My experience with Molly Louthan and Open Range seems to be consistent with the other reviews posted here. It is definitely worth mentioning that any positive review was posted BEFORE Molly purchased the business from the very reputable, Lisman Studio. This past spring I purchased a new home for myself, a fixer-upper, intended to be my fresh start and allow me the opportunity to keep my mind busy picking out designs, building gardens and making decisions on all the things a full remodel would entail. I met the team and felt confident enough to sign a contract to landscape the exterior, finish off the basement, remodel the main level and maybe one day finish out the detached garage and main house exterior. A massive undertaking but I was excited to take it on with the help of "professionals". I paid the retainer and architectural plans got underway. Invoices started coming in and I'd see line items that were bid with inconsistent amounts and I had to go thru each invoice with such diligence; there were so many different people communicating with me but they weren't communicating with each other so I chalked it up to the growing pains of a new project. After starting the landscaping and finishing the basement, I began to insist that I can't make decisions on certain things until I have the full cost of the remodel. I had only been given costs for landscaping and the basement but told them I need to know the budget for the upstairs before I fly thru my budget and end up without a kitchen or master bathroom. I signed my contract on March 12th. At the end of June I still didn't have pricing for the scope of the entire project. I asked the construction director, Josh Shipp, why can't we get these numbers and he said he was working on it and promised final numbers to me right after the 4th of July. I was then told my landscape designer quit and Josh was laid off not long after and none of this was told to me by Open Range. My framers did not finish the job and I found out that both my electricians and framers were never paid! I also found out that during this week (August 4th) Molly was still instructing her remaining designer to take on clients- and this is after their landlord kicked them out of their Midvale office a few weeks prior. (The following Monday that designer was laid off as well, shortly followed by my construction project mngr). On July 28th, on my way to the airport, my interior designer told me she was let go- still no word from Open Range. When I returned from the 1 year memorial of my husband's passing, I came home to find all the landscape equipment disappeared, trees dying, irrigation unfinished, a dumpster, porta potty gone and still no word from Open Range. Complete silence! This is while they have a significant amount of money they are holding onto and zero designs provided to me. That following week, I found out they did not have a permit to finish my basement (confirmed with the building department and I was told by an employee that Molly cut off their corporate credit cards in June so he didn't pick it up), they did not pay the architect or structural engineers for my plans! I paid $40k for those plans (from a 3rd party firm chosen by OR) and the firm confirmed they are still owed $18k+ and I was one of many OR clients who have unpaid, finished plans. That's why my project was at a stand still, not because of some made up reason blaming me- they couldn't proceed without those finished, unpaid plans! I emailed the owner Molly and she blamed it on Josh Shipp saying she was told the project was up to date and I put a hold on the project (I have her email). She said me, her and Becky Rittenhouse, her CFO need to sit down the following week to sort this out when Becky returns from vacation. I emailed Molly again and said this is black and white and I can't do anything until I receive the refund that is owed. Not to mention the fact I have to spend over $10k to repair and complete the irrigation that was installed incorrectly, incompletely and left with a leak. I sent out an email to Molly and Becky after a week asking once again to just do the right thing and got a bounce back email from Molly saying, "Hi! I'm on vacation....!" I couldn't believe it. After a week of Becky pushing out her timeline she finally provided the numbers that came somewhat close to what is owed to me for the interior. Interior was very close but landscaping was completely fabricated and did not take into account the repairs that needed to be done. I was encouraged, I replied with some questions about the irrigation and what the next steps would be and not 12 hrs later did I receive an email with a brand new set up numbers that were 100% fabricated! It's like Molly told Becky to absolutely not admit any wrongdoing and figure out how to make it look like she owes us money. It's surreal how this woman has chosen to live each day. They've since turned their phones off but I'm pursuing multiple paths to protect other read more

See all

We hired Open Range first to create a custom design for our backyard, then to build the majority of that design. They assured us their in-house team could execute the plans on time and on budget. We moved forward with them based on that promise but what followed was a series of costly mistakes, poor communication, and ultimately a complete breakdown in trust. Despite us raising concerns early about slipping timelines and unclear budgeting, no one ever told us the design we paid for was unbuildable. That only came to light after the crew walked off the job without notice, and we had to escalate to the CEO. Only then did someone from their team finally admit that the design was "impossible to build as drawn." At that point, demolition was complete, several mistakes had already been made, and we were left with a partially destroyed yard and no plan to fix it. Some of the major issues included: improper patio grading confirmed by a third party, making the surrounding retention work unusable; trees cut from two neighbors' properties despite clearly marked lines and explicit warnings; steps installed into the hillside instead of from the patio as designed; a path laid in the wrong direction, now leading awkwardly into a planter; rock installed despite clear written communication; fence post holes immediately driven over by machinery and needing to be redone by us; and billing for utilities that were never run and had been removed from scope. We'd like to proactively address the pushback we expect to hear from the owner/CEO in response to this review based on our conversations once things devolved. She expressed that we were making too many changes and that the team did not walk off the job. For clarity, we only made two real changes prior to her involvement and the abandonment of the job: removing the majority of the front yard work from the scope and asking that utilities, excluding a gas line, not be run to the patio as originally planned. We did solidify hot tub vault dimensions, request a drain and electrical conduit to that hot tub vault, and discuss who would lay the pavers--all of which were included in the original bid process and confirmed multiple times throughout the process. Our changes and clarifications were made early, communicated clearly, and should not have impacted the work already underway. The only other scope change came from the Open Range team regarding additional retention needed along the hillside which we promptly approved and paid for. Once they pulled out, we started going back and forth about what we could or were going to do to keep the job progressing until they got back to us with a budget and timeline to continue, but that never came. As for the claim they did not abandon the job, while we (as mentioned previously) were asking questions about timing and budget, we paid all of our invoices and never once indicated that we didn't want work to continue. When the trailer and heavy equipment were removed, we asked about it and were told it was being serviced. The next day, the portapotty was also taken with no communication, and at that point, we felt we had no choice but to conclude the team had effectively walked off the job, which is when we reached out to the CEO. It's also worth noting that we received a lien notice from Sunbelt Rentals, dated prior to our termination of the agreement, indicating Open Range had failed to pay their vendor. We've since terminated our agreement and are pursuing a refund for the unusable design, unused deposit, and work that was either not completed or done incorrectly which amounts to roughly 50% of what we've paid. While we've been told the team is "working on it," we've yet to receive a response or resolution, and the detailed concerns we outlined alongside our refund request have not been meaningfully addressed. We strongly recommend avoiding this company. They do not stand behind their work, do not own their mistakes, and do not communicate when things go wrong. read more

See all