Wolf Design Studio

We have worked with Derek (Wolf Design Studio) for several years and several projects. Derek is very professional, knowledgeable, and great to work with. I highly recommend him for your project.

Derek designed a fantastic home for our mutual Bel Air Modern/Contemporary client. We look forward to working together again soon. Blackband Design.

My wife and I engaged Derek about 5 years ago to be the architect for a new hillside view house in West Los Angeles, CA, in large part because he designed a spectacular house right next-door to us - that when finished would block our ocean view (which our neighbors had every right to do). Derek's design for our neighbor's house so maximized the value of our neighbors' lot that, when we saw the plans for that house (it had not yet been constructed) we concluded that Derek was our guy. We could not possibly have made a better choice. It has taken us 5 years to get to demo of our existing house, which occurred about 10 days ago. It took so long because we wanted to be sure about our design, not because of any lack of diligence or enthusiasm on Derek's part. He allowed us to proceed at the pace that was comfortable for us (after all, our new house is a very expensive project!). Derek's design was/is fantastic! All of our needs and wants have been included in our plans - including recapturing and now maximizing the views. Derek was receptive to changes to his plans that we requested, so long as we gave him the opportunity to express his contrary thoughts to us and he felt that we were not making a big mistake. Where he did feel that we were making a big mistake, he told us that as well - in a diplomatic but firm way - exactly what we would want a true professional to do for us. On top of Derek's design, Derek was instrumental in helping us achieve RTI (the status of the City being ready-to-issue-permits), and coordinated the rest of the design team - our structural, civil, soils and landscape engineers, our surveyor, etc., and also helped us with the task of interviewing, reviewing prior projects of, and selecting our G.C. Working with Derek has been a pleasure in every respect. He is smart, careful, considerate, deliberate and thoughtful (including as to making sure that our choices not only are physically viable, but also economically viable and appropriate). Derek is a consummate professional and, now, a good friend. On top of it all, Derek's fees were exceedingly reasonable for the services provided. I would not hesitate to give Wolf Design Studios and Derek personally my unqualified and highest recommendation. My wife and I can not wait to see the end product (hopefully sometime in 2021) of the years of Derek's and our hard work. If our house turns out to be only half as great as I think it will be, it will be fantastic. Derek, I hope you read this review - because the praise that I have expressed most assuredly is well deserved.

We call Derek our "house therapist." He patiently walked us through every decision (big and small) that would impact the future use, function and enjoyment of our home. He helped us navigate discrepancies and always found a solution that met both of our visions. Through no fault of his, our project went down many dead-end roads before we finally ended up with the current design. We moved in 6-months ago and love our home and consider Derek a friend. Not something most people we know would say about their architects. Derek has an excellent sense of design, is patient and diligent in solving building issues, and is pleasant to spend time with throughout the project.

We had the pleasure of working with Derek on our project and he was the BEST partner we could have had. Not only is he an extremely talented architect, he brings so much to the table when it comes to design. He truly helped in every aspect of the design process and I was able to complete the project without an interior designer. He would always help me complete any "last minute" ideas that were not planned for as well! I would highly recommend Derek for anyone seeking an amazing architect with a eye for contemporary design. We had a lot of fun and looking forward to working with Derek again soon!

Derek is a true professional. He worked collaboratively with us to understand our goals and added great design ideas. We would absolutely love to work with him again on any remodel or design project. He is talented and also just plain fun to work with!

My wife and I met Derek through a builder who was building a house we saw and loved. They gave us dereks info and we interviewed him and 3 other architects. When Derek walked out of our house we both looked at each other and said that's the one. We just got a great feeling from him. He was nice, had similar taste and we felt like he saw our vision. He got our stuff done so quickly and we got approval within 6 months of hiring him. Our house is so beautiful, everyone that comes by says its the nicest house they have been in. Derek was hands on through the whole process and we couldn't be happier with how it turned out.

We met Derek thru our builder RDM and it was such a great decision to hire Derek. Derek designed the most incredible modern house for us on the beach and saved us tons of money and TIME with the coastal commission. A lot of people told me that the architect leaves after the plans but Derek stayed for the whole project and went beyond his scope of work. Derek was always there with the builder, cabinet builders, wine room installation to make sure everything was perfect! Derek has the most incredible designs and everybody LOVES our house!