Billinkoff Architecture PLLC

AMAZING team, Donald and Judy. I do high end custom woodwork interiors, and have been working with Donald at Billinkoff Architecture building some of his beautiful designs for over 3 years. Every space is so beautifully designed, it could only be the work of Billinkoff’s team. Their rooms are all so thoughtfully designed with maximum functionality and pleasing aesthetics so that you feel a sense of balance and completeness throughout the whole space. Their sincere and caring attitude, willingness to work with us as woodworkers, to solve issues and focus on solutions, combined with their fine-tuned attention to detail, sets this group apart to work with. Each member is eager to help and perfect the work. Donald’s beautiful and practical designs makes our work so much more interesting and rewarding. I Highly recommend Donald and Judy from Billinkoff Architecture to anyone looking for a smooth and well planned construction project.

After interviewing about 7 architects, we hired Donald Billinkoff for architectural & design services for the near-gut renovation of our NYC upper west side apt. The project was completed & we moved in at the end of Feb. 2015. You can see pictures of our apt. on the Houzz website under Billinkoff Architecture as well as Donald's personal website. So it's now been just about 2 years that my family has been living here. While I've been remiss in not submitting this review much sooner, it's quite beneficial to do so now since I can share a few years of experience of living in the space designed by Donald. To begin with, I believe that Donald & his colleague Judy Mellinger are fabulous! You will never work with a pair that may actually care more about the end result than you or anyone else. Donald also is an artist & is intensely focused on delivering a flawless finished product. Aside from the architectural design, Donald & Judy also assisted with the furnishings & interior design. Donald applied his artistic talent & Judy shared her wonderful style & knowledge of the world of interior design. Judy has an exquisite sense of style & the two of them are committed to finding the perfect answer to your design needs. Prior to engaging an architect & designer, one should review & be familiar with the style of those you choose to work with. We did some due diligence & just loved what Donald & Judy are about stylistically. This is of critical importance. They fully lived up to our expectations & then some. As I said, our project was a near-gut renovation. The place we bought was a wreck. The world of coop renovations, coop rules, NYC Department of Buildings approvals, & NYC Landmarks approvals was foreign to us. Thankfully, it isn't to Donald. This was no job for the uninformed & inexperienced. It quickly became quite evident that this wasn't Donald's first rodeo. Donald expertly navigated the pitfalls, unexpected surprises, etc., of this project. Donald worked seamlessly with the contractor, Ron Bo, of KRS (Ron was nothing short of fantastic). From what I've heard, this is extremely important as poor miscommunication between the architect & contractor can be quite problematic. Fortunately for us, Donald & Ron were outstanding & exhibited excellent teamwork throughout the project. After living here for almost 2 years, I now appreciate Donald & Judy more than ever. Donald brilliantly designed our kitchen & his innovative placement of our refrigerator was genius. He also creatively managed to enlarge 2 bathrooms without violating the "wet over dry" building rules. Donald's design of the customized cabinetry in our master bedroom continues to draw compliments. Most visitors to our apt. rave about our living room & kitchen cabinetry. Even the smallest details were addressed. Only now after living here can I really appreciate the kitchen hardware, the bathroom hooks & their placement, the doorknobs, the style of the doors themselves, the choice of tile, the backsplash, etc. I admire the beauty of our interior design every day. Judy has an exquisite sense of style & is committed to finding the perfect answer to your design needs. Donald & Judy tirelessly worked to make our place look like a "show-stopper". We just love our dining room lighting, living room couches & chairs, custom rugs, throw pillows, ottomans & bedroom headboard, other lighting, appliances, etc. Sometimes during the process (we met just about every week), I almost felt like they were going to live here rather than us, That's how much they cared. As time went by after we moved in, things came up & Donald & Judy always were available to assist with ongoing needs. Even now, they continue to timely respond to & address any minor issues that come up every now & then. We are contemplating a vacation property & without reservation would engage Donald again if his expertise were needed. We wholeheartedly recommend Donald & Judy. Let me close by suggesting that anyone about to go through a major renovation makes certain that he or she works with an experienced & knowledgeable architect like Donald Billinkoff. All the best!

Our experience working with Donald Billinkoff on a gut renovation of our two bedroom, two bath apartment located in Manhattan on the UES in a post war white brick building was excellent. The apartment needed a gut renovation with the goal of transforming the entire space to an “open plan” including, new bathrooms, new bedroom layout, new closets and storage space, new kitchen, new windows, new HVAC system, enclosure of terrace etc. Donald has a wonderful sense of space, he has innovative and creative ideas while always including every practical detail one needs. While Donald has a “point of view” and his own ideas to transform the space he was a great listener and always accommodated what we wanted/needed. The contractor he recommended executed the plan flawlessly and Donald’s oversight throughout the process was thorough and meticulous. Having a beautiful renovation plan is one step in a complicated process, execution is the key and from developing the renovation plan in a collaborative way with us to moving our plans through building department review and approvals to oversight of the construction process to the punch list everything was handled with the utmost care. We are delighted with our new home and would highly recommend Donald without any hesitation. Karin Shewer Krugman Michael Krugman

I have had the pleasure of working with Billinkoff Architecture on two projects: a major home renovation in suburban New Jersey and a total house renovation in Litchfield County, CT. Donald Billinkoff is knowledgeable, experienced and a delight to work with. He brings a sophisticated sense of design and extraordinary creativity to each project, transforming ordinary spaces into unexpected and stunning solutions that fit and define your lifestyle.

Donald took a wreck of an apartment and transformed it into a beautiful modern space that we and our visitors love.

As the owner of a landscape design and installation company, I have collaborated on multiple projects over the last couple of years with Don. Besides the beautiful structures that he has completed, I find Don to be very creative, down to earth and easy to work with. I've been in quite a few client/architect/landscape design meetings where the house is nearing completion and the homeowners are seeing their house for the first time in weeks or possibly months. To see the homeowners enthusiasm towards their new house, respectful for Don and his work and the excitement for what Don's team has created for them is truly special.

I first met Donald Billinkoff when he renovated our NYC apartment in 1993. My partner and I were so impressed with his work that we gave up our plan of buying a country home and instead asked Donald to design and build a house for us. The end result was a truly wonderful home, but even more special was experiencing the process of design and construction with an architect of Donald's caliber. We found him to be imaginative and creative, and meticulous in his attention to detail. He was also open to our input and encouraged involvement in the project. He is a great listener and took our needs into consideration first. Donald managed to incorporate the practical needs of our every day life into his breathtakingly beautiful architectural design. Donald demonstrated on the much larger house project the same ability to work well with others that we witnessed during the NYC renovation. He was always able to handle difficult situations or people on the job site, and to make necessary compromises when conflicts arose. That adventure together began in 1995. In the two decades since he has done numerous other projects for us, and for family and friends to whom we have recommended him without reservation. Of course seeing his work has always been recommendation enough! Over the years I have seen Donald's talent grow with experience and his mastery increase. He is a gracious and generous person, and always a pleasure to work with.

Seven years ago we hired Billinkoff Architecture for a gut renovation of our 2,000 sq ft apartment in NYC. We were completely satisfied with both his design and more importantly with his execution and we recently engaged him again for a gut renovation of our home in Dutchess County. That project is nearly complete and we are pleased to say we are just as satisfied. The quality of his design is evident on his web site but what is great about Donald is his ability to work with everyone on the project, his commitment to doing it right and his attention to detail. He provide the highest quality of service and requires the same from all the trades. We also used Judy Melinger to help us with the selection and acquisition of furnishings and found her the same.