I've had the pleasure of consulting Daniel on a few home projects and was amazed at his knowledge…read moreand creativity. I thought he only did commercial properties but realized he know a lot about California bungalow/craftsman style homes. He listened and understood my goals, and came up with creative ideas to work with my plans, environment, and budget. I only recently found out that they worked on a favorite restaurant of mine, Kasih in little Tokyo - great design and use of space. If I have any home projects in the future, I'm coming back

Not from Los Angeles, but needed a company to handle all the structural, mechanical, plumbing, and…read moreelectrical engineering to get city permits. Called and interviewed many design firms and architects through Yelp, settled for Zeise. Just get them on the phone after you call other architects. Very professional and experienced. Lease bills add up and I didn't want to deal with the down time from mistakes. Been on that road and just wanted to hire someone that would just handle business like a pro. Tip* If you are looking for a licensed architect to draw up plans, call at least 10. I usually call 3 and settle for one but this niche has too many inexperienced players. Make sure there is no open clauses that bind you into extra payments. If there is an open clauses verify the amount before you sign the contract. Seems like most companies in Los Angeles like to hike the price up with these open contracts.

I had the pleasure of working with Ballentine Architects on two separate occasions (2 years apart)…read more We renovated our home in two phases and we used Ben Ballentine on both projects for his architectural services (As-Built designs) and structural engineering facilitation. All of our sessions were incredibly collaborative and professional. Ben helped us understand not just what was structurally possible / not possible but he also made great design recommendations as well. Ben also submitted and facilitated our permits with the city and was great about providing status updates / submitting revisions when necessary.

From start to finish, working with Ben and his team at Ballentine Architects was incredible! They…read moreexplained the home renovation process to us every step of the way and went above and beyond to make our remodel as easy and enjoyable as possible. Ben has an incredible vision and transformed our home. But what we really appreciated is how he included us in every decision and design detail. His thorough designs and presentations really helped our decision making. We are beyond happy with our final product and will absolutely use Ballentine Architects in the future... if we can ever be convinced to leave our current Ballentine Architects home.

OKB is an incredible firm. They recently completed a complete gut/renovation of our contemporary…read morehome redesigning the kitchen, bathrooms, bedrooms, living spaces, the exterior and the landscaping. They also performed interior design services inclusive of furniture and artwork selection. OKB encompass the essential components of a high value Architectural Design and Contractor team: they bring amazing ideas to the project, they link design WITH construction and they deliver! Ideas : Regardless of your prior experience or the complexity of your project, the OKB team bring boundless insight and perspective to your project. They work within your project constraints (site, budget or time) and tease out solutions that work. They are partners with you and bring new, fresh ideas to fruition. From the moment we first met with Jason and Shawn, we felt the sparks of creativity flow from them - it was amazing! Design WITH Construction: Any good architect will know design, but OKB brings a next level of insight to the conversation. They not only work on the design side, but they also build and construct their designs. This perspective and approach allowed us to quickly align our budget, schedule and design priorities without the risk of overdesign once we were in construction. We were able to build our project at a cost savings of 15% and 20% faster compared to other firms we interviewed because of OKB's design & Construction model. Delivery: OKB produces an exceptional product in every facet of the design and construction process. Their attention to detail and thoroughness at each step of the project makes the process simpler and more efficient. I have worked with many design professionals and OKB stands at the top of the list in their ability to make the project happen.

My two-star rating is based on the customer service aspect of this company only. I cannot speak of…read moretheir work because I didn't get that far in the process before I was completely turned off. I'm searching for an architect/construction design professional and made a call into this company today. I explained what I'm looking for to the female who answered my call and was told to email Sean/Shawn. I asked her if she could email me his contact info as I was on the road and unable to write the information down. She said she "actually can't do that because [my] email is down right now hehe". To which I replied with, "so you can't take my email and maybe email me later [when your email is back up]"? Long uncomfortable pause as she decides whether she can or wants to do that, I guess and I'm told I can either take down his email address now or call back later. She was speaking nicely, she was not rude or mean, but I have higher expectations for the service industry. I initially contemplated giving this a one-star rating because I truly feel the customer service provided by any company is just as vital as the quality of workmanship, but I also don't think their overall rating should reflect my disappointment on a matter that is not an overall issue so 2 stars I think is fair. Looking at their portfolio online I think their work would've been a good match for my project, but if this is their first impression, I'm not impressed. I require better for my clients because my clients matter and it seemed as though we were just another dreadful call they had to answer today.

I hired Alimo architect to draw a plan for my ADU; in the midst of the work, I was tossed around to…read morenewcomer employees to discuss my project and she decided to drop my project causing me financial hardship giving me a run around by ignoring my messages. After months of delays, she finally decided to finish a simple plan to avoid legal actions , which I had to hire another architect to alter to the taste not to mention extra costs I was incurred. I found her very unprofessional in her field of work.

I have had the opportunity to work with Alimo Architecture on a couple of projects and I highly…read morerecommend their services! Alimo Architecht's designs are simply stunning and bring together the perfect combination of natural and contemporary elements. If you are looking for a skilled architecture company with an eye for style that wows, look no further than Alimo Architects!

i worked with the firm a couple of years ago, renovating our company's office building in Seattle…read moreWashington and it was one of the best experiences I have ever had. Their attitude and attention to detail was second to none. They helped me bring the project in on time and under budget. Who does that these days?

Stop reading reviews. Art and Extreme Home Addition is the right choice when it comes to your next…read moreremodel. We needed an architect and a remodel expert. Art handled the entire project from securing permits, connecting us with an architect and executing the project with diligence and great results. Santos and Carlos were instrumental as well. Thank you for everything, Art! We hope to work with you in the future!

Can't say enough great things about Art and his group. From the very idea of redoing our bathroom,…read morewe were given thoughtfully considered insight into getting the best quality while also stretching our money as far as possible. Even though I know my wife and I were incredibly frustrating in how we changed some details mid-stream, everyone on the team was helpful, communicative, and always in great spirit to accomplish our dream bathroom. What more is there to say? There's too much money, too much unknown when you're renovating your house, and trust is the most valuable asset you can have in a contractor. Trust that they are working doggedly for you. Trust that the work is great. Trust you are getting way more than your money's worth. Well, we trust Art and Extreme Home Addition intrinsically. You should too.

As a first time home builder, I walked into their offices as green as can be with no idea what I…read morewas doing or the journey that I was about to embark on. Astra and Lawrence guided me through the ups and downs of homebuilding and dealing with the city, contractors, engineers and the politics behind it all. They were AMAZING and couldn't hold them in higher regard. If you speak with them, ask them about my project and you will understand how amazing they were. Don't forget to ask the bit about suing the City with our local council members and gaining a favorable decision in arbitration!! Yeah!! Don't bother looking anywhere else, you found your architect's!!

Lawrence and his staff designed a home and a detached garage w/living quarters for me and my…read morefamily. The project was rather large as it was almost 6,000 sq ft. I came to Lawrence's company with plans from a prior architect that were a total mess. The plans from the prior so called "Architect" were ripped to shreds by LADBS, because they were "substandard. These plans as designed made the project extremely costly. Lawrence and his staff, Jewell in particular, quickly got the plans up to par and the cost of the projected plummeted. The plans also passed LADBS with relatively few hitches. When picking an Architect the most important factor is to get a cost effective structural design that complies with all building codes and yet meets all of your design needs. Lawrence met and exceeded all of these factors for my project. As far as the overall project design, he maintained the style of the neighborhood and my taste. The area that the project is in is a Residential/Agricultural Zone in Woodland Hills that was once farm land. While people in this area try to put a Mediterranean Villa style design or as one of my neighbors adjacent to me has a 70's stucco/90's space age/Chinese zen style home, with this in mind Lawrence and I set out to retain the "farm" style of the area and stay away from these other trends. For the additional living quarters and garage, we ended up designing a barn with wood siding and a highly efficient and beautiful metal roof that gets compliments from neighbors and passerby's. The height and style in fact matched another neighbors barn adjacent to me. Basically the barn fits right in and is far from an eye sore. I hope my neighbors follow suit with this design. The main home at the front of the property is also a farm style single story home that he designed to retain all of the original charm that the original farm home has. He designed it to be a single story farm style that again matches our neighborhood. This design utilized a lot of the key features and spaces that I loved about the existing home and simply made it better. It also is going to save me a lot of money as we are retaining these spaces. Lawrence and Jewell did a great job!

Letter Four totally dropped the ball on my project! Almost…read moregot to the final approval stage just to find out that it was not worth doing due to section 8. After spending $200,000, the project was scrapped! THE DID NOT TAKE RESPONSIBILITY AND I LOST ALL MY INVESTMENT IN THE PLANS! $200,000 DOWN THE DRAIN! They didn't offer any reimbursement at all for their mistake!!! Good luck if you use them, and I hope they don't mess it up like my plans if you use them. But I wouldn'trecommend them after what happened to me!!!! BeWare

Found Letter Four online and read glowing reviews like the ones here... I should have looked…read morecloser. Having worked with them for 2 years, I now realize most of these reviews are either (1) 5+ years old or (2) from people who work there - Alex S, J M, etc. I spent about $120k and the last 2 years on a 4-bedroom remodel with Letter Four. I have *nothing* to show for it. No plans, no permits, nothing. Just a home that I cannot live in with some holes in the walls and ceilings (they just enough minor demo that I can't live there and then they disappeared - fun!) What I do have are shady invoices (they pad their invoices, double-charge you, refuse to send you receipts even after you ask 5x, charge you for everything they can with a 20% markup - Ubers, printing fees, software fees, etc). What really bothered me is that they pay their Project Managers almost nothing and then they charge you $200/hr for those PMs work. When I tried to do calls with them to understand the invoicing, instead of listening and admitting their mistakes when they very clearly double-charged me for the same things - they yelled at me. The owner Jeremy talked over me the entire call. (To his credit, he did apologize for not letting me get a single word in - he said something like "I've been told I do this to women"). If you want to work with two really arrogant people who want to talk a lot about how great they are and how right they are but won't listen - by all means, sign up to work with these folks. The work itself isn't just subpar and sloppy - it's actually unusable. They were constantly making mistakes - you'd send them measurements and then get the plans and everything would be the wrong size. I never got a window schedule that had windows that matched the plans. They never got approval for a permit for the plans they created. They made so many mistakes, it's laughable. I hired a new Engineer and Contractor who both can't stop cracking up about Letter Four's work. "This isn't even to scale! Look, they have the downspouts at the highest points of the roof! Look at this - that part must be a joke, right?!" For the prices they charge and how arrogant they are about their experience, they deliver really sub-optimal work. They claim their high hourly fees and high-end rates will make your remodel easy for you - but I found that working with them is 5x more work than with my new contractor. (Message me if you want his info - he's *amazing*). Finally, their design aesthetic is really cheesy. It doesn't match any of the photos in their portfolio. All their design proposals felt something you'd see in a cheap flip. It was a total waste of money to pay for a "design + build" firm because I ended up designing every inch of it myself. Another reviewer called them "awkward" and I 100% found that to be the case. Their online portfolio is great, but actually working with them is a total nightmare on every level. Most people don't love their contractors - but you will LOATHE these people. I guess if you want some cool horror stories about your remodel, this is the company for you!