House Plan Companies in Portland

“Our journey with Oregon City Architect, Dan Lajoie, began when we selected him for the planning and design of our NE Oregon replacement home. The process began with a lengthy site visit and a thorough discussion about our objectives. The existing 1940s vintage house to be replaced was situated on difficult, uneven topography and too close to the Columbia River by current set back standards. It would be necessary for Dan to work with the county planning department to gain approval for the design. Dan’s preliminary design was driven by the grandfathered area within the footprint of the original house. It would feature the living room and a portion of the formal dining area which lead to the other spaces to be located behind the required set back areas. Dan worked with our ideas transforming them into reality creating the house that we wanted. What really brought it together was his incredible talent for design, ability to successfully address problems and his giant vision. The result was an enormously pleasing and comfortable home, which meets our criteria and beautifully compliments the site & surroundings. Particularly notable is Dan’s technical command over his design software. He masterfully had us standing inside his virtual 3D design while he effortlessly spun the room around to show various perspectives refining it before our very eyes. It was amazing! And when the home was completed it was remarkable how familiar it all seemed having made so many virtual visits via the 3D design. Among the many other remarkable qualities about Dan are his unwavering enthusiasm, devotion and utter passion for the project. They never faded! Throughout the three year process via numerous site visits, zoom conferences, phone calls & texts he has been with us every step of the way. We consider ourselves fortunate to have had Dan at the helm. It is our pleasure to recommend him for any challenging residential project requiring strong creativity, problem solving abilities and technical design expertise. If you are considering Dan for your design you should hire him.”

“As a custom home builder, who we partner with on the home design is one of the first big decisions we need to make. We have worked with Summit Ridge Design on multiple custom homes and have had nothing but great results. The communication between designer, client and builder is imperative to making sure that everyone is on the same page, and Summit Ridge Design is very good at this. Their ability to pull details out of clients and get so close to what they had in mind at first pass is exceptional. One of the other major benefits of working with Summit Ridge Design is the software they utilize, that no other designer in the area uses or has invested in. Being able to show the clients their plans not only in 2 dimensions but then switching immediately to a 3 dimensional model and actually seeing the home in real life makes it so much easier for the client to envision how their home look and how it will live. We have enjoyed a long relationship with Summit Ridge and look forward to continuing partnering with them in the future.”

“Project: develop plans for the remodel of a 1941 Cape Cod bungalow. Chris came up with creative solutions to limitations I thought were imposed by the original style of architecture. He was able to think outside of the Cape Cod box while maintaining the original footprint of the house. A pretty neat trick. Count me impressed.”