Carl C. Oldenburg AIA

I found renderings Carl did for another client on Flickr about 10 years ago, and finally made contact with him about six years ago. Since then, we explored a number of projects and I built a few of them and plan to build a few more. Carl has humored my own bad (and good) ideas and has come up with fantastic solutions for numerous sticky situations that come up in the constraints of remodeling an existing space. I’ve learned so much from the conversations with Carl over the years; it’s been a wonderful process to work with him. The tradesmen that I’ve hired who have worked with him speak very highly of him as well. I can’t wait to do more projects with Carl!

I worked with Carl renovating an entire home . I had a fairly specific vision in mind, and Carl was able to understand what I was trying to achieve, and to translate that into his designs. He also had even more ideas to add to my vision, to help me express it even better. I found him very calm, responsive, easy to work with, and professional. I would highly recommend him highly to all of my family, friends, or anyone looking for an architect

We have worked with Carl on a wide range of projects in two of our Boston area homes over the past 12 years. The work that he has done has ranged from designing an addition and new kitchen, remodeling the front facade of one house taking it from a sad mismatched jumbled design to one of classic beauty, two home offices with built ins, a basement family room & storage area remodel, a complicated stairs remodel, and built in cabinetry & shelving. No matter the size of the project, he is enthusiastic and thoughtful with his approach and work. He is always a delight to work with, he consistently understands our goals and needs, is able to stay within the budgets and criteria we set, and comes through on time--every time. We highly recommend him!

We have worked with Carl on two projects spanning almost twenty years. The first was a major addition, adding a dining room, sun-room, bedroom and raising the roof on a small Cape. Carl's imaginative use of space and design sense made us see possibilities that we never could have imagined. What was once a small, very plain and boring starter-Cape was transformed into a very interesting, jewel-like home. Still small (just as we wanted), but now with beautiful proportions and warmth, and enough space for all (including interesting nooks and crannies and small, tucked-away cabinets for storage), it is a home that we love and plan to stay in forever. We also value that the addition so perfectly nestles into the exterior shape of the original house that many are amazed to hear that a significant part of the home was added-on. When the time came to renovate the kitchen, there was no doubt that we would work with Carl, again. He gave us the beautiful "cozy kitchen" you can see pictured, with, again, beautiful proportions and elegant fittings. He "got" us and understood that we wanted quality on a human scale. Carl was always terrific to work with. He listened and responded to our needs, expanding our horizons at each point in the process to create an end result that was better and more beautiful, but still very much "us". His pricing was quite fair, and he was always on time as we moved from stage to stage of the design and building process. We recommend him most highly.

When we first interviewed Carl many years ago, we were impressed by his ability to problem solve with the client and create positive outcomes with problematic situations. That impression proved true in all our projects with Carl. Our first project involved turning a ranch style home into a two story home. The staircase was a bit tricky but Carl created a gorgeous staircase that really pulled the whole project together. Our second project was a rescue on Carl's part. We were planning major winterization and expansion of a summer home including all new kitchen and garage with apartment. Unfortunately, our relationship with the architect in that state deteriorated to an unacceptable level. After calling Carl for advice on dealing with this, we fired the other architect and hired Carl. He worked with the plans we had and immediately identified the problems and suggested the perfect solutions. He attended a Coastal Area Committee meeting to make sure the plans and project were accepted. Our third project was just this past year on the second home. It entailed creating a new master bath and walk-in closet by moving rooms and the addition of a screened porch. Once again, Carl listened to what we were trying to accomplish and came up with exactly what we wanted. Another aspect to Carl's work is that the builders we have used have been impressed with his plans.