Urban Pioneering Architecture

Through working with us to design our home addition, Jim and Sarah have become like family. Most importantly, they are great listeners. They truly wanted to understand what makes us tick so that we would love being at home. And we do. The spaces they worked with us to create respect the unique history of our house, while reflecting a beautifully modern vision for elegance and comfort. Throughout the process, they shared their wide-ranging knowledge of available products in the field, including earth-friendly materials that we are committed to. The result of this ongoing conversation captured the essence of who we are and what we want our home to be. We cannot thank them enough.

Jim is a talented architect and a trusted resource in the renovation process. We reached out to Jim when we were considering a bid on our current home. We knew that it would need a comprehensive renovation, so before making a bid we needed to take that into account. Without being a client of his, Jim took the time out to meet with us and provide his thoughts on scope and pricing, which allowed us to move quickly on the bid and ultimately close on the house. We engaged Jim for the project and found his work to be detailed and thorough, and always open to our feedback on the design and budget. Jim also works with a number of contractors, which made the bid process for the renovation work a straightforward process. He guided us on that decision as well. In the end, we are so pleased with how our house has turned out, and while a renovation is never without its ups and downs, we were able to rely on Jim throughout.

Sarah Hill is an extremely creative, resourceful and responsive interior designer. She gets your taste. One instance -- I had a beautiful old Chinese lantern and rather than buying a new silk Italian replica, she recommended and found a specialty lamp shade maker who electrified the lantern and inserted a silk cylindrical shade, It is gorgeous and means a lot to me as I love antiques. She also finds fantastic fabrics that surprise you and works well with upholsterers and carpenters. Whether you know your taste or not, she is a great sounding board, open to trying different materials and exploring different options. I love slate floors and mine in the kitchen was getting really worn. She found a mineral tile that had all the richness and natural look of slate yet is durable and looks great. She also found a countertop that transformed the kitchen and is skilled at working with what you have and love and integrating it with other elements that make the room work. She has great taste and knows every resource. And if she doesn't she'll find it. And she is a pleasure to work with. I highly recommend her. Tammy Sachs

From our first meeting, it was clear that Jim would put his all into our job. Throughout a long design and build time frame he never flagged. I'm sure we weren't the easiest clients--- lots of opinions, evolving needs, impatient with delays, heavily involved. His good humor and steady guidance under pressure were greatly appreciated. Renovating any 120 year old building is full of surprises--- our project certainly had its share of twists and turns. JIm anticipated many potential problems and the issues he couldn't have seen coming, he handled admirably. One example— during he course of construction Jim discovered a potentially unsafe structural condition that could have cost a fortune to correct if the most obvious solution were pursued. Instead, he and his engineering team came up with a brilliantly simple alternate approach that corrected the irregularity for a marginal cost. Jim was able to work well with the tradesman, insisting on professionalism without getting into ego games, confident in his knowledge and still open to alternate solutions. He is thoroughly versed in the intricacies of the applicable building codes, skilled in the various crafts, resourceful and professional. What was most gratifying is that he clearly took a personal stake in the success of the project. Late hours, early mornings, many site visits and trips to the D.O.B.; without his dedication, we would not have the home we have today.