Nybyggnation i Katonah, NY.

“I thought that finding an honest contractor who follows through with what they promise would be impossible but decided to take the chance with Essential and finally do my first renovation. I was very nervous at first but the contractor Peter was extremely patient and was with me every step of the way. His team which included a talented designer put together a picture perfect kitchen, powder bathroom and master bedroom bathroom. I was blown away by the attention to detail and if you’re looking for a wonderful experience limiting your stress level for such a major project then Peter and his team are a great fit.”

“LEAP designed our modern and green home addition. They handled much of the creative work on the project, as well as detailed renderings, bid consultations, and construction supervision. LEAP's work was very creative and responded directly to our needs. They found ways to get energy efficiency and modern design details into a "buildable" and cost-conscious project. They are humble, hardworking, and consistent. I would choose to work with LEAP Architecture again without hesitation.”

“We had a complete renovation done of our bedroom wing with 3 bedrooms, 1.5 bathrooms and a hallway under Heike's guidance. This was the 2nd project we have done with her, and we are once more thrilled with the result! What we like about Heike is that, she is a nice person to work with, she listens well, does extra research, has a lot of knowledge of materials and where to get them, and last but not least the fact that she comes from Europe and understands our modern European taste well. She introduced a number of nice touches in the overall design and paid attention to the overall energy efficiency of the renovation. She also worked with our contractor and the building department of our town. We can full-heartedly recommend her.”

“Creating a dream home is both dreamy and stressful. My family and I have had the honor and privilege of getting to work with one of the most talented architects on the planet - not once but twice. Stephen made both dreamy! Our first creation? A from the ground up Africa-inspired retreat in Kennebunkport, Maine on our family compound called Asante Sana ( Sensitive Information Hidden ). Just this morning, I was singing Steve’s praises for his architectural prowess. Our second project: a complete renovation of our home in Sea Cliff, San Francisco ( Sensitive Information Hidden ). Originally architect, Joseph Esherick would be proud. We even named one of our walls at Casa al Mare, the Barlow Wall - in Steve’s honor. I wish everyone would have the privilege of hiring Steve Barlow! When you hire the right architect you get 1 + 1 = 12.”

“I had a great experience working with Emilia. Her ideas were always very practical and smart but with a bit of the unexpected thrown in. The originality and expertise she showed in relation to design was a wonderful asset to have, and she incorporated them all so seamlessly into the overall project. And her attention to detail ensured all areas of the project were covered and taken into account so nothing was left out. I look forward to our next project together.”

“Lanny Lerner is an outstanding architect who listens carefully and observes astutely to produce design that is beautiful and functional. He recently worked with us on our Manhattan apartment--we are delighted. I highly recommend Lanny Lerner.”

“My husband and I were interested in a house, but saw some things that needed to be changed that were a deal breaker for us. I reached out to Stephanie and she fit it in her busy schedule to meet with us. Stephanie came to the house we were interested in and took a great amount of time walking through taking measurements and discussing all our options. She was very helpful , knowledgeable and full of insight.”

“Michael Lewis is a consummate designer with years of experience, talent, and organizational ability. We felt supported by Michael and his able firm throughout our project. There was a culture of sensitivity to our needs throughout the firm and skillful handling of issues as they inevitably cropped up. The firm worked with our century old house to bring it into the modern age, by retrofitting an amazing kitchen into limited space and converting an unusable attic space into a dream master bedroom suite with dormers, increasing our living space significantly. We highly recommend this firm!”

“I can count on several fingers the times I have found a local business partner that I'd describe as a rockstar, and Brian Hopkins is on that short list. On Christmas Eve, my wife and I were out doing errands. We got a call from our teenage son, telling us that water was raining down from the upstairs bathroom, through our microwave and stove, into the basement, onto the furnace and water heater. There was some once-in-a-century rapid drop in temperature, we had some poorly insulated pipes, and one of those pipes ruptured in the floor of that second floor bathroom resulting in that disaster. Total nightmare. Thankfully, one of the other rockstars on our short list of local business partners is our general contractor. We already had a plan on the shelf to renovate that bathroom, our contractor was available, we were able to get all our tile and bathroom fixtures picked out and procured in record time, and shortly after New Year's our GC started the repairs and creating the bathroom of our dreams. Salvation! Everything was going awesome, until the building department showed up. In a rush, we neglected to get a building permit. We weren't being shady or playing games. We were just hasty and ignorant and didn't do the things we needed to do. We got an immediate stop-work order. And the only way to get back on track was to find an architect to do proper code-compliant architectal drawings for our already-in-progress bathroom renovation. I quickly learned that there are not a lot of residential architects hurting for business, certainly not at that time of year. I literally called at least 15 different places. Either people were too busy, or weren't interested in the project. I finally found one who couldn't take the job, but said "hey, we know this other guy in the area who is super good, that we refer people to when we're busy. His name is Brian Hopkins." Somebody directing business to a competitor?? I now understand why they referred me. Brian is only the second architect I've ever worked with, but as far as I can tell, he's as good as it gets. I was able to get in touch with him immediately, and he agreed to take on the work. He was incredibly transparent and clear about what he was going to do, when he was going to do it, and what it would cost. Throughout the process he was super responsive, empathetic, organized, patient, professional, and enjoyable to work with. He didn't nickel and dime us or play games; he was clearly focused on good customer service and outcomes. And from what I can tell, both the building department and my GC were very happy with the quality of his work. The entire ordeal we went through, particularly involving the building department and fines and delays was horrible. Had we not found Brian, had he not been so excellent, the situation might have been unbearable. He literally was our savior. It's absurd not to want to work with someone like this.”

“Hudson Design designed and provided construction management for our 3,500 sq. ft. house in Cold Spring, NY. The design process was an iterative one with many revisions resulting in a modern, loft-like weekend getaway that we use almost every week. We have become friends with the principal of Hudson Design.”