--- title: "suba | Suanne Bassett, Architect — Architects & Building Designers | Houzz" canonical_html_url: https://www.houzz.com/professionals/architects-and-building-designers/suba-suanne-bassett-architect-pfvwus-pf~1224814095 markdown_url: https://www.houzz.com/md/professionals/pf~1224814095.md entity_type: LocalBusiness business_name: "suba | Suanne Bassett, Architect" category: ["Architects"] image: https://st.hzcdn.com/fimgs/04d390e20e4f11b1_3662-w400-h400-b0-p0--.jpg address: "97 Jennings Lane, Atherton, California 94027, United States" latitude: 37.4563 longitude: -122.2002 phone: "(415) 260-1591" website: http://www.subasf.com rating: 4.9 review_count: 16 best_of_houzz_awards: 4 followers: 140 last_updated: 2026-08-23 --- # suba \| Suanne Bassett, Architect Original Houzz profile: [suba \| Suanne Bassett, Architect](https://www.houzz.com/professionals/architects-and-building-designers/suba-suanne-bassett-architect-pfvwus-pf~1224814095) ## Professional summary - **Primary category:** Architects - **Location:** Atherton, CA - **Serves:** San Mateo, Redwood City, Mountain View, Palo Alto, San Bruno, Pacifica, Menlo Park, Foster City, Los Altos, Burlingame, San Carlos, Belmont, Millbrae, Stanford, Hillsborough, Los Altos Hills, Atherton, Woodside, Emerald Lake Hills, Portola Valley, West Menlo Park - **Houzz rating:** 4.9 out of 5 (16 reviews) - **Best of Houzz:** 4 awards (2015–2020), for Service. ## About ### Houzz Badges - Star Houzzer - Recommended on Houzz - 10,000 Ideabook Saves - Best of Houzz winner - Locally owned - Eco-friendly Suba is a Bay Area Architecture and Interior Design firm focused on connecting and collaborating with you, our Clients. We listen. We communicate. In fact, the back and forth process with you in design is essential for getting it right the first time. Each new project offers a unique set of circumstances and scope of work fueling creation of an original design. We don't do "cookie cutter" here. No matter what style of home you own or desire, we work closely with you to interpret your vision and set achievable goals. We then team up with Engineers, Contractors and the building trade in guiding your project through the permitting process and final construction. We take every project seriously and we make it fun. The firm, Suba, was created by Architect and Interior Designer, Suanne Bassett. She has over 20 years of experience in the design field. Her love of light, color, texture and indoor/outdoor living is evident in her designs. Suanne holds a Masters degree in Architecture from the University of California @ Berkeley and undergraduate degrees in French and Sociology. She became a licensed Architect in New York in 1993 and then in California, the next year in 1994. Suanne worked on large public building projects including an IBM training center in New York, the Dallas Museum of Art, a hotel in Singapore, a Mid-town Manhattan high-rise and Prada retail boutiques before starting her own firm in residential design. This remains the focus of her work today. Although trained as a Modernist, Suanne enjoys working with clients on original designs in all styles. ### Services Provided - Architectural Design - Building Design - Home Remodeling - Architectural Drawings - House Plans - New Home Construction - Home Additions - Home Extensions - Kitchen Design - Sustainable Design - Kitchen Remodeling - Energy-Efficient Homes - Floor Plans - 3D Rendering - Green Building - Bathroom Design - Guesthouse Design & Construction - Multigenerational Homes - Drafting - Project Management - Outdoor Kitchen Design - Structural Engineering - Barn Design & Construction - Tiny House Construction - Staircase Design - Modular Home Additions - Passive Solar Heating & Cooling - Construction Drawings - Custom Homes ### Areas Served - San Mateo - Redwood City - Mountain View - Palo Alto - San Bruno - Pacifica - Menlo Park - Foster City - Los Altos - Burlingame - San Carlos - Belmont - Millbrae - Stanford - Hillsborough - Los Altos Hills - Atherton - Woodside - Emerald Lake Hills - Portola Valley - West Menlo Park ### Typical Job Cost $200,000 - 5,000,000.00 ## Business Details | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Business Name | suba \| Suanne Bassett, Architect | | Address | 97 Jennings Lane, Atherton, California 94027, United States | | Phone | (415) 260-1591 | | Website | http://www.subasf.com | | License Number | C24762 | | Followers on Houzz | 140 | **Social profiles:** - Blog — http://www.subasf.com/ ## Contact - **Houzz profile:** [suba \| Suanne Bassett, Architect](https://www.houzz.com/professionals/architects-and-building-designers/suba-suanne-bassett-architect-pfvwus-pf~1224814095) - **Website:** http://www.subasf.com - **Phone:** (415) 260-1591 ## Credentials **Certifications & Awards** - Best of Houzz Customer Service 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2020 - **Best of Houzz:** 4 awards (2015–2020), for Service. ## Reviews **Overall rating: 4.9 out of 5 — 16 reviews** ### Reviews **★★★★★ — Hannah H, June 2019** > We hired Suanne Bassett to help us design a complete renovation of our home along with a 700 sf addition. It was important to us that we stay true to the original style and scale of our home, and that the addition integrate seamlessly into the space - but we also wanted to make the entire space feel more modern, with tremendous natural light and good flow. Suanne was amazing in her ability to take our vision and ideas and transform them into actual, workable plans. She didn't press us to make our house bigger than we wanted to, she cared about our vision for the space rather than just what was trendy or traditional, and her design input helped make the house feel uniquely ours while also giving it a terrific and appealing flow. > > Suanne was great to work with - she listened, cared about what was important to us, but also wasn't afraid to suggest things or encourage us in a different direction when she thought we were making a choice that wouldn't work as well. > > We are so thrilled with the way the space has taken shape - it is even better than we had imagined, and the design, while quiet and not ostentatious, is what makes the whole space work so well. We definitely give Suanne our highest recommendation. **Comment from suba \| Suanne Bassett, Architect:** > Thank you very much Hannah, > > I thoroughly enjoyed working with you and Kyle in making your new home design fit your family's needs. I am looking forward to seeing the final touches. > Happy Summer to you. > Suanne **★★★★★ — Leah Reider, Nov. 2017** > I am working with Suanne Bassett on a remodel of my kitchen and two bathrooms. Suzanne is an absolute pleasure to work with. She is extremely knowledgeable and professional. She listens to my wishes and takes them into considerations when making recommendations. She has very creative ideas and suggests things that I never would have thought of. She is thorough in searching for the "right" materials and educates me as we go along. I know that the finished product is going to be gorgeous and can't recommend Suanne enough! **Comment from suba \| Suanne Bassett, Architect:** > Thank you Leah, > I love your stone and your Kitchen will be beautiful, I can't wait to see it and the Bathrooms complete. Thank you for allowing me to make suggestions and for trying them out. It has been my pleasure working with you too. **★★★★★ — Max Brown, Nov. 2017** > Suanne has really been phenomenal in helping me create my new home. She is always responsive and always follows through with any promises she makes. She has been helping me get all the elements together for my home renovation and has really been a lifesaver **Comment from suba \| Suanne Bassett, Architect:** > Hey Max, > > Thank you for my review. Your project has been special to me as an Eichler home. The house already has great bones and I have really enjoyed working with your creative choices in preserving the character and creating a new design. **★★★★★ — Rachel Forke, Nov. 2017** > Suanne was recommended by my contractor and I'm so glad to have worked with her on my home expansion! She provided a number of options and I was able to pick the most appealing and combine them to achieve exactly what I wanted. Suanne is a consummate professional, extremely collaborative and very easy to work with. My home renovation is underway and I can't wait to see the final results. **Comment from suba \| Suanne Bassett, Architect:** > Hi Rachel, > Thank you very much for taking the time to review me and my work. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with you throughout the design and construction process. It has been fun and a true Client/Architect collaboration. I can't wait to see the final results. **★★★★★ — Kathy Herman, Nov. 2017** > I met Suanne when interviewing Architects for a total remodel of a cottage. The cottage ceiling had several ceiling heights, and I wanted to make it a pitched roof to visually make the space appear larger. While other Architects discouraged this design, stating that removing structural beams would be costly, Suanne encouraged us to have the ceiling beams reviewed by a structural engineer. We did this and the beams were not structural. I have been working with Suanne for several months. She has embraced my vision while pointing out areas I should consider changing. She offers vendors that I are professional, do outstanding work, and provide many options to choose from. She has been so helpful in every aspect of this project from planning, applying for permits, and design options. She is very responsive to any communication, and I would recommend Suanne highly for any project. **Comment from suba \| Suanne Bassett, Architect:** > Hi Kathy, > > Thank you for your kind review. It has been a pleasure working with you in creating your new living environment. I can't wait to see it all come together. I am the lucky one to work with such an interesting and enjoyable Client. **★★★★★ — r y, July 2017** > Suanne is the architect who designed our house in Palo Alto. We have high regards for her professionalism. She is dedicated to her work, communicates effectively with us, and pays attention to details. In addition, she designs the house that is not only functional but also shows a keen architectural point of view. Above all, she is delightful to work with and we highly recommend her to your next design projects. **Comment from suba \| Suanne Bassett, Architect:** > Thank you very much, Kathy, for the review. Your project was both challenging and fun for its size and scope. Great clients. It has been my pleasure working with you, Audrey and Robert as a team. **★★★★★ — dianejjmt, July 2017** > I worked with Suanne for 2 years planning and implementing a major home remodel. She was involved in the initial design, architectural plans, permitting, on site building, and interior design. The best testament to her skill as an architect is the finished product: a home we love that was specifically designed for the way we live. She has great vision, a beautiful clean esthetic, and the ability to incorporate custom ideas and various styles. She is collaborative, timely, responsive, and very invested the quality of the project. And to top it off, she’s a super nice and interesting person! **Comment from suba \| Suanne Bassett, Architect:** > Thank you, Diane. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with you too. You are such a creative person. This project has truly been a team effort toward a greater good. **★★★★ — Pauline Worters, Jan. 2017** > We really enjoyed working with Suanne on our home remodel, adding \>700sqft, and changing most of the interior spaces. Suanne came up with multiple options, including some ideas we would never have thought of, and helped us quickly iterate to a final solution. Suanne then produced all the plans and worked closely with the structural engineer, soils engineer and contractor to get appropriate permits. Throughout the project, Suanne has been very easy to work with, and has responded quickly to all our queries. We would definitely recommend Suanne to anyone considering a home remodel project. **★★★★★ — Bay Area Custom Homes, Inc., Feb. 2016** > Suanne has an impeccable eye for detail and brings a sophisticated level of architectural design to her projects. We have worked together for a number of years and I appreciate her responsiveness to clients, working as a team to balance practical needs and beautiful architecture. Her spaces are exceptionally well designed and her clients enjoy working with her! **★★★★★ — Davinci marble, Jan. 2016** > Loved working with Suanne. Great ideas and listened well to our needs. She was referred by a designer and we would recommend her as well. **Comment from suba \| Suanne Bassett, Architect:** > Thank you so much, Joe for the review. I appreciate it. It was my pleasure working with you during the design process. **★★★★★ — David L, Jan. 2016** > At the recommendation of our realtor's team, we found Suanne and worked with her on our near total remodel and expansion of a 60 year old home in the Bay area. She worked with us to transform the house into a modern living space that fit our needs and specifications, with attention to details. From the initial design and revisions, she continued to be regularly involved with work on the house as she regularly communicates with us and the contractor's project managers, cabinet company, tilers, etc. throughout the duration of the project. She has definitely helped to facilitate a smooth process and provide input to maintain the general vision, color scheme, and design intact as small unexpected things have popped us, not surprising for an older home. Her input has been invaluable, finding a good balance between her suggestions and recommendations and our style and wishes She has helped find ways to create areas of storage, remain relatively kid friendly, but keep a contemporary style and design. As we come near the end of our project, we have been very pleased with the results. We wouldn't hesitate to work with her again and would recommend her without reservation, particularly for anyone working on a modern (or transitional) project. **Comment from suba \| Suanne Bassett, Architect:** > David, thank you so much for my review. It was my pleasure working with you and Michelle throughout the design and construction process. **★★★★★ — haysiegirl, March 2015** > We worked with Suanne on the design and drawings for our 110+ year old farmhouse remodel. It was important to us to maintain the integrity of our beautiful old home while at the same time adding on the space and amenities that we desperately needed. Suanne was wonderful to work with and took all of our concerns to heart. Her creativity was key to solving our remodeling dilemmas and helping us mesh the old with the new in a way that kept the old farmhouse still looking like and old farmhouse and not like new construction. We could not be happier with the designs she came up with and would highly recommend her to any of our friends and family. ## Selected projects - [Contemporary living in San Carlos](https://www.houzz.com/hznb/projects/contemporary-living-in-san-carlos-pj-vj~2844193) - Location: San Carlos, CA - Photos: 6 - Description: We completely rebuilt and modernized this neighborhood bungalow from the foundation up. The house lacked a formal Entry, a place to greet and welcome guests before breaking off into other rooms. Raising ceilings to create light filled spaces was a priority. Our Clients love the outdoors and the main focus for the design was to open, streamline and expand areas allowing the beautiful views to draw guests back toward the rear garden. The garden has become the entertainment area with a new pool hou… - [Modern Home Palo Alto Retreat](https://www.houzz.com/hznb/projects/modern-home-palo-alto-retreat-pj-vj~1716284) - Location: Palo Alto, CA - Photos: 8 - Description: This light filled and airy home provides a quiet retreat of indoor-outdoor living spaces tucked away from it all at the end of a busy day. - [Tiny House Lifestyle - Palo Alto](https://www.houzz.com/hznb/projects/tiny-house-lifestyle-palo-alto-pj-vj~5531361) - Location: Palo Alto, CA - Photos: 3 - Description: My Clients bought a tiny house (800+ sq. ft.) on a substandard lot and challenged us to remove the existing and create a new living environment for them. The lot is 25'-0" wide with 6'-0" setbacks on each side, so we indeed, had our work cut out for us. The height limit is 17'-0" so a second story was not possible. For the main living area, we created an expansive, open and airy space with 12'-0" ceilings and a 10'-0" window height. The goal was to allow as much light as possible into the narrow… - [Contemporary Wine and Art Room](https://www.houzz.com/hznb/projects/contemporary-wine-and-art-room-pj-vj~863186) - Location: San Mateo, CA - Photos: 4 - Description: Creative inspiration transforms previous storage space into a contemporary wine and art room for display of client's collection and private gatherings. - [Atherton Cottage-Style Home](https://www.houzz.com/hznb/projects/atherton-cottage-style-home-pj-vj~508627) - Location: Atherton, CA - Photos: 4 - Description: Bring on the challenge, we love small spaces and this little Atherton cottage is a real gem. We enhanced it's great bones and updated with modern amenities by bringing it down to the foundation on the interior and rebuilding it with all new updated materials, flooring, fixtures, appliances, finishes, lighting, cabinetry, tile/stone and paint. The Kitchen and Bedroom areas were expanded to add a few feet of work space while maintaining the original cottage facade and charm. - [Peninsula Modern Family Home](https://www.houzz.com/hznb/projects/peninsula-modern-family-home-pj-vj~722133) - Location: San Carlos, CA - Photos: 6 - Description: With breathtaking views below them and beyond, our Clients knew they had selected the right site for their family home. Now their desire was to remove walls and open up the house to the expansive views. We also updated their exterior street presence. - [Modern Family Bungalow](https://www.houzz.com/hznb/projects/modern-family-bungalow-pj-vj~722153) - Location: Not specified - Photos: 13 - Description: This modern bungalow renovation has custom details throughout. The active family desired modern, open space and organization inside and out. Walls were removed and support beams raised and a unique cantilevered deck was installed. The outcome was refreshed and reorganized. - [Sustainable Building Proposal](https://www.houzz.com/hznb/projects/sustainable-building-proposal-pj-vj~486570) - Location: San Francisco, CA - Photos: 2 - Description: Why not assemble a house like a car? We spend so much effort on new automobile design while house construction lags behind. Why not create a modular framing system with integrated panels which would anchor to an engineered foundation specifically designed for the site. All exterior and interior walls, roofs, ceilings, floors, mechanical and plumbing chases could be fabricated in panel modules and attached to the framework through uniform connections. Interior built-ins for Kitchens and Baths cou… - [Pacific Grove Preview](https://www.houzz.com/hznb/projects/pacific-grove-preview-pj-vj~480696) - Location: Pacific Grove, CA - Photos: 2 - Description: The original little board and batten cottage sits in the middle of a large lazy garden with stunning oak and cypress trees. The residence is a short walk to Asilomar beach. The design intent was to build a new larger home for the family with an indoor/outdoor connection to the expansive rear garden. We wanted to use a modern approach to the design while retaining the board and batten character. My Clients decided to sell the property and move from the area so we did not proceed with the project.… [See all 9 projects](https://www.houzz.com/professionals/architects-and-building-designers/suba-suanne-bassett-architect-pfvwus-pf~1224814095) ## Ideabooks - [Exteriors](https://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/124594777/list/exteriors) — 3 ideas - [Lee Lighting](https://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/52556113/list/lee-lighting) — 6 ideas - [Bathroom](https://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/32020978/list/bathroom) — 1 idea - [Modern Farmhouse](https://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/28247021/list/modern-farmhouse) — 3 ideas - [Traditional](https://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/28210029/list/traditional) — 8 ideas - [Mediterranean](https://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/28247068/list/mediterranean) — 1 idea - [Modern cottage](https://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/28246959/list/modern-cottage) — 1 idea - [Contemporary](https://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/28210373/list/contemporary) — 3 ideas [See all 8 ideabooks](https://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/users/suannebassett) ## Community Q&A **Q: French oak floors** *(in Photo Questions)* Can you please tell me provide the details for the French oak floors? What kind/brand of French oak? Thanks! A: Hi Shelly, Thank you very much for your kind words. The flooring is a simple french white oak plank. It was installed through my flooring Contractor, sanded and finished in place. We did not apply a stain, just a clear finish coat. You should be able to get this product through any flooring store. Hope this helps. My best, Suanne **Q: Front Entry Door** *(in Photo Questions)* Hi, Which company is the Front Door from? can you please share the name/site? A: Hello, The door is from Artistic Millwork, 935 Terminal Way, San Carlos, CA. (650) 369-3667. They are a wonderful company - very helpful and resourceful. My best, Suanne **Q: What kind of window blinds are these?** *(in Photo Questions)* I want a modern looking window blind A: Hello, My Clients installed these window shades after construction. I believe they are a typical flat cloth panel which folds accordion style. Most window treatment companies carry them in any color. They will come out and custom fit the shades to your window size. Hope this helps. **Q: What is the counter material and color?** *(in Photo Questions)* A: Hello Pudima, The counter top is concrete with fossils set into it. Please see www.concreteexchange.com for more information. Best, Suanne --- *Source: Houzz professional profile. Reflects the profile as of 2026-08-23.*