Specht Novak Architects

We've worked with Specht Novak on two projects, including a residence in Preston Hollow, Dallas, and a home on Hallam Drive in Westlake. Scott Specht and Jakeb Novak lead a firm where the design talent matches the rigor. They catch the details other teams miss and hold the work accurate from the first drawing through the final walkthrough. They also make it fun, which is rare in this business. I learn something on every collaboration and I'm already looking forward to the next one.

We most recently had the opportunity to work with Scott Specht and Senior Project Architect, Travis Power, on a custom project here in Dallas, TX. Our client, who met with a plethora of architects prior to being introduced to Scott Specht, recognized the tremendous talent Scott and his team possessed and hired them to design what in our eyes is an award-winning design. It's been our pleasure to work with such a fun, talented team. Their refined palette for modern design is a welcome addition to Dallas, and we look forward to working with them again in the future.

We chose Specht Architects because of their eye-catching work, but we were unsure how the elegant architectural style that we gravitated to in their home design would translate into a gut renovation of our NYC loft. From the first meeting Specht Architects generated a cohesive vision that made our loft both architecturally interesting and functional. They did this without losing the open loft feeling we cherish. We feel lucky Specht Architects took on our project and imparted their unique innovative design to our home. Their continual involvement throughout design, planning and construction, as well as their attention to detail and overall fairness eased our worries and made the renovation enjoyable. We continue to be thrilled with the results.

We have used Specht Architects for three jobs over the years - my old company's office, a gut renovation of a carriage house in New York, and a renovation of a second home. We will definitely use them again when the occasion arises. Their work is consistently beautiful, clean and modern without being cold, with excellent use of a wide range of materials. Scott Specht combines a refined design intelligence with a down-to-earth appreciation of practical issues. Specht architects have been consistently sensitive to both our aesthetic and budgetary needs, and have worked well with the contractors to insure that everything is finished in a timely fashion. And they are very nice to deal with personally. I couldn't recommend them more highly.

Scott Specht is a modern innovator and visionary. The house he built us is a gem in cedar, steel and glass; it is also a comfortable haven for a family of 5. He was and is accessible, creative, responsible and above all inspirational.

Although I am a personal injury lawyer by profession, my true passion has always been architecture, design and anything beautiful. Over the last 35 years I have designed and built six houses. I did not use an architect on any of them and although as aesthetically successful as they were, there were significant problems with all of them. When my wife and I made the decision to build our last home, we decided we would use an architect. Although on a budget, I desired a Madison Avenue architect. I have subscribed to Architectual Digest for many years and in fact submitted photos of my last home to the magazine and was actually chosen by the former editor in chief Paige Rense, to do a spread in the June 2011 issue of the magazine. Unfortunately for me, however, after they came and spent a week in our home and did the photo shoot while we moved into a hotel, Ms. Rence suddenly retired and the new editor, Margaret Russell who decided to go in a different direction with the magazine scrapped my home for inclusion. Although extremely disappointed, I remained a fan of the magazine and continued to look for my final dream home and architect within. Because my last home was a converted barn from Pennsylvania, I wanted to do something different and decided to build a mid century modern. My wife and I fell in love with a new Canaan Connecticut home that Scott Specht had designed that was in the February 2013 edition of the magazine. Because of our budget, not to mention the long-distance logistics, we had no idea that we would be able to afford a Manhattan based architect, especially considering the fact that we live in Texas. Although some may have attributed it to luck as Christians we feel like it was a total God thing when we called to inquire about the possibility of hiring Scot to learn that he just opened a new office in Austin Texas. We have now been working with Scott and his wonderful staff for over a year in what began as the usual architect client venture. However it has evolved into what my wife and I consider to be a family affair because of the warm, nurturing and caring attitude we have been graced with by he and his kind staff. Scott is an incredible talent for creating iconic designs. He adapts vernacular style from Palm Springs mid-centuries to Manhattan lofts to Pennsylvania barns to Florida style beach houses, he and his staff are so alive in the practice of their art that you want to jump in and join the fun. In the final analysis they create residences with a 21st-century sense of space and luxury. The first thing that he does is to make sure the structure is appropriate to its location so that it melts into the landscape as though it has been there with the trees rocks and earth that support the structure itself for hundreds of years. He then skillfully composes with simplicity, clarity and restraint a rich symphony which is perfectly in sync with its environment that creates a beautiful structure of lasting value. He and his staff then intently listen to all of the client's ideas without ever being patronizing or condescending and then coordinate them all into a logical puzzle that transforms our dreams into reality. Although all of Scott's projects may share and underlying aim, two are never alike. No matter how many changes we made along the way we never sensed any hint of aggravation or lack of patients by any of his team. Working with Scott and his team has been an absolute pleasure and he and his staff completely knocked it out of the park with the creation that is now being transformed into our home. Their creative ideas and first-class service would cause us to call upon him again again for any architectural need we would ever have. We are already going through withdrawal at the fact of finishing our beautiful home. Although we said this would be our last home we would do another one just to get to work with Scott once again!

Specht Harpman Architects is highly recommended. They were in charge of the renovation to our apartment in NYC and did an excellent job. Professional, creative, thorough, experienced, attentive and cooperative. It was a pleasure to work with them (and this word is not often used when it comes to renovation...). The end result is wonderful and we couldn't be happier with it. I highly recommend them!

Specht Harpman designed our house in Columbia County, New York. This is the project I will describe below. They also built out two offices for my husband's companies, and renovated our New York City apartment. We loved working with them on all these projects, and they finished them on budget and on time.

Scott Specht and the Specht Harpman team provided invaluable knowledge, never ending patience and creativity, and a deep wealth of experience to our beach house project. Scott joined us in Mexico for several days to view the location and discuss project concepts on site. This was a great way to kick-off the project and give him hands on context to our unique setting. Throughout the project, both he and his team have really gone above and beyond to ensure every detail needed is defined and they have been exceptional in communicating with the construction team via email, collaborative solutions, and conference calls. Scott did an amazing job of listening to our ideas, proposing a design that fits the environment and exceeding our expectations with a steady vision for the right decisions. We are currently in the home stretch of construction and feel Specht Harpman was a key partner in making our dream project a reality.

Specht Harpman is amazing. They are brilliant architects, perfectly attuned to client needs, and willing to do anything to make a project perfect for a client. When we first looked for architects to create a practical and beautiful modern house on our wooded lot in West Lake Hills outside of Austin, TX, we asked two friends who had built incredible homes with globally prominent architects for a short list of people to consider. Specht Harpman was the only firm on both lists. We started working with Scott and Louise even before we had closed on the lot and began construction just a couple of months later. We asked for a single design option -- the best they could create -- given the program we had prescribed. They came back with hand sketches within a couple of weeks. The finished house, which has been published in more than 100 publications and blogs, looks exactly like the first, amazing sketch. Throughout the two-year process of designing and detailing and working through the inevitable construction issues, Scott and Louise continually impressed us with their ability to get the details right and generate creative solutions to make every space practical, dramatic, and unique. We are thankful every day for the gorgeous house that they designed!