Bennett Frank McCarthy Architects, Inc.

We selected Bennet Frank McCarthy to design and oversee the build of an extensive kitchen renovation and sunroom addition to our historic home. Brian McCarthy provided superior design recommendations that were responsive to our requests and aesthetic. He consulted with the historic preservation commission to anticipate their response to our historic work permit application and ensure a seamless approval. His keen attention to detail throughout design and build culminated in a renovation and addition that is extraordinarily beautiful and sympathetic to the period in which our home was built. We are so fortunate to have selected Brian McCarthy and cannot recommend his services more highly.

Shawn from BFM helped us make a plan for the renovation of our 1910s farmhouse. We are very happy with the end result! Shawn was excellent at understanding our needs for the new space, and executing them at a high level of quality and style. BFM helped us choose a contractor and we were very satisfied with the whole process. Hire them! You won't be disappointed.

Working with Shawn at BFM Architects was such a wonderful experience. This was our first major house renovation and he worked with us to clearly define our goals based on our household needs and to incorporate all the architectural detail we wanted (and didn't know we wanted). He always showed up on time, ready to work and was very enthusiastic the whole project.

BFM was a pleasure to work with on our home remodel. Their plans were considerate of our personal style and busy families needs. And they were especially helpful in seeing our project to completion, working in partner with our builders to find the best possible solutions.

Larry Frank is a great listener to understand how we want to use our space, and offers creative and beautiful designs for the project. He is also a responsive and supportive resource as the project moves through construction to help answer questions and sort through potential bumps in the road. We used the firm first in 2005/2006 for a multi-room renovation including kitchen, 2 bathrooms, and living space, and still love the results. We came back again in 2018 for a redesign of our family room to include a screened porch. It's now my favorite spot in the house.

We have been working with Shawn from BFM for almost two years on our historic house renovation project. In the early stages Shawn would listen to what we wanted in our house, make suggestions, and sketch out ideas. We always felt like he was listening to our needs and wishes. Once the project really started moving Shawn made beautiful drawings that were extremely thorough and kept the historic nature of our house. He was creative, and added little touches that really make our house unique and special. Shawn was also in charge of speaking to the historic commission and making sure that they approved his drawings. He did this with ease. For the past 8 months of construction we have kept Shawn as a consultant and could not be happier with his design suggestions as well as expertise regarding building. He can walk into the construction zone and instantly tell what needs to be fixed or redone. We could not be happier that we chose Shawn and BFM for our project!

Over the last 15 months, we have worked with Shawn Buehler from BFM to re-design and re-construct our home into the perfect space for our family. Pre-renovation, our house already had a unique architectural design that we wanted to honor in the renovation. Shawn was mindful of this and carried these architectural features into his designs. Our home has a modern design, but we are also a young and busy family. Shawn managed to create a design that was both sleek and modern, but also incredibly thoughtful and accommodating to our chaotic lifestyle. Shawn guided us through every phase of the project, from the designs, to the permitting, to the contractor selection, through the construction phase, and continues to advise and advocate for us as we approach completion of the project. We are so happy with the final product, and highly recommend Shawn and BFM.

We had the pleasure of working with Shawn at BFM for a complete renovation of our three story row home in Washington, D.C. As new residents to the city we had no idea where to begin with our renovation project after purchasing our home so we decided that an architect was a good starting point. We researched and met with various architects, but once we met with Shawn we knew that he was the person we wanted to work with and we couldn't be happier with that decision. Shawn, having owned a row home in the city himself, was exponentially helpful in carefully and meticulously designing floor plans that maximized our space. Throughout the design process Shawn listened to our input and opinions, offering counterpoints based on his experience but also letting us have control in the design process. We appreciated that he took our input seriously instead of brushing off our thoughts or ideas - it truly felt like we were working as a team. When it came time to select a contractor for the project, Shawn made several recommendations for companies for us to meet with. He went over proposals with us so that we fully understood the bidding process. Once it came time for permitting, we ran into several issues with the city. Despite these hiccups, Shawn worked painstakingly with the city to resolve concerns and eventually get our permit to begin construction. He also continued to be instrumental throughout the construction phase helping us make decisions on change orders final finish items. Lastly, we appreciated Shawn's dedication and flexibility. My husband and I both work very demanding jobs that required frequent travel, Shawn was always willing to accommodate our schedule taking calls at a time that worked for us. After two years of planning and construction we do not regret one structural or spacial decision we made and could not have planned a better home for our family. I highly recommend BFM and in particular Shawn for your next project.

Brian McCarthy of Bennett Frank McCarthy designed a beautiful second story screened porch and open deck combination over a storage/work room. We built using his design in the summer of 2017. Brian’s design incorporated a Tudor arch to match the Tudor arch that we have in the front doorway of our house. He added lovely trim details and incorporated into the design specific elements that we had chosen, such as the railings. He worked with us to make changes when the initial bids came in higher than what we wanted to pay. He recommended specific materials and conducted research to find other materials to solve potential issues such as how to attach a screen to an arch opening or how best to keep the storage/workroom dry. The contractors who bid on the project did not know about many of these products so Brian’s research provided real value. The contractors who bid also spoke highly of the thoroughness and detail of Brian’s drawings and specifications. Brian was responsive and easy to work with. We are very happy with the design and the finished screened porch/deck/storage/workroom and we have received many compliments on the design. We would work with Brian again on future projects without reservation and recommend him highly.

We bought a house that was badly in need of remodeling. We had a vision of what we wanted at the start, but Shawn and his team at BFM came up with a design that surpassed all expectations. The house is beautiful and solidly built thanks in part to Shawn's attentiveness and advice throughout the construction process. We would work with him again in a second.

BFM (Shawn Buehler) came recommended to us by friends, and we are so grateful to them for the introduction! In fact, we have recommended Shawn to several neighbors and friends since because we were so pleased with how our renovation turned out. We worked with Shawn on our large home renovation (three story add-on). One of the things that we were unsure about in the beginning was how large a renovation we could actually afford - Shawn worked with us to put together initial plans that could be sent to several builders for rough estimates. He walked us through the process to determine the size renovation we wanted and could afford, and often gave several options that we could add on or remove later in the process depending on how the construction went. Shawn is very realistic in his plans - he kept cost in mind when giving options - and he took into account that we have a young family when designing solutions that would use small space more effectively. Unlike other firms we spoke with, he did not apply a standard look to our somewhat common 1940s home, but gave it character that 'matched' the existing space. He is creative - when faced with a question about what to do about an outdoor 'deck' space, he suggested a solution with our existing garage - it was cost-effective, simple, and smart, and always gets compliments from guests. We also chose to hire Shawn during our actual construction for oversight. Shawn would walk through the site with us and our builder -- his trained eye would see things that we never would have seen, and we were able to make course corrections throughout the project rather than waiting to the end. In all, BFM was easy to work with and we would strongly recommend them.

We worked with Brian for about 6 months to work through remodeling plans for our house. Brian was easy to work with and helped us work through our different design ideas. We were very satisfied with the final design and appreciated Brian's work very much. We moved forward with the first stage of the plan and Brian and team provided the detailed blueprints and construction specs. The work came our very well and we look forward to continuing to work with Brian and his team on the next phase of our plans.