Green Building in Katonah.

“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!”

“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.”

“Ed was a pleasure to work with during the five years it took me to finish the renovation and expansion of my large home in Westchester County. He was consistently creative, practical, approachable and patient. Some of the solutions he came up with were unique and he visited the site many, many times to ensure that the contractor was faithfully following the blue prints, building codes and his artistic point of view. The building inspector approved our finished job with no objections whatsoever. BTW, at the end, my home sold in 4 days and for $116,000 over asking in a softening market. The home's sale was featured in the NY Times.”

“We have worked with Karen at Brinkman for countless projects; baths, kitchens, whole-house remodels; light commercial spaces, and additions. She is a true professional and has some great ideas for the spaces we are hired to remodel. She is willing to stop by on a moment's notice for questions and advice, which is important for the remodeling that we are involved in. We plan to continue working with her for all of our remodels in the future.”

“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.”

“My home is one of the exhibits listed here. This architect was easy to work with and gave appropriate and timely advice when needed. She is currently working another project for me, a renovation of a Frank Lloyd Wright's apprentice work in the Berkshires.”

“Working with Jimmy Crisp and his associates was a great and valuable learning experience that could not have turned out better than it did. Jimmy truly met, and in many instances, went beyond our expectations. The project, which was a complete gut renovation, went very smoothly and it did come in on budget with the exception of new items that were included after our original quote. Of course there were differences of opinions and long discussions about changes/desired outcomes and new costs, however, I would say that because of Jimmy's constant presence at the site, complete knowledge of exactly what was suppose to happen at all stages of the project and calm manner we escaped situations that could, at the time, have been less satisfactory. Jimmy, the associates and clerical employees of his firm are all a 10 in my book! My experience with Crisp Architects makes me believe that anyone seeking a great architect, backed by a most professional staff, could not do better than to choose Crisp Architects.”

“My husband and I are absolutely thrilled with the work performed by John Patrick. He went above and beyond to ensure that our vision and goals were captured in the final design. We know that when we finally move into our renovated home, we will enjoy it that much more because we worked with John. We bought a1930s colonial - our first home - and while we knew that something needed to be done to it, we couldn't figure out exactly what. John Patrick is a highly trained and skilled designer, who helped us realize ideas about our space that we didn't see before. Not only did he come up with beautiful and practical solutions to the problems we saw in the home, he willingly worked within the existing constraints of the space, i.e., the location of plumbing, load-bearing walls, etc. We held frequent check-points during our design phase. During each one, John Patrick was thoughtful and professional. We never felt embarrassed or uncomfortable bringing our ideas to the table. He was always very tactful in explaining which ideas made sense and which could be reconsidered in order to maximize space and functionality. We wanted to work with an architect who would share his professional expertise, and not simply sketch whatever we asked him to. John is definitely that architect. And yet, when there were personal elements that my husband and I were unwilling to bend on - no matter how impractical - John found a way to make them work. After each check-point, John created great drawings that helped us visualize the space. These were invaluable for two business professionals trying to make design choices with no design experience. Once our designs were final, John even produced renderings that helped us select fixtures and furniture to fit in our space. These renderings alone have received glowing compliments from all our friends and colleagues. The renderings were also very impressive to our contractor, who is overseeing the construction of our home, as were the construction documents that John produced. The construction documents helped us during the bid phase, when we were trying to select a contractor, and have served as the “source of truth” during the construction phase. We absolutely recommend working with John Patrick Cunningham. You will be happy you did!”

“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.”