Northlight Architects LLC

Excellent Architect ! I have worked on many projects with Frank for many years. He is always responsible , thoughtful and has a great perspective on completing projects.

We have had the pleasure of working with Northlight Architects on the full renovation and addition of a single-family home. Their new design was thoughtful, and their plans were well detailed. They spent quality time understanding what the homeowners were trying to achieve. At the end, the clients where extremely happy with their beautiful and functional new space for their growing family. We confidently recommend Northlight Architects often and hope to collaborate again with them in the future.

We had a great experience with Frank and his team. He quickly understood our aesthetic and designed a new back room for our house that was respectful of our house's age and architecture, but included the new features we wanted. For our next project, we hope to use Frank again.

Frank did an exceptional job helping us completely reconfigure, update, and modernize a home that was built in the 1880's. Every detail was planned perfectly to fit the needs of our family. People who see our home comment that they can tell we used an architect. The home flows really well and we have great light throughout which I don't think we could have accomplished without Frank. He is very knowledgeable on Chicago building codes which was extremely helpful. We also found bidding out the final job of rebuilding our home was much easier and precise when it came to the estimates because of the drawings Frank provided us. We would definitely use him again if we ever have an more projects in the future.

This is our second project with this firm and are quite happy. Both projects were historic homes that needed the proper integration of modern needs with the character of the house. Both projects began with closed in feel and space and ended with more than adequate, bright living areas. We did not have an unlimited budget and the firm worked with us to address our needs with a budget in mind. Many factors that I would not have thought of were addressed and professionally resolved. Great living here now!

Frank helped my wife and I design our dream home. He was easy to work with and was always available. He stayed in close contact with us during construction and checked in on the progress of the house to make sure it was moving forward as planned. I would use Frank again in a heart beat on my next project.

My husband and I purchased a brick bungalow in Chicago. We wanted to create a more spacious home with an open floor plan, but also didn't want to just throw a big box addition on the top like other homes in the neighborhood. It was very difficult to find an architectural firm willing to do our project. Northlight was willing and equipped with the expertise in bungalows. Frank listened to our wants and needs and gave us some excellent options. He customized the plans based on our laundry list of preferences. We ended up doing a complete gut and expanding the existing addition. The layout of our house is beautiful, functional for our family and still respectful of the character of a home from that era. Frank handled the permits and communication with the city pre-construction. He was easy to work with and very professional in our interactions. I am so pleased with the design of our home. When I see other homes in our area being rehabbed I can immediately tell that they did not make the investment of working with a reputable architect. Every detail was really very well thought out, from large windows allowing light, adding a second floor furnace (which my husband did try to fight, but we are happy we did) to preserving the stained glass windows in the living room and brick wall in our back porch. There are bigger homes in the area, but people often comment on how spacious our home feels because the layout was so well thought out. The main reason for 4 stars rather than 5 is because since this was a new home to us and extensive project we used a Homestyle Loan. only certain contractors are certified to work on this type of project which requires the bank to review the detailed estimates and send a consultant to regularly review the work and disburse funds, similar to a 203K. North-light had not worked on a project with this type of loan so was not familiar with the contractors we had to choose from. I think it's important to work with folks who have a relationship which might have saved my husband some back and forth between Northlight and the contractor (in fairness the contractor was not the greatest communicator and not always easy to get a hold of). I think this also impacted the potential estimates of cost Northlight made because they were not familiar with the contractor's costs. Not sure that it could have been helped since we hired Frank first because of his experience and knowledge of bungalows as well as endorsement on the historic bungalow site. This was our first renovation so again some of the hiccups were likely related to our inexperience. No complaints with the quality of the work, Northlight was super responsive to communication and got things done promptly when the city required alterations to the plan. In addition, unlike working with some other professionals throughout the process, we were never treated like our project wasn't a priority, despite the fact they had many others simultaneously. We recommend Northlight, especially if you are particular like us and have an old home that requires creative design to update!

Two Great qualities of Frank and Northlight Architects were Frank’s wonderful listening skills as well as his timeliness. We were on a bit of a deadline and Frank took every effort to get the drawings to us quicker than anticipated. Frank also has a wonderful style of listening fully to his clients. He takes copious notes during meetings as well.

Frank was the perfect architect for us! He listened and asked all the right questions. He understood our "big picture" issues, our aesthetic, functional and financial concerns-- and designed a perfect space for us. The job was a complete basement renovation and involved construction complications that we knew nothing about--didn't matter because Frank explained everything very carefully and comprehensively. The contractors he recommended were excellent and he helped us evaluate the bids, ask more questions of the contractor and decide which was one was best for us---without really giving his opinion (no favorites). He was generous with his time and knowledge, came back to the house to answer questions and talk with the contractors, and stayed helpful to the very end. The cost of his excellent service was affordable and reasonable. I highly recommend Northlight Architects LLC!