Fowlkes Studio

We are very glad we chose Fowlkes Studio to assist us in the renovation of our Dupont Circle townhouse. They designed a new 2 story glass rear facade and reconfigured our first floor, including a new kitchen, powder room and stair hall. Fowlkes Studio was very involved in all material and finish selections and listened to our feedback, helping to create the right house for us. They worked in close concert with our builder to shield us (as much as possible) from the day-to-day construction issues that inevitably arose when working on a 100-year old house. Although we kept work primarily to the main floor, the design included a future master plan for our whole house. We are very happy with our beautiful new space and recommend the firm in the highest terms.

We hired Fowlkes Studios to assess the feasibility of a redesign within our budget, to design options, and eventually to create a plan for renovation of our home. VW and Catherine were excellent partners. They created a beautiful space that was not only true to our personal style, but also creative in ways we couldn't have imagined ourselves, highly functional, and practical. Working in combination with Four Brothers, an excellent builder they brought to the project, they oversaw completion of the project on schedule. It was easy to work with them, they were very collaborative, and highly responsive to our questions throughout the life of the project. We recommend them highly for any project in the DC area!

When our house on the New Jersey coast was almost totally destroyed by superstorm Sandy two years ago, we knew immediately that we wanted to bring in VW and Catherine to completely reimagine our space. Their graceful, creative and original design approach was just what we needed. Not only do we again have our house, but it is a house that is incomparably more functional and more beautiful. VW and Catherine are listeners – they take remarkable care to understand their clients, their needs and how they live in their spaces. They also take extraordinary care to keep a project moving at its promised pace and are sensitive to budget -- not minor concerns. Given the opportunity, we would turn to Fowlkes Studio again in a New York second.

Fowlkes Studio was an absolutely wonderful firm to work with! They helped us develop a plan to connect two, two-bedroom apartments into a three bedroom unit, connected by stairs. They were sensitive to our budget and presented creative solutions without compromising the quality of what we needed from the renovation. VW and Catherine offered a beautiful, thoughtful design that allowed for better use, more light and a larger flow for our expanding family. They also connected us to our contractor (Four Brothers) who, together with VW and Catherine, was a complete pleasure to work with along the way. We highly recommend Fowlkes Studio for their exceptional work, attention to detail, ability to incorporate client personality and desire, and timely, professional demeanor in all that they do.

As two design-oriented people with a strong sense of what we were looking for with our home project, my wife and I were not sure that hiring an architect made sense. But now that we have completed our project, we are very pleased that we chose to work with Fowlkes Studio. V and Catherine listened to us and what were were hoping to accomplish, and then presented numerous options for how we could achieve the goals we had identified. What's more, V and Catherine recognized how the different spaces in our home interact with one another, and offered additional proposals for how the overall space could be integrated into a cohesive whole--steps we had never even considered. Numerous ideas that were first presented to us by V and Catherine ended up being incorporated into our final design, and have served to transform our home and the experience of living in it. In addition, the ideas V and Catherine generated for our home were sensitive to our overall project budget. We highly recommend them.

Fowlkes Studio designed a complete renovation and addition to our 1920's home. We nearly doubled the size of our house and fundamentally changed the way we live in it. We are thrilled with the results and credit VW and Catherine Fowlkes with having an amazing vision for the best possible outcome. We highly recommend Fowlkes Studio. Prior to the renovation, our 1920's semi-detached house in Washington DC had a traditional layout of small compartmentalized rooms. VW re-imagined the space with larger rooms that flow seamlessly into one another. Now when we enter our house instead of being greeted by a series of compressed rooms that forced us to weave our way around furniture to get through, we have a beautiful, unobstructed view through the entire house and out into our woodsy back yard. We live on a steep hill that slopes down from the street that, pre-renovation, made our main level detached from our back yard. VW and Catherine turned this into into an asset, creating a light-filled living space on the lower level, with a double-high wall of glass that connects it to the main floor above. They transformed what had been a dark and remote basement into a lively, inviting space that we use all the time for kid and adult daily activities and for indoor/outdoor entertaining. Fowlkes Studio listened to us when we described our needs, hopes and wishes for the new space. We had lived in our home for 10 years prior to the renovation and knew which features worked well and where our home was dysfunctional. Fowlkes Studio's concept for the space included our "must haves" as well as new insights and solutions we had not previously considered. The design process was a collaborative effort allowing us to candidly provide input on our needs and wants, which led us to a completed project that we feel is uniquely ours. Photos to come soon!

VW Fowlkes is an excellent, inventive, and creative architect. I recommend him highly. He totally redesigned my basement apartment. He used the limited space more efficiently than the existing apartment. He opened up the rooms to let in more light. He used the existing supporting structures and beams in an unique way. VW designed new stairs from the back of my house to the patio. They are unbelievably beautiful, made of Ipe wood. He has totally transformed the patio! Additionally, VW supervised the project, himself, which I highly recommend. I am delighted with the new back steps and basement apartment. I could not be happier with his work and, again, I highly recommend him.

Having worked with VW on several projects, we continue to recommend him to homeowners and builders. His focus on clean design and attention to details is impressive. You would do well to hire Fowlkes Studio for your next project.

I am the very pleased owner and constant occupant of the porch VW FOWLKES designed. He was a great listener to what I wanted and created something more beautiful and user-creative than anything I could have imagined. I am enormously grateful for his care and talent. -Jane Easton Brashares