Allan Shope Architect

I had the pleasure of being introduced to Allan Shope in the fall of 2016. My company was invited to bid on an extensive renovation of a historic farm house in Kent, CT. I first met Allan at his former office in Wasaaic, NY and was immediately impressed not only with the craftsmanship surrounding me, but also of his intimate knowledge of the neighboring environment. As we worked through the bidding process, it became evident that Allan was extremely knowledgeable regarding the construction envelope of this 1840's home. After a thorough interview, my company was selected to renovate the original farm house structure at Anderson Acres Farm in Kent, CT. As with any restoration project, there were many unforeseen issues. Design limitations due to the nature of the original homes location in a wetland and the local historic commissions request that we reuse the homes original foot print and post and beam structure presented significant challenges. Allan and his staff seamlessly designed a building renovation and addition to meet the owners needs while keeping this historic home’s traditional architecture at the fore front of the design. Allan was readily available throughout the project to answer any questions that arose, drawings were issued promptly, and materials, fixtures and finish selections were thoroughly reviewed by Allan and his staff. Allan also generously offered historically accurate hardware from his own personal collection at no cost to the owners. Allan’s reuse, repurpose and reclaim mentality allowed for a project that holds true to its origins in an environmentally conscious manner. Additionally, I had the pleasure of being invited to Allan's new location in Hudson, NY. It was there that I was fully able to appreciate Allan's desire to build in a way that truly showcases a home’s natural surroundings. For the discriminating owner who desires to use the canvas of nature to design and build an environmentally sensitive home that will become a work of art, they need look no further than Allan Shope and Shope Architects.

We have had the distinct pleasure of collaborating with Allan on exquisite homes that bring to life the dreams of our clients. Allan’s unique passion for quality and uncanny ability to detail the seamless marriage of natural materials results in a timeless project of the highest standards. His creativity and vision is obvious in all his work. As a Builder, one of the most important relationships we have on a project is with the architect. Allen and his team go far above and beyond to answer any of our questions and work to keep the projects moving to completion. It is truly a pleasure to work with Allan and his team and we cannot recommend him enough. - Gavin Guinan, Woolems Construction

Allan Shope is a world-class architect--every project with him has exceeded my expectations. I've engaged Allan Shope for four projects over the past 20 years. The first project involved extensive renovations to our waterfront home in Greenwich CT. Our home dated back to 1895 and posed numerous structural challenges to our desired renovations. Allan Shope turned out to have deep engineering and structural knowledge and beautiful architectural designs that allowed us to achieve design goals that we initially feared were structurally unattainable. Allan replaced two smaller interior doorways with a large central archway for our living room that afforded a beautiful water view, but involved detailed engineering analysis to ensure the upper two floors were well supported. He also turned a dark rabbit warren of old servants' quarters on our third floor into a beautiful open office/gym, bathed in light with spectacular water views from a giant palladium window he designed. Allan regularly prodded our contractors to ensure that they completed the projects in a reasonable time frame and on budget. Our second and third projects are at our current Hudson riverfront property in the Hudson Valley. Allan first designed an 1,800 sq. ft. barn/studio intended to be an office and overflow guest space. One of Allan's signature talents is green architecture where he designs buildings to be highly energy and resource efficient. He is a recognized expert in this area, teaching seminars at Harvard on this topic. For our barn/studio, he helped us select a site where the barn could be built into a hillside to provide natural temperature moderation for the lower level. The upstairs is a dramatic open space with high ceilings and a large bank of windows at either end that flood the space with natural light, thereby minimizing need for electric light during the day (first photo). Allan again tightly managed the contractors and the project was finished on time and on budget. The third project, construction of our main 6,500 sq. ft. house, showcased all Allan's talents--energy conservation, deep engineering and structural knowledge; use of beautiful recycled and natural materials; ability to manage all levels of the project to ensure all contractors and sub-contractors delivered high-quality work; an ability to solve problems that arose during construction expediently and economically; meticulous attention to detail in all aspects of the project from engineering, structural, functional and design perspectives; tight project management that ensured completion of work on time or, in this case, ahead of schedule; and truly breathtaking architectural designs for both the interior and exterior spaces (last 3 photos). The fourth and much smaller project was to find a hurricane shelter solution for my daughter in Florida. After considering custom and ready-made solutions, Allan selected a ready-made solution that was FEMA-certified, the most cost-effective and able to be delivered and installed quickly. Given his first-rate performance on these diverse projects, Allan will remain our go-to architect for all future projects.

It is difficult to rate brilliance. While researching "earth berm home", I came upon Allan Shope. After one meeting with Allan at the stunning house he was building overlooking the Hudson River, I knew that he was the architect that I wanted to design an art studio/cottage on our property along the Shawangunk Ridge in New York State. Although our project was smaller than many of the others Allan has done, he and his staff gave it their complete attention from the original design to completion of the construction. Allan's expertise allowed us to fulfill our goal of building a sustainable building using non-toxic and recycled materials, no electricity and perfect natural light. Allan designed a beautiful building that, from anywhere on our property, is a gem nestled into the hill.

You couldn’t find a better guide, a true visionary who sets a standard of competence that few can match. Allan Shope is a joy to work with again and again.

Allan Shope is a stellar architect and human being! Working with him was a wonderful experience beginning to end and we are already working with him on a new project. We would choose him as our architect again and again. He is extremely creative, an active listener who can translate ideas into reality and is incredibly fast and efficient with design logistics as well as permitting. He has a deep understanding of environmentally sound and energy efficient architectural solutions. Not only do we love the home Allan designed for us, we love him and working with him was a pure delight.

Allan Shope was the architect for our dramatic, light filled, completely open post and beam barn that is built into a slope to save energy. We use the barn for an office and if needed for guests. It is a beautiful and useful and we have received many complements on it. When a tree fell destroying our cabin-like house, Allan designed and oversaw the building of its extraordinary replacement, a modern house twice the size of the old cabin that honors its look and feel-- and did this in a year in an area with very difficult zoning so that we could move in after living in the barn. Again, the house has been complemented but just about everyone who sees it.