This is where we started.
The house on the lot when the owners came to us, photographed in July 2022. Before any of it came down, we recorded it in a 3D scan.
A home that feels like yours.
A new house, a substantial addition or a complete rethink of the home you already have. We design around what matters to you, with close attention to the setting, the proportions and the experience of each room.
Glen Mills House · Completed
How do we turn this into our dream home?
Start with what’s there. Explore what could change. See how the pieces come together.
- Removed: the old house
- Stays: the foundation, below
- New: the main floor
- Kitchen, nook, living and dining: one space
- The foundation that stayed
- Primary suite
- The foyer, between
- Over the foundation that stayed
Ground falls away · basement opens to the yard
Seen from the woods, behind the house
Built · 2024
Before · July 2022
Plan · permit drawings
Model · permit drawings
What stays? What changes? Where do we make room?
Most of the old house came down. One block of its foundation was sound, so it stayed, and the new house is planned over it and out toward the woods.
- Stays
- A block foundation, about 25 × 23 feet
- Removed
- The rest of the old house
- New
- A four-bedroom house, the primary suite on the main floor
View the basement plan
Bring everyone together
The kitchen sits at the center of the main floor, open to the living room and the breakfast nook that face the woods, with the dining room beside it. Everyday life happens in one connected space.
Make room for privacy
The primary suite takes the other end of the main floor, over the foundation that stayed, with the foyer between it and the living spaces. The other three bedrooms are upstairs.
View the suite plan
Open up to the outdoors
Tall windows face the trees. Behind the house the ground falls away, so the basement opens straight onto the yard.
And this is what it became.
The new house, finished in 2024. Look around it, or see the before.
Homes we’ve designed
Custom homes and major renovations throughout the Philadelphia region and New Jersey.
Design starts with a conversation.
Tell us what you love about a house, what frustrates you and what you’ve been imagining. We’ll help you turn those thoughts into a design you can see, question and refine.
The right layout. We consider how you move through the house, which rooms should connect and where you want privacy. The plan needs to work on an ordinary Tuesday as well as when everyone comes over.
The feel of the rooms. Ceiling heights, daylight, views and materials shape the experience of a house. We use drawings and 3D views to explore those decisions with you.
A design your builder can price. We coordinate with your builder and the project’s engineers as the drawings develop. When a pricing set is part of the scope, it gives you a chance to review costs before the permit drawings are complete.
Services
New homes, additions and substantial renovations, with the drawings, models and renderings that help you decide.
Typical scope
- A site visit to understand the lot, its slope, trees and views, with a property survey by a land surveyor when one is needed.
- Concept plans and 3D views to explore different directions, with live drafting sessions to work through changes together. Your proposal sets the number of revision rounds.
- Renderings, when you want them, to see materials and light before you commit.
- Permit drawings coordinated with structural and, when needed, MEP and civil engineers, and a pricing set for your builder when you want prices early.
Permits and approvals
- Suburban building departments review the drawings under the Pennsylvania or New Jersey Uniform Construction Code.
- The zoning officer checks setbacks, height and coverage; relief goes to the zoning hearing board or board of adjustment.
Helpful to send
- The lot’s address or parcel, and a property survey if you have one
- How you want to live in it: rooms, levels, the views you care about
- Your construction budget and timing
- Photos or houses you like
West Chester FarmhouseChadds Ford HouseGlen Mills HouseTalk about a new house
We explore the options with you, including some you may not have considered, before settling on one.
Typical scope
- A laser-scanned survey and an accurate model of the existing house.
- Concept options for the addition or new layout, in plans and 3D.
- Structural engineering for new openings, beams and additions.
- Permit drawings, and a pricing set when you want contractor numbers early.
Good to know
- Can we keep part of the house as it is?
- Usually, and it often saves time and money. We document what is there first, then show what stays and what changes on the drawings, as on the Cherry Hill addition.
Permits and approvals
- Townships check setbacks, height and impervious cover; relief goes to the zoning hearing board or board of adjustment.
- Most additions need structural drawings; MEP is added for bigger renovations.
Helpful to send
- The address
- Photos of the house, inside and out, especially where the work would go
- What isn’t working today, and what you hope the house can do
- Any old drawings or surveys
Cherry Hill AdditionEast Bradford HouseBrigantine Bay HouseTalk about your renovation
Typical scope
- Room layouts and furniture plans.
- Finish, fixture and furniture selections, made with you.
- Interior elevations, and renderings when they help, to review the rooms before they are built.
Helpful to send
- Photos of the rooms, or the plans if the house is new
- Rooms, colors and pieces you like
- Anything you are keeping: furniture, fixtures, art
- A budget for finishes and furniture, if you have one
Scanning, modeling & visualization
We laser-scan existing spaces and use that information to develop drawings and 3D models for the project. A detailed record of the building gives the design team a clearer starting point for renovations and additions.
Part of most projects that start from an existing building. Also available on its own: a point cloud, with existing-conditions drawings and a 3D model if you need them.
See the proposed building, interiors and materials before construction begins. Renderings help communicate the design and make the choices easier to understand.
Added to a project when they help. Also available on their own.
A rendered video that moves through and around a proposed design, to understand its spaces, proportions and relationship to the site.
Added to a project when it helps. Also available on its own.
Work through changes live with an architect. We explore layouts and update the drawings or model while discussing the options with you.
Included in your design fee.
Aerial photographs and video of a site or building, to document the existing conditions or show the finished work and its setting.
Added to a project when it helps.
How it runs
A renovation starts with a scan of the house; a new home starts with a visit to the lot. Your builder or an expediter files our drawings, and we answer the reviewer’s comments.
- 01Proposal
- 02Survey or site visit
- 03ConceptUsually about 3 weeks from the survey
- 04Permit drawingsUsually about 3 weeks after concept approval — often about 4 for a new house
- 05Filing and review
Questions people ask
It depends on what the structure and foundation can keep, what the zoning allows on the lot, and the budget. Sometimes the answer is in between — like a new house on part of the old foundation.
Yes. City houses, new rowhouses and major renovations get the same design process as a house in the suburbs — with Philadelphia’s zoning and permit path worked in from the start.
Yes. We offer construction administration, including site visits, responses to contractor questions and review of submittals. We’ll agree on the level of involvement and include it in your proposal.
On site, by video, in our Philadelphia studio, or at our Downingtown office on Lancaster Avenue — by appointment.
Next step
Tell us about the home you have in mind.
Whether you have a property, a set of ideas or a decision to make about renovating, we’d like to hear about it.
Get a ballpark design fee A preliminary architectural fee range by email, for houses and buildings of up to four homes. The design fee only, not the cost of construction.