Hiser + Kopits Hiser Architects, P.C.

I cannot recommend HKH architacts highly enough. Helen Hiser was a pleasure to work with at all times. We had a complicated project in a small kitchen in a 120 year old Baltimore home. Her suggestions were always helpful, and reflected her willingness to listen to our concerns and vision. She responded quickly to any changes we needed, which not only made it easier for our contractors to understand, but also improved the adaptations to our original drawings. The result was a renovation which respected the beauty of the existing features of the kitchen, yet gave us the much-needed upgrades we had hoped for. The compliments we receive from our neighbors (who also own 100 year old homes!) are a testament to the success of our collaboration with HKH. We have already engaged Helen Hiser for another project, with complete confidence.

Helen has a terrific eye and I appreciated her design guidance. You can't go wrong with Helen and Fred. I have seen other projects they have done - beautiful attention to detail.

Over the last 30 years, Helen has taken on 3 projects for me: 2 in the house we live in now, and the third and current one is a condo we plan to move to when the renovations there are complete. These projects were spaced 15 years apart, and all are in very modest neighborhoods and circumstances. I mention this because many folks have the idea that an architect designs a house from the ground up, and only for those in the most fortunate of circumstances. While I'm sure that's true in many cases, in my case 30 years ago, I was trying to turn a small attic into a functional, apartment-type, top floor, so that we could live there and care for my elderly parents who owned the house and lived on the first floor. The restriction was not to raise the roof or create more dormers. Helen was referred to me by a number of trades people, and from the moment she entered that dark, small space, she showed nothing but respect and interest in what I was trying to do and agreed to take on the job. Her plans were exactly what I requested. I was amazed that what was on my "wish list" was there in black & white on her plans. Fast forward 15 years, I asked Helen to perform the same magic for the unfinished basement in the same house - AND SHE DID! It turned out amazing. I have been able to live with her designs for 30 years now, and they are still as functional, efficient, and pleasant to live in as they were when they were installed. That's the best thing I can say: we have never tired of the layout, or wished this applicance was in a different spot, or thought a door should be somewhere else. Everything today makes just as much sense as the day she presented the plans. The benefit of her training and experience, and a really good ear for listening, is what makes her projects work and keeps all the costs affordable. The current project is our retirement condo and we both can't wait to see it finished. I wish I could give Helen more than 5 stars!

Helen has worked on two major projects for us; a two story addition to the back of our home with expansive kitchen and home office space and then a front porch space. Helen exceeded all our needs and expectations while keeping the integrity of the architecture of the home. The additions look as if they have always been part of our 68 year old house. She is extraordinarily talented and knowledgeable. She is professional, friendly and caring. She was able to explain the construction to me so that I understood what was happening. Helen is well respected and connected to the construction community. She was able to refer us to a contractor that is amazing. They worked well together making the whole process pleasant and fun, (which isn't always the case with construction:)) I would highly recommend Helen to anyone looking for a architect that will listen to your needs and make them a reality. Pricing for both projects was affordable and fair.

Helen went above and beyond on our porch design. She is very detail oriented and continued to work with our contractor even though she had already fulfilled our agreement. The porch completely transformed the exterior of our home and we couldn’t be happier! We would definitely use her again without any reservations whatsoever!!!

I chose Helen Hiser because I loved what I saw in her portfolio. When I met her, I knew I had chosen perfectly. She listened carefully to what we said and observed how we lived in our house. She had ideas for our kitchen extension, screened porch replacement and family room that I never thought of and proved to be exactly what we needed. The homeowners association members were impressed with how her designed updated our 1973 home and respected the neighborhoods aesthetic. She worked great with our contractor, too. Helen never forced her ideas on us and was respectful of cost. The final result is our forever dream home.

We engaged the services of Hiser & Kopits Hiser Architects when designing a large screened in porch addition. Helen Kopits Hiser was wonderful to work with! She was with us every step of the process to facilitate a great final plan, provided excellent design guidance, and gave us a beautiful space to live in. Our contractor enjoyed working with her so much that he is now recommending her to other clients who need architectural designs!

Terrific architect! Very knowledgeable. Had a solid grasp of the county codes. We had a 2 car detached garage and portico built including moving our driveway and landscaping. Also we had her design a kitchen addition and a Family Room addition for the future. She listened to what we had to say about what we wanted in design and she nailed it. She also offered some excellent and well thought out options. Her communication with us and well as the contractor was great throughout the project. A true professional. I would recommend her in a heartbeat!!

We were referred to Hiser + Kopits Hiser Architects from a friend and could not be more pleased. Our need was for a consult/design brainstorm for a fixed roof over our patio and Helen was awesome. She was very flexible, easy to work with and provided multiple design ideas based on our vision. I would not hesitate to use Hiser + Kopits Hiser Architects in the future.

Outstanding! Professional! An expert job well done! Just a few words to say how great Helen did on our job. We needed a licensed architect to design, create and provide drawings for a small addition to our office located in an older building. As a small non-profit, we needed to find a professional architect who was not only excellent, but also did not break our budget. Hiser + Kopits Hiser was just that. Helen's knowledge, expertise and guidance made the project come together perfectly. She came to the office, studied the current structure, and designed an addition that fit with the current structure and feel of the building. She met every benchmark set by the Office of Permits. They, too, were impressed with her work as was the builder who is using the drawings to build the addition.. Helen gave everything she promised and was right on the mark for the date she delivered. All of this professional work was done with a sensitivity and a personal touch. Helen was awesome to work with. I cannot wait to invite her to share a glass of wine in the new addition.

we hired HKH to remodel our house which was a road filled with obstacles and problems we had constant support of the HKH at every step of the way even 5 years later when our kitchen and family roof leaked despite many calls to the builder but our architect rushed to our house in bad icy weather to check out the site. Her efforts brought the original builder to inspect the roof who chose not to address the problem . HKH provided us with another builder choice at our request we will always be grateful to HKH. No matter what happens in life or in projects we undertake support honesty kindness compassion conscience and trust is the key to any relationship. HKH has a foundation of these values which will not leave you.

I can recommend without reservation Hiser + Kopits Hiser (HKH). We brought in HKH after another architect and a contractor failed to solve a critical problem in our house. HKH not only solved the problem, but significantly improved on our overall living space. We had purchased a 150-year old house in downtown baltimore that was four stories and divided into separate apartments. Our goal was to combine two of the apartments into one owner's unit and the only way to do this was by building a new internal stairway between two floors. Then challenge was that structurally the only place where the stairs could go was adjacent to an addition that had been built many years ago where the floors intentionally did not align by 4 feet. In other words, the stairway needed to incorporate three runs of stairs between four separate levels between the two floors we needed to move between. And all this while retaining the light loft-like look we had throughout the rest of the house. Complicated. The principal of the firm, Helen Hiser, spent significant time on the site, measuring, drawing, taking photos, talking with contractors, talking with us, and eventually came up with an elegant, functional, and solid solution. She worked with good cheer and humor and was always available for consultation with contractors. Sadly for HKH, the finished project looks like it has always been there, it is so well integrated into the fabric of the house. We have had preservation architects compliment us on retaining the original layout of the house, when in fact the original layout would have been cramped, dark, dangerous, and not come anywhere close to meeting either building codes or modern aesthetic sensibilities. Helen was a pleasure to work with and we would not hesitate to use her again.