Ruhl | Jahnes Architects

Sandra Jahnes and her team are absolutely amazing in their vision, creative use of space, and ability to transform houses. We worked with Sandra for six months on an extensive renovation for our Arlington house. Her ability to hear our needs/wish list and translate that into multiple design options was impressive. She also quickly incorporated our feedback to update the plans over multiple versions. Her final designs were thorough and detailed. This was brought to my attention by one of the construction crew's sub-contractors who commented on how excellent and detailed the plans were, which would make his job easier. Throughout the entire process, Sandra was warm, friendly, encouraging, and patient. We happily would work with the Ruhl/Jahnes team again.

Will and his team are incredibly talented, smart, and the nicest people that you could hope to work with on a long-term project. Older homes are usually full of surprises, and mine did not disappoint, but Will and team created viable solutions for issues that seemed nearly impossible to overcome. I was in awe of their collective problem-solving capability! I also relied heavily on the firm's terrific interior design "chops". They sourced stunning selections of beautifully designed products accompanied by detailed specs, pricing, and floor plans. Will also kept a vigilant eye on the budget throughout the project, a gesture that I truly appreciated. The end result: a superb renovation that completely exceeded my expectations, and is a joy to live in!

While searching for an architectural firm to work with on the redesign and addition to our ocean front home, my husband and I came across Ruhl Studio's site - and we are very glad that we did! Will and his team were a pleasure to work with from start to finish. Being very opinionated and vocal clients, Will and team took our ideas and our "wants" in stride and incorporated them with their architectural expertise to create our dream home. They did an incredible job providing us with the open floor plan and multiple entertaining spaces that we wanted, while making sure to capture the panoramic views of the Atlantic Ocean from almost every room with large, oversized windows and doors. A complete joy to work with them and we look forward to another design adventure in the future!!

Designing a contemporary Lake House in New Hampshire with Ruhl Studio Architects, was a wonderful experience of discovery and pleasure. Will Ruhl and his team thoughtfully and creatively devised a plan transforming our lake front space into a stunning visual and experiential masterpiece. Ever sensitive to the relationship of the setting and location, transforming space into flowing function and bringing outdoor feeling within, he devised the internal details of the space to highlight the beauty of the site. The total experience was seamlessly smooth and full of exciting transformation. Great process...... What a pleasure to have someone with such a wonderful eye and enthusiastic manner!! We love living in the final result. Ken Settel and Linda Kline, owners

We have had the pleasure of working with Ruhl Walker Architects for more than 20 years. In that time, we have completed many projects together that varied in scope: everything from large suburban new construction to compact urban renovations. In every instance, Will, Brad and their team have brought the same high level of professionalism, creativity, and fun. We can’t wait to work with them again!

We hired RuhlWalker as we felt an immediate click with Will Ruhl and Sandra Jahnes (and later on with Stacy Krieg when she joined the team). We needed an architect to help us to completely overhaul and renovate our historic house (from 1857) in Cambridge. While respecting the requests of the Historical Commission for the exterior of the house, we wanted RuhlWalker to help us to get the inside up to the 21st century and to create a contemporary home. It was a massive project (it took over a year) but the end result is absolutely fantastic. RuhlWalker helped us step by step, including discussing and 'defending' our project in front of the Historical commission during 2 of their monthly meetings. The project was complicated as the whole foundation of the house needed to be renewed (while being attached to another house). This was the most challenging part of the project and it took about 5 months but RuhlWalker worked very patiently with the contractor and engineers to get this to a good end. After the foundation was renewed all systems (HVAC, plumbing, electrical - the whole lot) had to be renewed. All floors had to be renewed and most walls and ceilings as well. We also moved the kitchen from the back of the house to the front (and they helped us with EVERY detail !!) and RuhlWalker also designed a new powder room. They also designed the most fantastic deck. Will, Sandra and Stacy are extremely knowledgable (and very kind !), they helped us tremendously to keep an excellent overview of the project and at the same time they focussed on the very detail. They always were there for us if needed, they stayed calm (when we were panicking), they were very responsive, and they were on our side to discuss each step with the contractor As we had to manage the project from a far distance for the first 9 months we still felt very comfortable with RuhlWalker on our side as they were our eyes and ears. They have a very transparant system of invoicing and were constantly making an effort to keep the cost as low as possible. We can highly, highly recommend RuhlWalker. Give them a call !!

Ruhl Walker Architects designed and oversaw a renovation of my mid-century home, and they were wonderful to work with! After researching and interviewing other firms, we selected Ruhl Walker to work with, impressed by their portfolio and their work on mid-century homes. They led us through a collaborative, engaging (and fun!) design phase to a smooth construction phase, working with us at each step to make sure the end result met our goals. In fact, our renovation--which had multiple parts: a small addition, conversion of a screen porch to a 3-season sun porch, new foyer and front exterior, replacement of floor to ceiling windows, and conversion of a basement into an living space--exceeded our expectations. We're so happy with the final product, and recommend Ruhl Walker without hesitation.

Will, Lilly and Keith were a great team to work with as we built our home. It was our choice to build a home that is not at all big by today's standards, yet the Ruhl Walker team's design feels incredibly spacious, open, light, and airy. Each space within our home feels like it's ours, not someone else's design vision for how we should live in our home. Our neighbor's daughter summed it up best when she visited our home to trick-or-treat. Wide-eyed, she asked us, "Is this a REAL mansion?"

We hired Ruhl Walker Architects after interviewing other firms and we couldn't have been happier. Will and Kathryn were with us every step of the way throughout the complete redesign of our loft space. They brought great ideas to us but were all receptive to our ideas and input - it felt like a true collaborative process throughout and we are so happy with the results. They were so great to work with and their creativity and attentiveness made what can be a stressful process really fun. I'd happily work with them again for any other projects we have.

Bright, modern, big enough to comfortably raise our growing family - yet, thoughtfully designed to be a manageable "forever home". That's what we asked of Will and his team, and we couldn't be more pleased with the results. Yes, our lot was a little unusual; but in the end, we're positioned so perfectly that it's hard to dispute that our property and our home were made for each other. Will listened to us. He listened so well in fact, that after our initial discussions in which we presented dozens of examples of homes and features that we liked, his first drawings were nearly spot-on. From the day we broke ground, the Ruhl-Walker team was always responsive, open-minded and respectful of our vision. They cared about our home, and loved it as much as we do. We couldn't have asked for more.

William T. Ruhl was the principal architect for the Hawaii Wildlife Center facility project in Kapaau, HI. The Hawaii Wildlife Center is a professional nonprofit wildlife rehabilitation organization serving the Hawaiian Islands, the endangered species capital of the world, and we needed a central facility to meet the needs of the native wildlife we care for. Will Ruhl and his team at Ruhl Walker Architects were able to take what we needed for a state-of-the-art wildlife response facility - the only one in the Pacific Islands region - and turn it into a building that is functional, efficient and beautiful. Now once an animal arrives in care, the process of treatment goes smoothly because of their dedication to understanding our mission and needs. They were able to take our vision, enhance it, translate it into a design plan, and produce something that far exceeded our expectations. The HWC facility has become a visual attraction in our community and a role model for other wildlife rehabilitation facilities nationwide. In addition, not only were Will Ruhl and Ruhl Walker Architects highly knowledgeable, skilled and dedicated, they were (and continue to be) a pleasure to work with and an amazing support system for us. They went above and beyond, absolutely embracing our mission to protect Hawaii's native species, and worked pro-bono on this project. They are true professionals in their field and wonderful individuals that support critical community projects like ours.

I really loved working with Will, Sandra, Nerijus, and the rest of the Ruhl Walker team on the design of our new beach house. They created the perfect house not only for our family but also for our beautiful but fragile coastal site, navigating us smoothly through the Conservation Commission process despite extensive constraints. Will brought so much energy and passion to the design and that has resulted in a house that is beautiful but also incredibly restful, modern but also intimate and warm. We had a lot of specific constraints on the project and rather than feeling like we had to compromise this brought out the teams creativity at ever turn. It is always an adventure to design a house from the ground up. I cannot imagine a better group of people to have had running this adventure. Everyone, including our neighbors, are thrilled with the outcome.