The Model Design team executed a magnificent, full remodel of my home in Manhattan Beach. They took a haphazard 1920s’ beach cottage on a narrow lot five blocks from the sand, and with their unparalleled vision, masterful drafting skills and attentive devotion to my project turned it into a magnificent and completely livable home that was subsequently featured in several top shelf home and design magazines. Our kitchen was also voted best kitchen of the year by Kitchen Trends Magazine and featured in a four page spread. We invested years of savings into our remodel and I felt incredible confidence that the project was being managed with expertise by Model Design and that we were getting the best value for our dollar.
We took the entire house down to ground, but for two framed walls and our beautiful, quirky chimney that we wanted to preserve. This is one the many thoughtful and bright ideas Jeff Browning came up that that intentionally kept us in our pre-remodel property tax bracket and saves us tens of thousands of dollars annually. Jeff was our architect and spent over nine months with us before even breaking ground to know our family, how we live, plan the house’s design and research the city’s requirements and clear permitting. Jeff was on call throughout the entire process and came to ‘save the day’ multiple times with his clear thinking and sophisticated way of digesting complicated information and making it palatable for the general public, like myself! Jeff is truly next level with the generous service he gives to his clients and his ever-working intelligence.
His partner and wife, Andrea Browning, is unlike any other designer I have encountered. In addition to being a designer, Andrea has years of training as an artist and comes from a linage of Italian architects. Andrea draws detailed plans of the inside of the house herself. No other designer I’ve met has the ability to do this! Most of them just ‘point and shoot’ by telling the subs by simply telling, word of mouth, what to do. This is not a reliable way to craft something very mathematical, made of stone, wood and brick, where mistakes can cost a small fortune which becomes the homeowner’s responsibility. My contractor and his subs had never seen drawings and details so clear and laid-out before Andrea’s. Her articulation of her vision surely saved me vast amounts of money by giving all the sub-contractors explicitly clear direction as to what they were to create, the timing of their tasks and, in the process, absolved me from responsibility for any mistakes that resulted if they veered from these detailed, life-saving plans.
Here’s another amazing aspect - Model Design was also very competitive with their pricing and held to their initially set budget throughout the year-long process. Along the way, there were no surprise, mark-ups and rather, the team saved me money at each step by recommending I buy the conservative, less expensive pieces where unnecessary and dedicate the money to places in the house where the results really shine. I cannot say enough about the team’s talents and their generosity. In the end, Model Design increased the value of my house by at least twice the money I invested in it, if not more.
The final result is a show-stopper of a home. Nothing less. It is magnificent and takes people’s breath away. From the charming sea-side Dutch door to the ornate ceilings and elegantly hand-crafted custom carrera tile mosaic backsplash in the kitchen, the house is simply gorgeous. Yet for my family it is home. It is a warm, comfortable sanctuary to live in with great function and form. It is one of my favorite houses I’ve ever been to and was built by true professionals with great follow through and attention to detail as well as with love, dedication and fun. We had a wonderful time working together. How unique that is? The Model Design Team is a one-in-a-million and I highly recommend them implicitly. If you are reading this and are considering them you are very fortunate and have already struck gold!
