Michael Karby Architecture and Planning

I have had the pleasure of working with Michael on a few projects, one of them being the Mountain project he has featured on his site. He was responsible for the design and planning of the entire home and I was hired by the homeowners to assist with the coordination and selection of the interior materials. I also did the "fine-tune" design of the kitchen and baths and our company, Custom Design Construction, provided a lot of the interior materials such as cabinetry, granite/marble work, appliances and fixtures. I worked for the clients for over a year and during that time I had numerous meetings on site with the homeowners where Michael was also present and each time it was a pleasant experience. In my opinion his design not only met but exceeded his client's desire to create a beautiful mountain home that had unique features and complimented the mountain/lake area that it was built in. I look forward to future projects with Mr. Karby and highly recommend him.

I have worked with Michael on a number of projects over the last nearly 25 years including a large 20,000 sq ft commercial restaurant/hotel, a 6,000 sq ft post office/retail office building, several extensive re-models, single family homes for re-sale and my own private residence. In all cases he was the primary architect. He is both professional and talented. He has a unique combination of skills, being visionary as well as practical in his approach to design. He is also capable of adapting to various desgin styles. He works well with accommodating owner's needs and follows through with County building officials to get a project completed. I have recommended him for other projects, both commercial and residential, and will continue to do so gladly

We purchased a wonderful five acre heavily wooded mountain parcel in the Sierra foothills and we needed an architect with artistic creativity to design a house that would maximize the unique offerings of the property. Michael Karby was referred to us by a local well known business owner who knows the area. She told us, “You must have Michael. He is the best. He is the only one I would recommend to you.” And she was right. We are most pleased with the quality and beauty of the house he designed and, with our contractor, built for us. To give us a feel for his work before we started, Michael showed us three major projects that he was working on at the time and we were quite impressed. We were glad that he took on our project though ours was less grand than the three high end homes we viewed. We had a good idea of the house that we wanted in terms of function and had very specific require- ments for the house. We asked Michael to give us all of our requirements plus an “Oh, Wow” factor. He certainly delivered. Almost everyone that walks in our front door says exactly that: “Oh, Wow.” There was never a concern about Michael’s knowledge and experience. And we always enjoyed meeting with him. There were, of course, the inevitable issues during construction and whenever we asked, Michael was always helpful in working through whatever came up. Though the project estimate from our contractor came in over budget Michael worked with us and our contractor to make modifications to cut costs. As the project progressed there were other cost concerns and decisions to be made and Michael was always willing to be helpful and practical. Michael answered all of our questions and gave us input even when we thought we did not need it. He told us frankly of what we needed to change in our plans and we took his advice and were glad that we did. We had a great working relationship with Michael at the beginning, throughout the project, and after the construction was completed. We would highly recommend Michael to anyone that wants to build a quality home and values technical knowledge, creativity, and the vision to meet the client’s wants and needs. Some specifics: a highly functional four bedroom, three bath, 2,600 sq ft home with a patio, curved walkways, stairs to the front door, and a retaining wall. The house itself is a formidable presence with a columned loggia and tall arched windows. The second floor is a large “guest” suite with its own bath with tub, shower, and walk in closet. Also on the second floor is an eight foot deep wraparound balcony. The “guest” suite has its own HVAC system and includes a wet bar and gas fireplace. The suite doubles as a small media room. There are an inordinate number of large windows and French doors in the house that capture the mountain views. The kitchen is loaded with appliances, has an island, and a pantry. There is a grand staircase, wood beams at the 16 foot great room ceiling, travertine stone up to the ceiling over the wood burning fireplace, built in cabinets and bookcases, a mudroom, plenty of storage and so on and so on. The detached garage is “connected” to the house in a creative way that maximizes the two level site. The house is energy efficient in every way. The roof design is both architecturally significant and totally functional for mountain weather. For all the drama, visitors often remark after they have been in the house for awhile how calm and solid the house feels. The flow from room to room feels spacious and comfortable. That’s because of Michael’s ability to build spaces that work for people’s lives.

Michael was our architect for the contemporary mountain house that you see photos of in his profile. We love the house and would not change a single thing about it. It wows everyone who visits. After buying a plot of land, we called Michael with a view to building a home. On first meeting him, we knew he was the right guy for the job - he was friendly, listened intently and talked through options. We knew it would work out. We gave him an architectural brief that we had written in order to get our thoughts in order. And we also gave him several books which we had notated with our likes and dislikes. Three weeks later, Michael delivered a stunning design that precisely mapped what we were looking for. Michael had successfully listened and taken note of our needs and turned it into a stunning architectural vision. We then worked with him to fine-tune details - he listened, discussed, and worked with us till we were completely satisfied with the design. In the following two years, Michael navigated us through the detailed design and structural engineering requirements, drove the plan through to county approval, worked with the local fire marshall to satisfy a couple of their objections (related to building proximity to a property line), and found us a general contractor whom he knew could build our house. Michael visited regularly throughout construction and helped drive it to completion. They say building your own house is very stressful but it was the opposite. Michael made it easy! We now have an incredible house with stunning architectural features, including an indoor pool, a glass floor in the master bedroom, 120 feet of continuous glass window fronting a stunning panoramic mountain view, a state of the art movie theater and a bar that is a thrill to party in. We couldn't be happier. We thoroughly recommend Michael Karby and know he will deliver for you.

My wife and I contracted with Mike to design our home in Bass Lake. He incorporated the features we needed in our home while remaining committed to the style of house we liked. He also helped us stay within budget. He was involved from the idea phase of the house which involved many preliminary sketches until after the house was built with some construction corrections and repairs. He made many site visits during construction and was always available for questions and advice. If I were to build another home, I would definitely wish to include Mike in the project.