Passive Solar Heating & Cooling Companies in Selden

“Anne Surchin was an excellent architect for our small farmhouse -style kitchen renovation in Southold. I had seen a friend's renovation by her and was impressed enough to then hire her for our kitchen. She is extremely knowledgeable about architectural styles and costs and was able to work within our means. She suggested an excellent builder who kept prices down. As a woman, she was especially mindful of my needs and comfort in the kitchen and was imaginative at suggesting ideas when I didn't have a clue. I would highly recommend Anne for those who have an appreciation of good architecture and would like an architect who has the same.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“Colin is a highly experienced home designer, having worked on many large high-end residential, as well as commercial projects. His planning to determine space usage is very thorough and thoughtful for daily living and future eventualities. Colin is also very hands-on in managing his projects.”

“We worked with Pat on two renovation projects, post-Irene and post-Sandy. We were impressed by her innovative designs, attention to detail, and her ability to secure the necessary local approvals. She has been instrumental in turning our 1920s beach cottage into a more beautiful and functional space, while preserving its original charm. We are thrilled with the outcome and wholeheartedly recommend her.”

“If you are looking for an architect, look no further than Chad at SOON Architecture. We did not know what to expect and were a little intimidated by the whole process at first. We had never worked with an architect before and were not sure how this would go. Well, our first meeting with Chad, we knew we were in good hands and he was the right person for the job. He explained everything to us, with as much or as little detail as we needed. He was also so patient with all of my questions (and I had a lot of them). He always had a smile and was very flexible with our needs. He met with the contractors on-site to walk them through the project and was always available by phone to answer their questions as well to get the right materials and specifications for their quote. We will work with Chad again in the future and we highly recommend him for all of your architectural needs. (Tusten, NY)”

“For almost EXACTLY 25 years we have lived in George Ranalli's first residential works, The Callender School House Condominium In Newport, RI. It is like living in a work of art. The elegance, symmetry and usefulness of the home is apparent everywhere you look, from the soaring ceilings to the built in furniture, to the astounding views from the rooftop deck. When we first moved in, the original owner had changed the colors of some of the walls. When it was time to repaint George helped us find the original colors of the condo. These were the ones that appeared in every major architectural publication in the world when the project was originally completed. His help and friendship will always be cherished.”

“We were very happy with the the whole project and especially with the design. Eric is easy to work with and very professional. He is able to understand the client's desires and transform them into something unique.”

“We hired Dan and his company to do a renovation on our 1836 era home. They designed an open kitchen floorplan, added a stone fireplace, a butler's pantry, and office, and reconfigured our back entry and laundry room. They also added another bathroom upstairs and extended our patio outside. I loved that he reused original materials and also sourced beams, etc. that matched the home. (They found an original floor beam that was not in good enough shape to continue support, so they replaced this and he suggested using the good part of this beam as our new mantle. It looks great and I love using an original beam in a prominent place in the new room.) The design gave us an updated and more efficient way to use our old house, while keeping with the traditional look and feel. We also really liked the way Dan charged for his services. Instead of a percentage of the total job - which creates the incentive for the architect to increase the size of the job, Dan charged by the hour of his time. We could call him at any point in the job to come oversee the contractor or consult. And were always happy with his involvement. We felt that he and his firm were a great value.”