William Bagnall Architects

Leif Rideout is an outstanding architect and a good guy. My builder said Leif is one of those very…read morerare architects who "gets it" about the realities of construction and the expenses involved in various design alternatives. Leif saved us a bundle by using that knowledge to design a very attractive addition to an existing century old house that blended the roof lines in a way that was far less expensive than alternatives proposed by others. Leif has a great sense of design and tempers it with common sense about construction. He accomplishes that without sacrificing visual appeal. The result is a great looking very functional structure that doesn't blow your budget when its time to build it. He has all the latest CAD tools and uses them to optimize efficiency. He is really good at squeezing every last available square foot possible into a design and still complying fully with zoning lot coverage rules. He is also very aware of sight lines and what can be seen from different vantage points. He can design additions that add a huge amount of space yet maintain curb appeal and are nearly invisible from the street. Leif also plays well with others. My builder said he will recommend Leif on other projects because Leif "gets it" about construction and is a pleasure to work with. Leif is also a great guy. Honest, smart as hell, easy to work with. I recommend him highly and without any reservations.

I whole heartedly agree with the other reviewer! Leif is such a joy to work with and such a great…read moreperson. He is mellow, flexible, extremely knowledgeable, very creative, and his work passes through the permitting process with flying colors. His designs are elegant and practical and he really understands our design aesthetic and sticks to it. We have a huge fixer upper that we divided into two living spaces, one for us and one for my mom. It turns out that Leif did work on this house for the previous owner 20 years ago, adding an addition that joined the main house with the cottage in the back yard that is on a steep slope. The addition Leif originally did is a wonderful light-filled space. The cottage it connects with was not part of the remodel he originally did (the original cottage was not Leif's design), so we hired him to design the cottage to continue the work he did on the connecting section. The results are just amazing. It's now a light filled living space with triangular decks overlooking lovely views. Leif eliminated numerous problems such as water runoff flowing into the cottage, butterfly roofs that leaked, and a really ugly entry now transformed into something from Dwell magazine. Our style is California modern, but Leif can do all sorts of styles. When working with our builder who is herself a seasoned veteran, he added a lot to the process, including explaining the expansion and contraction of our clay soil, which caused damage to a concrete slab. (Normally you would have to hire a soils engineer to explain stuff like this.) He is also extremely knowledgeable on keeping the cost of a project down and how to get beautiful effects without breaking the bank. Leif also does design/build, but we learned this after we had already hired our builder. I would trust him completely with any sized project, and he will be our architect for all future projects. You can see his work if you drive by Santa Cruz Montessori or look at their website, and I got him in touch with Tara Redwood School to design the interior of their temporary building where the old Soquel post office used to be.

BARC Architecture

Super appreciative of Dan's help on drawing plans for the remodel of the lower level of our home…read more(expanding a bathroom, removal of kitchenette and re-configuring a living room and 1 bedroom area into a 2 bedroom area which was challenging due to limited outdoor light access and retaining walls/posts). He listened to our objectives and gave us options beyond those that we had originally thought of as the only solutions; was responsive, and his plans were excellent. Thank you!

We renovated our house and Dan was mastermind behind it. We truly couldn't have done it without…read morehim. Every detail was beautiful!

Workbench

Starbright School worked with Workbench on a complex code-compliance project, and our experience…read morewith their team was truly outstanding. They performed in-depth analysis of the challenges facing the school, conducted thorough research, and came up with a perfect solution that was both speedy and cost effective. The project was completed on time and with excellent results. Our school is truly grateful to Workbench for their expert handling of our project!

From the owner: Workbench is a concept to completion building studio in Santa Cruz, CA…read more We manage every detail of your building project: feasibility studies, property development, architectural design, general contracting, and construction management. Our specialties are accessory dwelling units (ADUs), single family homes, multi-family housing, and mixed-use community spaces. Every great build starts with a great design. Let's get to work, together. Contact us at info@workbenchbuilt.com.

Grinager Robert J

Robert designed our original remodel which included a second floor (mostly over our garage). He is…read moreexceptionally skilled and thoughtful and deliberative in his design and, while we basically knew what we wanted, he was able to suggest several tweaks that we ended up incorporating. Almost 9 years later, I will say literally our only regret is the stove we purchased, which had nothing to do with him. His recommendations and design were awesome. We're using him again for another remodeling job and have been very happy with his suggestions. Highly recommend him to design your remodel!

From the owner: Residential drafting and design: new construction, remodeling, insurance restoration, permit…read moreapplications, septic systems, red-tag & code concerns, site design, drainage, Green Building, Title 24, historic preservation, as-built drawings. CAD drafting & 3D modeling

Kurt Useldinger Architects

Kurt has been a pleasure to work with, his extensive knowledge of design and architecture have been…read moreexactly what my customers have needed. I look forward to working with kurt in the future.Its hard to find people with his level of honesty and integrity.If your in need of an architect with years of experience, I recommend you begin with Kurt.

Kurt was such a great architect to work with! He was very responsive and understood exactly what I…read morewas looking for on a major home remodel/addition. He coordinated well with my contractor and knew the necessary code requirements to push the project through the county. I would highly recommend to anyone!

The Kastrop Group, Inc.

4.8

(19 reviews)

The Kastrop group are very professional company. My house was a total re-build and both Mike &…read moreBrian made this incredible task go very smooth. I would definitely use them again and would recommend the Kastrop Group !!!

We found The Kastrop Group through the Better Business Bureau. We were looking to renovate about…read more50% of our home and raising the floor in our laundry room to create a 2nd bathroom for the house. Brian V. came over to check out our house and to see if our expectations were realistic. He was very calm and organized. We found him very knowledgeable, especially about the San Mateo County permit & planning department. We interviewed a couple of other architeture firms, but found Brian at The Kastrop Group to be the best. Once we hired Kastrop, Brian quickly set up a time to come measure the entire house. Our 80 year old cottage had no central air/heat, so Brian referred us to an engineering firm that would help work out all the computations that the permit department would need to approve this addition. As we moved through the architectural design process, Brian came up with solutions that would give us what we needed, along with a few suggestions that would provide more storage near our new second bathroom. We found Brian and Kastrop to be very accomodating with no drama. We like it when there is no drama. Once the architectural drawings were approved, we wanted to know if we had budgeted enough for the renovation. So, Kastrop had a General Contractor look at the plans and visit our house to give us some preliminary numbers. This was a big help for us and we were so thankful for this extra step. The Kastrop Group is an outstanding architecture firm that took us through the entire architecture design process with a gentle hand and no drama. We were grateful for their professionalism and their recommendations. If you are considering renovating your house, your first stop should be The Kastrop Group for impressive architectural expertise and being a great partner to navigate the county permit process.

Sustainable Development & Planning

We hired Patrizia to help us figure out what we could and couldn't do on our property in Santa Cruz…read moreCounty, California. She was a wealth of information and is a fabulous resource! Even in just the first meeting she helped us avoid a huge number of possible mistakes and ensuing headaches that would have followed - we used he fabulous decision making method and feel confident that we are making a long-term sustainable choice for our future home. We highly recommend her!

Patrizia is knowledgeable about building a sustainable living. She is passionate and willing to…read morehelp you find the best way to achieve your goals and have your building a house a pleasant and fun experience.

Seacliff Construction & Design

(32 reviews)

Len and his team were great. Did an excellent job on a full kitchen remodel a while back. High…read moreattention to detail and top notch build quality.

Len and his crew have done three major remodels for my family over the last 8 years. They do…read morebeautiful work and come in on time and on budget!

Stripe Design Services

(10 reviews)

Absolutely love Stripe Design. We're on our second major remodel project with Suna and her team…read more Everyone on the team are great to work with, excellent listeners, flexible and creative. Highly recommended.

5 Stars PLUS. I can't say enough about Suna and her team at Stripe. They designed our DREAM home…read more Thanks to Stripe we have our forever home. Every step of the way was supported from our original concept, through design and implementation (even helping us find the right contractors, engineers, architects, etc to execute!). We will be forever grateful!

Beyond the Box - Design Collective

(10 reviews)

•$$$

Wow! Cyndi completely transformed our living space. We feel like we upgraded to a new home. Her…read morevision for our kitchen opened up our entire first floor. Our master bedroom and bathroom are beautiful and functional. She is such a gifted designer and guided us through every aspect of selecting the materials, colors, and layout. She is truly the best!

This is a very long overdue review... Over the course of several years we worked with Cyndi Mosher…read moreat Beyond the Box on a complete rebuild of our Westside home in Santa Cruz. The project was primarily an owner build, so between that and the pandemic it ended up being a multi-year project. Over the course of planning and building we worked very closely with Cyndi - not only on the designs for our kitchen and bathrooms but for general design help throughout the house. Cyndi was absolutely wonderful to work with throughout the whole process. Not only was she incredibly knowledgeable, professional, and helpful - she had an inordinate amount of patience (and tact!) in helping us navigate through the thousands of decisions that had to be made. She was adept at creating a cohesive design out of our rather ad hoc lists of likes and dislikes, and did so without imposing her own personal preferences or style. My husband and I also both appreciated that she was very pragmatic - she understood that we weren't interested in building a mansion and was very good about pointing out the areas where it made sense to spend and where it didn't. Her knowledge and contacts in the business were invaluable, both in terms of the quality of the workmanship we ended up with as well as access to resources that we would not have been able to find on our own. When it came time to order all our cabinets and countertops she handled every last detail, and made sure that what we ultimately received exactly matched her specifications. I was originally hesitant to hire a designer, both because of the additional cost and also because my husband and I are both fairly practical and were more interested in function over form. We have no regrets - engaging Cyndi to help us with the project was money that was very well spent. Not only did it prevent expensive mistakes, but we love the results. After living in the house for over a year I can honestly say that there isn't anything that she helped design that I would do differently if given the chance. A few of the rooms from our project are pictured on the Beyond the Box website: https://www.btbkitchens.com/rustic-elegance

Eye Design House

4.9

(9 reviews)

Bottom line: WHEN YOU NEED A HOME STAGED CALL "DANETTE"…read more I am a realtor and a fellow realtor recommended Danette for staging. I have been so impressed with her suggestions from Choosing paint colors, in this case we used some of the owners furniture and Danette added the embellishments. This listing had an offer after only 3 day on the market!! Sellers are thrilled! Buyers are thrilled and Agents are thrilled. Your professional direction was so important in this sale. THANK YOU!! I will refer you to other agents and of course call you to stage all my listings. Janice Boardman eXp Realty of California

Love working with Danette! Her service and style is as good as it gets…read more For me, I am all about the experience as well as the service. And she gets it. And as a high producing listing agent, I have seen them or worked with almost all of them and she is always my "go-to" choice without question. Thank you Danette for always providing the best possible experience and service out there AND... at a very reasonable rate. :)

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BARC Architecture

Super appreciative of Dan's help on drawing plans for the remodel of the lower level of our home…read more(expanding a bathroom, removal of kitchenette and re-configuring a living room and 1 bedroom area into a 2 bedroom area which was challenging due to limited outdoor light access and retaining walls/posts). He listened to our objectives and gave us options beyond those that we had originally thought of as the only solutions; was responsive, and his plans were excellent. Thank you!

We renovated our house and Dan was mastermind behind it. We truly couldn't have done it without…read morehim. Every detail was beautiful!

William Fisher Architecture

4.4

(8 reviews)

Unreliable. They were perfect until we signed with them, then they changed the rules of the game…read moreand decided to try to siphon as much money as they possibly could from us. We got nothing from them, not even an idea, anything to go with, and they still took $2000 from us, claiming they worked for hours. On what? No one knows for sure. Scam.

One of a kind architect, experience in the field of remodeling, new construction, and commercial…read more Knows his way around the city and county politics to get projects done. Had helped our family construct and remodel numerous homes.

Acadia Architecture

4.9

(30 reviews)

We purchased an older, fixer upper on a hillside in Portola Valley with the hopes of rebuilding it…read moreinto our dream home. We aimed to generate income by converting the former primary bedroom into a rentable, attached JADU. This mean building a new primary BR on the back, downhill side of the house, along with creating a new family room, and office. The front of the house was definitely old style, and did not, in any way, match our vision of a contemporary, hi-tech, look. I had interviewed other architects who had suggested we add a new front foyer, but I wasn't thrilled about the look presented, which was basically to add a gable roof addition ("A" frame shape add-on) at at the front, that would be harmonious with the rest of the house. In my first meeting with Davide, he suggested something that changed the whole dynamic of the house. He suggested that rather than be constrained by trying to harmonize the new entry with the old architecture, we could add a new layer to the front of the house, and change the look completely. This also creates a new corridor at the front that greatly improves the flow/circulation from the front to the back. It was a genius idea! This new layer at the front of the house gives us a spectacular new front entrance, plus a new corridor with tall ceilings. He also very skillfully raised the ceiling heights in many parts of the house so it feels like the rooms were expanded (when only the height changed). I am attaching a photo of the original house and Davide's concept for the new design. I want to add that we are not demolishing any part of the old house so we are not losing any existing square footage. We are just adding and "splicing the old with the new". For the new room additions at the back, he integrated the complex siting of the hillside PBR & family room to flow seamlessly into the same level of the existing house on. I have very strong ideas of what I want in terms of design, and Davide has been very patient in working through my ideas. He uses his critical eye and design experience to guide me so I don't get off track, and we can get to where it is I want to end up. We are now in the building permit process, and I can't wait for construction to start. I will be updating this post when the house is finished with more photos, because I want to show off the dramatic transformation between the "before" and "after". If you are looking for a miracle transformation, Davide Gianella is the architect who can make this dream come true for you! I can recommend him 100%

I reached out to Davide about two or three months ago to see if I could hire him to help design my…read moreremodel. He was really polite and so friendly and VERYYYY transparent that he was inundated with some work at the moment and that he gives his all to 1-2 projects at a time, so that they get the best out of him. He then gave me a suggested timeline, which unfortunately didn't match with what we had in mind - but no worries! I enjoyed the interaction and his work is beautiful, and I truly appreciate the communication and friendliness that transpired in our conversations.

CWDesign Solutions

4.5

Chad Williams designed and provided construction management services for a 1200 square foot ADU,…read morecompleted this year at our property near the top of Hecker Pass Road in Watsonville. The home he designed turned out great--very unique, and highly energy-efficient. Chad knew how to design in some custom touches that made the home very site-appropriate for our rural setting. He also was great in navigating through the vast number of permits required for the job, and lined up some great subcontractors to execute all aspects of the build. I highly recommend CW Design for your next complex project such as this. Bob Climo

I called asking for only structural engineering services. This company does not offer only…read morestructural engineering so could not help me. However the person I spoke to over the phone was very helpful and gave me a referral to someone who might be able to help. He was honestly just very helpful even though he had nothing to gain from the conversation.

Grinager Robert J

Robert designed our original remodel which included a second floor (mostly over our garage). He is…read moreexceptionally skilled and thoughtful and deliberative in his design and, while we basically knew what we wanted, he was able to suggest several tweaks that we ended up incorporating. Almost 9 years later, I will say literally our only regret is the stove we purchased, which had nothing to do with him. His recommendations and design were awesome. We're using him again for another remodeling job and have been very happy with his suggestions. Highly recommend him to design your remodel!

Golden Visions Design

Larry designed our Santa Cruz Craftsman Bungalow inside and out. We absolutely love it. He is very…read moredetail-oriented, communicative, and takes great pride in his work. He is experienced, has a great aesthetic eye, and his fees are quite reasonable.

Dennis Norton Design

This review is long overdue... I've worked with Dennis…read moreNorton Designs for well over 24 years. Dennis is a thoughtful and experienced Home Designer who also use to be a Contractor so when he designs something it can actually be built. Dennis not only designed my home but he dealt with a very difficult county to gain my building permits. Dennis also use to be the Mayor of Capitola and is such a nice guy that he gets along with everyone which makes building much more enjoyable. I initially tried to use a contractor I had met but he had a bad anger problem and walked out in the middle of construction so I asked Dennis who I should use and his referrals were always the highest quality workers and my home turned out beautiful. In 2020, I called Dennis to design a new home on my land and when my home and land burned in August 2020, Dennis was ready to submit my new plans so I could build immediately. I forgot how incompetent the Santa Cruz County was. I had my land cleaned of Ash and Debris very quickly before the rain spread the ash and it infuriated the county who was only concerned with their forms and they refused to even accept my New Building Plans. They even refused to give me temporary power to get water for my horses. Throughout this nightmare, Dennis was very helpful and considerate. Because the county wouldn't give me temporary power I was unable to work so Dennis offered his office for me to work out of. He repeatedly said "tell me what I can do for you, I've got your back". When the county demanded additional reports many months after the fire I asked Dennis for a referral and Dennis called Soils Engineer Joe Rafferty and Joe referred us to Wendy Johnson of Benchmark Environmental Engineering and Wendy patiently spent months getting us clearance. Dennis is an exceptional human being and designer and anyone he works with is also similar quality. I can't recommend Dennis highly enough and anyone who uses his talent will realize why I have written about him as I have.

Greg Heitzler Design

We love working with Greg. We appreciate his integrity, his great attitude, his artistic skill and…read morehis humble appreciation and wonder in his craft.

Greg is an amazing designer! He designed our kitchen and master suite. We are SO happy with his…read morework. If you are planning a remodel and are considering a designer it is definitely worth the money, especially if you use Greg. Our house would not have turned out nearly as good without his help. Thanks Greg!

Michelle Kusanovich

I wanted to take the time and post about how impressed my husband and I have been in working with…read moreMichelle on our home addition/renovation. She has been incredibly talented in helping us to envision a space that not only solves our day-to-day needs, but also incorporates a beautiful design aesthetic (form and function par excellence). Michelle has an amazing eye and an impeccable attention to detail; she's incredibly professional, and she's a pleasure to work with. I can't recommend her highly enough...we are so lucky to have her!

I'm not sure what the other reviewer is talking about but we're one of the clients near Euclid and…read morecouldn't be more satisfied with Michele's work on our house. She is an exceptional architect and designer who is incredibly collaborative, knowledgeable and creative. We have done numerous projects with her including exterior, full kitchen and two full bathroom remodels. We have loved working with Michele and continue to plan additional projects. She has always been on top of everything, with great relationships with the contractors, tradespeople and vendors. She's a true professional!!

Emigh Home Designs