plan. Overall, I do not recommend this firm…read more 1. We did not align on high level how the flow in the new house should be, and he ended up drawing the detailed plans even if it was not what we wanted. Costed us 10k+ for nothing. 2. Every iteration was more than 5 hours, even if all he did was add a door/bath (no big changes). 3. He optimized for things that made no sense to us. Like he optimized for keeping one of the walls from the current house, even if we said we don't care about the current house (since this is a rebuild). 4. He sent plans to us that were still over the allowed limit 5. He talked to the city to understand the requirements, and understood them wrong. The limit for our lot that he said we need to respect was not correct, even if he talked to the city. 6. He asked us to get an "As built survey" even if we want to rebuild the house fully. Hi another 5k dollars. Overall I do not recommend working with this firm. We paid them way too much money for something that we could not use. Completely useless.