Michael Cobb

We recently retired and downsized to a new home by the ocean that was less than half the size of our old home. However, the kitchen was problematic. We chose Michael Cobb/Studio Ecesis as our architect for the remodel and he did a wonderful job of developing a design that incorporated many of the things we loved in our previous kitchen into the smaller outdated kitchen. He recommended flipping the original layout from one side to the other, shortened one of the walls, increased the height of the ceiling and added 3 levels of lighting to make the room feel more spacious and provide us with an expanded view of the ocean while we were cooking. He also recommended taking out the corner pantry and replacing it with a Kessebohmer pull out pantry to provide more workable space. He used software tools that allowed us to see what the new kitchen would look like from multiple angles. Now that our kitchen is done, it looks exactly like the last software iteration. It was very helpful and we love our new kitchen.

I highly recommend Michael Cobb, Architect! Over the last 6 months, Mike has helped assist me with design plans for a repair for my home whose roof and walls were heavily damaged by a huge tree in winter 2019. Mike's knowledge and expertise as a Architect and with the permit process with Sonoma County made me feel and understand that I was getting the professional help I needed for my repair project. Thank you Michael Cobb, you're awesome!!!

d. BEST LIGHT SPECIFICATION has collaborated with Studio Ecesis for over ten years. Michael is an innovative Architect who brings a unique perspective to his Projects. Working with Mike encourages a fresh new look at my Lighting Design. Studio Ecesis offers a bonus as well - Mike is a licensed General Contractor. Invaluable.

Mike is a maker. A builder. He has vision, and he also understands the process. He enjoys guiding clients, and eventually design and construction teams, to make a successful project happen. I've been happy to provide structural engineering services on several of his projects, and would recommend him highly.

Mike recently completed the design and supervision of work on our new home. We move in next week! We have worked with him three times on the same home: First a small remodel, then, a large interior remodel and, now, a redesign and rebuild of the home completely destroyed by the Sonoma County Wine Country Fires of 2017. He has a preference for the contemporary style, but could probably do anything. While he is a strong advocate for his positions, he is motivated to listen to the client and find a way to deliver.

Mike Cobb is a visionary architect with a great design esthetic. He is knowledgeable and creative in finding solutions to achieve a design objective. He is responsive and works hard to meet deadlines. We have completed two renovation projects and a new house construction project with Mike. He helped us transform a 1970's ranch style home into a contemporary oasis. This home was destroyed by fire, and Mike helped us re-imagine the property and create a spectacular new home on the site, which is refined and contemporary.

You Dream It, He’ll Bring It to Reality We had lots of ideas for our “dream house” on Fitch Mountain, and Mike Cobb nurtured those ideas—and contributed many of his own—to make it a reality. Perhaps some of the most important work he did came well before we were ready to think about beginning construction, when he painstakingly modeled various possibilities for us so that we could make a fully informed decision about the style, scope, and economic realities of the project. Mike has many personal and professional attributes that, in our opinion, make him a great choice for designing any project: --Naturally, he knows all the requisite professional architect stuff, but he also brings his own special qualities to the profession. He is both creative and detail-oriented, blending aesthetics and practicalities well. Our home has architectural details that we would have never thought of without his inspiration, which continue to delight us and all who see it. --He has a great sense of place and was able to fit the product to the site, respecting the ambient surroundings as well as our needs. Also, he was on board with our desire to “go green” where feasible. --He supervised the project thoroughly. There was a scheduled “sit-down” among us, him, and the contractor every week. He was on site almost every day. Always on call if a question arose, he worked quickly to solve any problems. He worked very well with the contractor, and went to bat for us with the County on permit issues when necessary. --He was clear in explaining our options about materials, fixtures, etc, throughout the construction so that we could make decisions based on our preferences with an eye toward cost trade-offs as well as fitting into the aesthetics of the whole design. --He worked within our budget. There were no surprises with his professional fees, and the only cost overrun came because of a change we requested. --He is never lacking in energy and “can do” enthusiasm. We’ve been in our house for 6 years now. It “lives well” and is great for entertaining in. Our guests like it as much as we do! We whole-heartedly recommend Mike Cobb’s architectural services. --Marty and Ellen Silge

Having seen and much admired the face-lift Mike Cobb did on his own home, I hired him to design a face-lift for my unassuming 1960s ranch house. Though by its nature not a project to allow him to exercise the full extent of his impressive talent, Mike nevertheless threw himself into the project and gave it his all. Not only am I absolutely delighted with the result, but I found it to be a pleasure to work with Mike, from the beginning planning stages to the very end. It felt like a creative, respectful, and friendly partnership all the way through. I also found him to be very helpful in dealing with contractors, and wished I had had him to help out on previous projects. As I contemplate the possibility of building a house in the future, Mike Cobb will definitely be my architect!

Michael is a very creative and attentive architect. Michael takes on new challenges and puts his all into creating a piece that's workable and that makes sense for the client. He investigates new products and alternative ways to meet his clients' vision.

Michael is a very creative and attentive architect. Michael takes on new challenges and puts his all into creating a piece that's workable and that makes sense. He investigates new products and alternative ways to meet clients' vision.

MIchael is an amazing architect. I worked with him on a variety of project for the last 10 years. He is extremely knowledgable in his field and has an insight to works best in construction materials. He is also a very talented designer, sensitive to client needs with a set of principles concerned with the nature of beauty. He is reliable and was able to complete projects on time as agreed and within designated budgets.

Michael Cobb wasted a lot of our time and money on a design that was bid by several contractors at well over $400,000 beyond the $900,000 budget we gave him, and more than $300,000 beyond his own estimate (an estimate that was approved and shared with our board, contrary to his odd claims below). By that time he had already billed $11,000 more than his fee proposal, and he insisted on at least $12,000 more to revise his design in a way that made sense. Based on how widely he missed the mark we hired a new architect to do the revisions. We wish we had chosen the other architect from the beginning. In the end Mike billed $3200 in fees against our retainer for work on his redesign "proposal," a proposal we had never accepted. He included fees for discussing his proposed fees. Hiring Mike was the single most costly mistake our organization has ever made.