Custom Home Builders in Chester

“I wish I could invite you all in to see my spectacular brownstone in Brooklyn. I had owned it for 20 years when I hired Deborah Gans to save it (it was collapsing) and reinvent it (it was a warren of awkward rooms). She turned into an airy, light-filled, elegant but modern, completely comfortable but also gorgeous home. She knew when to spend money, and when to hold back. She was inventive without being scarily inventive. When there were problems, as there always are, she figured out how to solve them, and held my hand at the same time. There is not one thing I would change. I feel like the luckiest homeowner ever.”

“Robie is terrific. We interviewed quite a few architects for this job. Many had great ideas and beautiful plans though they were double our budget. Robie stuck to the budget and came up with lots of great ideas. He was very flexible and creative. We'd use him again in a heartbeat!!!! We love the result and the pictures posted don't do it justice!”

“LEAP designed our modern and green home addition. They handled much of the creative work on the project, as well as detailed renderings, bid consultations, and construction supervision. LEAP's work was very creative and responded directly to our needs. They found ways to get energy efficiency and modern design details into a "buildable" and cost-conscious project. They are humble, hardworking, and consistent. I would choose to work with LEAP Architecture again without hesitation.”

“We have worked with Karen at Brinkman for countless projects; baths, kitchens, whole-house remodels; light commercial spaces, and additions. She is a true professional and has some great ideas for the spaces we are hired to remodel. She is willing to stop by on a moment's notice for questions and advice, which is important for the remodeling that we are involved in. We plan to continue working with her for all of our remodels in the future.”

“Excellent architect with an eye for maximizing space, working around space constraints and creating great flow, especially in the main living area. She designed a major expansion for us and was very attentive to our needs and what we wanted out of the space. Whereas some architects are too focused on design at the expense of practical function, Ying found the perfect balance for us. She handled all the bathroom design elements so we didn't need a separate designer for that and she helped guide the kitchen design, which I think helped to make these important spaces more cohesive to the overall plan. She was especially good at a floor plan for a busy family with kids and a home that is designed for entertaining. I also appreciated that she was available for consultation throughout the renovation process and even collaborated with our contractor on key elements like spacing and materials to be sure everything was done right.”

“We had a complete renovation done of our bedroom wing with 3 bedrooms, 1.5 bathrooms and a hallway under Heike's guidance. This was the 2nd project we have done with her, and we are once more thrilled with the result! What we like about Heike is that, she is a nice person to work with, she listens well, does extra research, has a lot of knowledge of materials and where to get them, and last but not least the fact that she comes from Europe and understands our modern European taste well. She introduced a number of nice touches in the overall design and paid attention to the overall energy efficiency of the renovation. She also worked with our contractor and the building department of our town. We can full-heartedly recommend her.”

“My home is one of the exhibits listed here. This architect was easy to work with and gave appropriate and timely advice when needed. She is currently working another project for me, a renovation of a Frank Lloyd Wright's apprentice work in the Berkshires.”

“Very helpful and organized. Helped walk us through designing a 2nd story addition. Drew up a few interior and exterior options and walked us through pros and cons before picking one. Assisted builder with question as they came up.”

“I can count on several fingers the times I have found a local business partner that I'd describe as a rockstar, and Brian Hopkins is on that short list. On Christmas Eve, my wife and I were out doing errands. We got a call from our teenage son, telling us that water was raining down from the upstairs bathroom, through our microwave and stove, into the basement, onto the furnace and water heater. There was some once-in-a-century rapid drop in temperature, we had some poorly insulated pipes, and one of those pipes ruptured in the floor of that second floor bathroom resulting in that disaster. Total nightmare. Thankfully, one of the other rockstars on our short list of local business partners is our general contractor. We already had a plan on the shelf to renovate that bathroom, our contractor was available, we were able to get all our tile and bathroom fixtures picked out and procured in record time, and shortly after New Year's our GC started the repairs and creating the bathroom of our dreams. Salvation! Everything was going awesome, until the building department showed up. In a rush, we neglected to get a building permit. We weren't being shady or playing games. We were just hasty and ignorant and didn't do the things we needed to do. We got an immediate stop-work order. And the only way to get back on track was to find an architect to do proper code-compliant architectal drawings for our already-in-progress bathroom renovation. I quickly learned that there are not a lot of residential architects hurting for business, certainly not at that time of year. I literally called at least 15 different places. Either people were too busy, or weren't interested in the project. I finally found one who couldn't take the job, but said "hey, we know this other guy in the area who is super good, that we refer people to when we're busy. His name is Brian Hopkins." Somebody directing business to a competitor?? I now understand why they referred me. Brian is only the second architect I've ever worked with, but as far as I can tell, he's as good as it gets. I was able to get in touch with him immediately, and he agreed to take on the work. He was incredibly transparent and clear about what he was going to do, when he was going to do it, and what it would cost. Throughout the process he was super responsive, empathetic, organized, patient, professional, and enjoyable to work with. He didn't nickel and dime us or play games; he was clearly focused on good customer service and outcomes. And from what I can tell, both the building department and my GC were very happy with the quality of his work. The entire ordeal we went through, particularly involving the building department and fines and delays was horrible. Had we not found Brian, had he not been so excellent, the situation might have been unbearable. He literally was our savior. It's absurd not to want to work with someone like this.”

“My husband and I were interested in a house, but saw some things that needed to be changed that were a deal breaker for us. I reached out to Stephanie and she fit it in her busy schedule to meet with us. Stephanie came to the house we were interested in and took a great amount of time walking through taking measurements and discussing all our options. She was very helpful , knowledgeable and full of insight.”