Dutton Architects Inc.

John and David are top notch architects. Not only that they blend their design aesthetic with the owner's vision - 1+1 = 11 - but throughout a long, tough process with the country's most incompetent planning department, they stayed cool, calm, and collected, and enabled us to get the plans, to the inch, through Malibu City Hall. If you want a traditional McMansion, don't go to Dutton Architects. They specialize in modern, tasteful, elegant structures that blend into the scenery rather than popping out like an unwanted teenage pimple. We would highly recommend John and team if you want smart design, considered form and function, and a pleasant, collaborative process.

We had a great experience working with Dutton Architects! John and his team are creative, collaborative, detail-oriented and excellent problem-solvers. The process was smooth from beginning to end and we are thrilled with the outcome.

We conducted a long and exhaustive search for an architect, and while there were many that we loved, we ultimately settled on John Dutton because of his approachable manner, transparent process, and his expertise in midcentury design. Unfortunately, after discussing our hopes with him at length, we all agreed that the project didn't fit in our budget right now. John was awesome throughout the process, and never pushed us to go forward. He was very understanding and clearly wanted what was best for us. Once we can manage to make the money work for the construction, we can't wait to go through the rest of the process with John!

John and the team at Dutton Architects are the absolute best of the best. Their professionalism and attention to detail is unmatched. John and David took such care with every aspect of our design and found creative solutions to meet all our needs. Their designs balanced architectural esthetics with amazing functionality. They also managed to give us multiple ways to work with the square footage and arrange our living space. And beyond the fantastic designs and execution, they're a true pleasure to work with. We highly recommend Dutton Architects!

When I called John and David, I told them I had no idea how any of this worked, but I wanted them to design a house for me. Before we even got to any of the actual house designing, they helped me endlessly search real estate and vacant land to identify the right place to put the house. This had to have been time consuming and exhausting, but they consistently offered their time and energy to me with a rare kind of generosity. During the design process, they never failed to make themselves available and open for in depth discussions about every last idea I had. They obviously calibrate their approach to suit the needs of every individual they work with. For example, John even made time (a lot of it!) to take me to look at toilets, of all things. They understand what a creative vision means to a client. They were incredibly thoughtful in hearing mine, even when somewhat incoherent, and they turned it around and translated it into a brilliant design. John and David understand that a home is an incredibly personal thing, and they approach their clients' homes with this in mind. They are thoughtful, humble, fantastic architects and people, and my experience working with them was wonderful. Highly recommend!

We came to Dutton Architects for help with a project of attaching two separate small homes of differing age and architectural style. One was built in the 1920s a fanciful Spanish, the other a 1950s guest house with modern stylings. We wanted to work with the existing footprint of both houses because of grandfathered setbacks as well as budget. It was basically an impossible task and John and his team managed to solve this in such a seamless way. John was especially thoughtful in responding to our input and including us in the evolution of the design. It was exciting to see the ideas take shape in a way that fit our needs. Due to the costs of hillside stabilization we were not able to see the project through to completion, but he gave us an excellent plan for connecting these two structures, and hopefully we will be able to complete the project someday. It was a pleasure working with John and Jack and his entire team.

John and his team were so wonderful to work with! I couldn't have asked for an easier and more positive experience when it came to doing the architecture of my home. They were so professional in every way, always there when I had questions or concerns, always had all their materials and paperworks when we were meeting. They made us feel like we were well heard and always understood, that out opinions were what mattered and they made sure to execute what we wanted. Their impute was always helpful, and when it came to things that we were not so familiar with they made sure to explain everything to us so we never felt confused. Their design impute and creativity was like anything I've ever seen. They are so creative and very detailed oriented. They understood very well the style we were going for and were able to elaborate on it with so many beautiful details. I would definitely recommend John and his team to help you!

Our house was built in 1966. We retained Dutton Architects to help us redesign the floor plan and update our fixtures in order to improve the flow and better address our housing needs. We also wanted to upgrade our structure, roof windows, and systems to current standards. At the same time, we hoped to preserve as much of the original house, footprint, and design. This job required extensive problem solving with a minimum of ego. Dutton Architects rose to the occasion and satisfied all of our objectives while also imprinting their own unique style. They presented us with numerous schemes and helped us to iterate until we found the perfect solution. They also came up with numerous subtle--but ingenious solutions, such as reversing the orientation of a staircase to create better flow between levels in the house. John has assembled a wonderful team of professionals who are not only creative and inspired architects but warm and empathic. Every meeting we had was enjoyable and we have all remained friends. Dutton Architects helped us with construction management and interaction with the contractors and other professionals who worked on the job. No detail or concern that we articulated was treated as too small for their attention, but they also helped us keep perspective and focus on the big picture.

I was introduced to Dutton Architects through a good friend who had recently worked with John on an extensive home renovation. I was considering an addition to my existing home or constructing a new home, so I consulted with Dutton Architects to weigh the possibilities and provide rough budget estimates for different options. Dutton Architects also helped me to evaluate a couple of pieces of land that had come on the market as possible sites for constructing a new home. I was very impressed with the dedicated personal attention that John and his team gave to my potential project. Though I always felt that my goals and needs were paramount, I genuinely appreciated that John had a clear design vision and point of view. He was quick to highlight the advantages and disadvantages of different solutions, while steering me away from ideas that were contrary to our goals. I also gained a lot confidence in Dutton Architects' extensive technical knowledge and experience with the local building environment, which helped tremendously with decision-making. For personal budget and timing reasons, I ended up purchasing a new home and did not ultimately end up completing a project with Dutton Architects. However, my many interactions with John and his team were all excellent and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them.

We hired John to design a ~3000 sqft single family house in Mar Vista. We were extremely happy, not just with the designs he put forth—which were wonderfully varied and each satisfied most of our myriad requirements in different and interesting ways—but also just in the quality and depth of the work relationship. His team really took the time to understand our interests and our needs and to consider how to incorporate those (sometimes very abstract) things in architectural results.

John is an inspired architect who rescued our mid-century house in Beverly Hills and transformed it into our dream home. He has the historical knowledge and theoretical acumen of an academic mingled with the taste, vision and attention to detail of an interior designer. He and his entire team were a pleasure to work with from the earliest planning stages all the way through to the installation of the final design touches. He helped immensely with our contractor whenever scheduling, budget and materials issues arose. I enthusiastically recommend John and his firm for any and all architectural projects, be they a mere kitchen remodel or, like ours, a large-scale, comprehensive home renovation.

Working with John and his team was a pleasure. Their acute attention to to every detail, combined with their holistic design approach, helped craft a a truly thoughtful space. They are a smart and talented group with some outstanding work under their belt; keep up the great work!