Paul M. Donoho, Architect

We began work with Paul to design our retirement home back in 2018 (approximately 1800 sq feet). Although his design was completed by 2019/early 2020, COVID made it difficult to find a contractor. During this period, prices for materials escalated making construction questionable. Nevertheless, Paul stuck with us through the entire time frame. Our home was completed in October, 2024. We could not be happier with the completed project. I cannot say enough thank you's for a job well done! He helped us with the initial layout of the house on vacant land, provided critical contacts with contractors for estimated construction costs, made contacts with structural engineers and soil experts, and made valuable recommendations to accomplish a more cost-effective process. Most important he drafted the house plans for eventual county approvals. He then worked with our contractor and monitored the construction process, not to mention helping to make minor modifications as construction began. Paul's documentation of every aspect of the design and approval process was professional. Trust me! Having someone local design the home proved extremely valuable -He knew the in's and out's of home construction on the Big Island of Hawaii. Something we could never had done by ourselves. I would highly recommend Paul! During this process we met many homeowners planning similar work. Unfortunately, they did not have as good of an experience with their architects.

I've worked with Paul for over ten years. His vision and design skills are excellent. Especially enjoyable to work with him on pre-design conceptualizing, and watching him manipulate design details live on CAD, and 3D model fly-arounds, demonstrating to groups how we could make big and small layout changes. Paul has designed for our Waikii ranch home: a second-floor barn apartment, and a very creative second-floor addition to the main house including home gym, bathroom, and lots of storage. Paul has also designed for St.Columba's Church in Paauilo a new kitchen, pantry, and renovated bathrooms, along with new freestanding sacristy / classroom / office building. That project broke ground mid-March, and is due to complete this Fall. Paul is currently designing a new 5000 sqft Community Gathering Pavilion, with full commercial kitchen, dining room, covered drive-through, cold and dry storage, and office, plus a 2-bed apartment upstairs. We are moving into full design Phase this month.

I could not more highly recommend Paul Donoho. He is dedicated, prompt, helpful, and kind. His knowledge and expertise combined with his passion and love for helping create, have been a huge blessing in our moving forward with two major building projects. While our projects are still in process, the completion date is yet to be determined. However, I can say that what has been completed thus far has been highly professional and tremendously appreciated.

Paul has been wonderful to work with. He went above and beyond many times on our project. He is professional in all aspects and his drawings were amazing. Our church had an exceptionally large remodel with many components and he navigated the waters expertly.; he didn't leave anything to chance. It was truly wonderful to have Paul behind the project! I highly recommend Paul Donoho. His work is excellent and so is his character.

It's hard for me to know where to start in recommending Paul Donoho—I can't decide whether to first praise his work, or praise the quality of his character. I chose to hire Paul after seeing a home that he designed. That home was absolutely a work of art, and reflected the character of his clients beautifully. When Paul showed me this home, one of the things he pointed out was how he was able to source materials that were absolutely appropriate for the project, yet as economical as could be. This leads to Paul's character—he's forthright and honest. We hired him for an addition. He visited our site on a couple of occasions to get the feel of the place and make measurements. His presentations are super-clean, whether hand drawn or presented in dynamic perspective on computer. Paul's taste is impeccable—lines are clean and very well considered. My wife and I couldn't recommend him more highly.

Paul was easy to work with and excellent at incorporating our vision in to the project. He wrks with a user friendly contractual process with agreed objectives, completion dates and costs, so there are no bad surprises. Unfortunately we had to relocate before actual construction began, so the project was not completed.

I live on the mainland, so Paul designed a complete remodel of a master bedroom and bathroom remotely. He never set foot in my house. I sent him measurements and pictures. He listened to my needs very closely. He did what I asked, however he also proposed other designs. He came up with a much better design that I EVER would have imagined. He went above and beyond my expectations. He communicated with me consistently during the remodel as questions arose. I strongly recommend Paul for any remodel. It was an amazing experience.

We would highly recommend Paul Donoho to anyone looking for an architect to build their dream home. We met with several architects and selecting Paul was based on our observation that Paul was the one architect who really listened to what we wanted which was important to us. In reviewing a sample of Paul's project format it was obvious that Paul's organized. We hired Paul to draw our plans and we probably weren't the easiest to work with as we had Paul meet us at the site on numerous occasions to make sure what we wanted was perfect. Paul was attentive throughout and incorporated our specific needs as we progressed through the various design stages. Our only regret is that we moved out of state and our property is being sold. Although we never built our home, the wonderful experience in working with Paul in designing our home is that we first hired Paul, and someone we didn't know, as an architect and in the end he became our friend. If we ever decide to design another home we would definitely seek Paul's service.

Paul helped us with design for a remodel and we found him to be incredibly professional. He listened, gave feedback, and ultimately drew up fantastic plans. He's prompt and respectful. I can't recommend him highly enough.

Paul Donoho continues to exceed our expectations. He is extremely creative in his designs and ideas, detail oriented, is able to anticipate/foresee potential problems from topography to roofline. When we started our "journey" in building our dream home, we were well aware of the qualities and level of professionalism we wanted in an architect. We found those qualities in Paul. He continues to serve and guide us through our project, and consistently provides straightforward and honest feedback, including ways to best manage costs. He is very reliable and timely in completing the related "phases" as well. We could not have found anyone better!

Paul is very responsive, creative and realistic! We are working with him on a renovation and find his ideas spot on.

Paul Donoho recently designed my second restaurant, Noodle Club in the town of Kamuela on the Big Island of Hawaii. Paul always displayed professionalism with a keen eye for detail. His calm demeanor and prompt response to all involved with the project insured a smooth build out. I have referred friends to Pauls services and would not hesitate to use Paul Donoho for future projects.