Craig O'Connell Architecture

Craig and his team are such a treat to work with! We hired Craig as our architect for an extensive renovation and addition on our personal home in Orange County, CA. As owners of a landscape architecture firm, we wanted someone who would be collaborative, detail oriented, and share our vision for our home. Craig was incredibly methodical throughout the whole process and was able to design a space that is both functional for our family and beautiful. The architecture perfectly married the indoors and the outdoors, which really showcases his ability to have a shared vision. He put a ton of effort into getting to know us and our living patterns so he could design a space that fit our lifestyle. We hope to be able to work with Craig again on many projects in the future!

We hired Craig to remodel our woefully dated 1960s kitchen. To think about what we started with and to look at the kitchen now, is nothing short of remarkable! Craig has great vision and ideas, he's very responsive, and we are delighted with the final outcome. Craig is also well versed in construction, detail oriented, diligent and easy / fun to be with. Thank you so much for everything—we couldn't be happier with our kitchen!

Craig and Alex brought light and openness into our 1920s San Francisco house. We came to them with a need to connect two previously disconnected floors and remodel our dark, dated kitchen. We ended up with a home we love to live in and entertain in. They heard our vision for the space and came back with multiple options -- all optimizing for an easy, comfortable flow. We chose to bring down internal walls and fully open up the entrance way, living room, and kitchen. They put a lot of thought into small details and quelled anxiety along the way.

I would unequivocally recommend Craig to anyone looking for an innovative, hard working, and collaborative architect and thought-partner on any residential project in the Bay Area. Last year I interviewed 17 architects before selecting Craig. Craig has been absolutely lights out working with me on a first of its kind housing project I’ve proposed to the city - a small scale, infill mixed affordable housing project in Corona Heights, SF (including a new four story, three unit building in SF) - that is currently working its way through the entitlement and permitting process. Craig is super responsive, great at problem solving through design (in response to City and neighbor feedback), considerate in communicating architecture to those like myself that are new to thinking about these issues, and just a plain ‘ole great guy to interact and do business with. I can’t recommend Craig highly enough.

We had an all-around positive experience working with Craig to bring to life a home we rebuilt after loosing the original in the Tubbs Northern CA fire of 2017. We approached him with our vision for the look and feel of the completely new rebuild and he skillfully incorporated all of it into his designs. After that he honed each space within to make sure it was beautiful, functional and flowed well as a whole. He continued to collaborate with us and our contractor on architectural elements throughout the build and what we ended up with was a home that far surpassed our expectations, each and every detail feeling intentional and custom. I hope to one day have another opportunity to work with Craig again!

We purchased our first home in Fairfax, CA in 2018. It was built in the 1950s and was dated with small spaces, dark wood paneling, not much indoor/outdoor flow or practical function for a family with small children. We had a vision for how this could be our dream home but weren’t sure how to execute it. Craig O’Connell helped realize our vision and dramatically transform the house into the home of our dreams. Craig designed a remodel that started by bringing it down to the studs and we couldn’t be happier with the results. We now have a bright and airy stylish, modern home featuring lots of functional space, light and indoor/outdoor flow. Our favorite room in the house is our new open kitchen and dining room with beautiful custom cabinets and a sliding 4 foot door system that completely opens onto our backyard patio. Craig’s easy going demeanor made the project low stress, even when we hit the inevitable bumps and delays. He handled all the details and used his network to find and manage the general contractor, engineer, cabinet maker, and other key subcontractors on the project. He also worked with the town to secure the building permits in a timely manner. We are so happy in our new home!

Craig is excellent! We hired him to help us with a remodel that turned into a complete rebuild of a home originally built in 1912. He worked with us as the project evolved and was able to calmly help steer us through some of the bumps along that way. As a realtor, I had a vision of what I wanted and his expertise sharpened the details and helped bring the ideas to reality. I would hire him again and highly recommend him!

We hired Craig because we loved the way his finished projects looked - totally on-point design wise, consistent with our style. We had no idea, however, how to get from where we were (a house in much need of a gut job remodel) to a finished project. Thankfully, Craig did. We are probably about 90% of the way to project completion, but we are thrilled with the way it is all coming together and it is due in HUGE part to Craig's original vision and design and also, his ability to adjust and problem solve along the way. He has all the intangibles too - organized, responsive, detail-oriented and just a great guy. We would not hesitate to choose him again for any other project, no question.

We are huge fans of COA. Craig's demeanor is calm and collected, making us feel that we had the opportunity to weigh all options of every decision. He fully supported our decisions and contributed many design elements that really put our project over the top. We would not hesitate to work with COA again. Our remodeled kitchen and living space is so breathtakingly beautiful...thank you Craig!

Craig was efficient and timely in completing a filing set of drawings to remodel the downstairs of our Fairfax home. Personable and easy to work with. Definitely recommended.

As an interior designer, I've worked with Craig on a few residential projects. He's really dedicated to selecting the right elements to achieve a complete and finished design for the client. It's a thorough understanding of how all of the parts should communicate with one another - both interior AND exterior. I've appreciated his professionalism and genuine attitude in working together, and this results in a quality project which is really what it's all about.

I've known Craig and Jess personally for over ten years, and have had the pleasure of working with Craig O'Connell Architecture several times, in design and construction. Spanning architectural styles, Craig has a strong sense of good design, and brings a personal touch into all of his projects. He has knack for hearing his client's needs and transforming those into their beautiful reality. I most recently worked with Craig as his fabricator for a custom concrete countertop in his own home. Craig created this project as a showpiece of top notch architecture, to be used as prototype, portfolio, and most importantly living space, to be shared with his clients, contractors, friends and family. Craig understands the link between design concept and constructed reality, and is a skilled professional at bringing these two together.