Susan M. Rochelle, A.I.A., Architect

As a landscape designer, I am always confident when I bring Susan onto the project. She is highly professional, extremely knowledgeable and very responsive. She spends time with the client to develop an understanding of their wants and needs but even more, she brings a skillful understanding of both the practical and creative sides of design to the project. Susan is a pleasure to work with and I look forward to the finished product!

Susan Rochelle is not only a consummate professional in every respect but she is a very talented artist! She has an exquisite eye for detail and added so much character to our already amazing house with the addition she designed for us. We purchased a two hundred year old home and needed to tear down an awful 1940's kitchen area and second floor bed/bath suite. What Susan designed to replace the remuddled project is spectacular! We now have a gorgeous kitchen/family room on the first floor. It is complete with seating areas for sofas and chairs, a stone fireplace with sitting area, a beautiful hexagonal bumped out dining area, lots of windows and a beautiful covered porch. There is also a summer kitchen/mudroom area with an additional bathroom, closets, and other storage areas. I have to say that the entire addition is so spectacular that my home was selected for an annual kitchen tour and fundraising event. As for the second floor, we now have a lovely guest bedroom with an en suite full bath. Additionally, Susan created a beautiful master bathroom. She even added a second story porch/sitting area. One of the most beautiful aspects of this project is the exterior. The gables on the roof line of the addition are set back so that the addition did not overpower the original home. The dormers created facets in the facade that cause an optical illusion which keeps the appearance of the addition subservient to the original historic building. Dutch doors and other exterior details keep the look of an historic building. Susan did not compromise in any detail. She was always respectful of our wishes and did make changes as per our request (which were few). She is a pleasure to work with. I would highly recommend Susan to anyone who wants a home with taste, character and beauty.

Susan used her abundant technical abilities and artistry to design an addition in a large area between the main house and the formerly detached garage. This new space includes a window-filled sitting room, full bath, laundry room, pantry, and enclosed "breezeway", ideal for house plants. On a functional level, these spaces perfectly fulfill my long list of requests, but of equal importance to me, Susan did a fantastic job of replicating the English Arts & Crafts style of the existing house. The slope of the site and the multiple roof lines were challenges that Susan met with skill and creativity. Always a pleasure to work with, Susan kept me involved every step of the way with the design process. A true professional and an extremely nice person, too!

Susan Rochelle is an amazing architect. She did considerable work on home, which originally was a carriage house built in 1890. Everything came out wonderfully. Everything she did had all the modern conveniences we wanted while keeping with the home historic nature. Our master bathroom, originally a monument to wasted space was transformed into a shower/tub/vanity area, a walk-in closet and a powder/toilet room. She also did all the design involved in installing an elevator in our home (at the insistence of elderly parents -- and managed to give us a new downstairs powder room, an amazing office and more sensible relocated laundry room in the process. She was always on time with appointments and work delivery, patient with our requests for changes, realistic with managing our expectations and above all always charming.

We have hired Susan Rochelle to designed two major projects for our family. The first commission was a a redesign and addition to our family home in NJ. Since we were added a large addition to the existing structure, we were concerned about continuity of the final project. She worked closely with us to incorporate all our concerns and requirements. The outcome was beautiful and we could not have been happier. Our second project was for the design of a lake cottage in the Pocono mountains. There were numerous restrictions concerning the property and of course we wanted to maximize the lake view. And again, we have a beautiful vacation home. All her work was done with a great deal of professionalism and attention to detail. We could not recommend her more.

Susan is a thoughtful and thorough architect and I would highly recommend using her for any project big or small. We worked with Susan on a master bedroom and bathroom renovation. She closely listened to what we wanted and needed. She carefully re-designed the space making it far more spacious and better suited to our needs. She also offered new ideas that made the most of our budget. In addition to her great designs, she is a pleasure to work with, keeps on budget and on time.