Heritage Building Conservation Services in Casa Conejo, CA

“I want to give a huge thank you to Ori and the rest of the Via Vista team. Working on this project has been such a pleasant experience. Ori is both responsive and creative. Via Vista‘s work is unbelievably realistic and has a great turnaround time. I am beyond pleased with the outcome. Highly recommended!!”

“My experience with Audrey Sato was outstanding. She truly is a talented architect who has both great vision and is detail oriented; making the process of designing and constructing my fitness studio a fun and seamless one. I appreciated that she kept in constant contact with me, and was very hands on from design through construction. I felt comfortable asking questions and giving input, and am was very satisfied with the results. Pictures of the studio can be found on Facebook under 'The Dailey Method Calabasas'. Its a beautiful space. Clients of the studio rave about how beautiful, well lit, and comfortable the space is. And we owe it all to Audrey Sato Design Studio!”

“I grew up with a father who is a master contractor. In my adult life, I have been involved in countless home renovations, so I've always thought architects are a waste of time & money. They always seem to be writing checks with the customers' money, and have no basis in reality or practicality: they seem so frivolous. Hubby and I bought a mid-century modern home that had been turned into a tuscan style by the previous owners. (can you imagine?) We needed help getting approval from the local city planning board who are a NIGHTMARE to deal with (average of 8-10 plan checks, most cities do 2-3!?) We hired Glen with EZPlans to help us. Glen handled acrimonious city officials, seeming design impossibilities (and even a few vastly different design ideas between hubby and I) with tact, professionalism, and good humor. Dealing with EZ Plans was a breeze. I am so impressed with their vision, their professionalism, and the very talented, creative (and practical) architects they hire. They are exceptional communicators, and are as intuitive as they are talented. EZ Plans turned a simple contractor grade design we could have come up with ourselves, to a design that respected the mid-century bones of our home, and brought it to the practical standards we needed the home to suit. The design they came up with easily increased the value of our renovation tenfold. the only direction they had from me was "I want to respect the home's bones with materials in their natural element, nothing frivolous, but we need the house to be super specialized for our dogs." (maybe that's a bit frivolous....) They took this and ran with it. Incidentally, they are AVID dog lovers (almost as nutty as hubby and I are, ) so they came up with such cool suggestions that will make our old dogs' lives (and our lives) easier. As someone who has scoffed at the need for an architect, (come on, my dad is a contractor!) I can assure anyone: the design of a talented architect is worlds apart from what a contractor, or even designer, could come up with. They take things to another level. Glen increased the value of the renovation by making the design in line with architectural design elements, not current trends that would be outdated quickly after installation. More importantly, they made changes to the home to fit OUR lifestyle and needs, instead of us changing our needs and lifestyles to accommodate the home. This is the difference: architects build homes, contractors build houses. Hubby and I are so pleased with our experience at EZPlans. They make incredible planning, design and architecture...easy. :)”

“Lisa Little worked wonders in our smallish Venice space. We had complicated needs and she found elegant solutions within a tight budget. We redid a kitchen from the walls out, extended it a bit, added a bar, added in a huge walk-in closet and staircase in the master bedroom, and reconfigured a guest loft. The latter involved enclosing a half-wall for privacy via rotating shutters that Lisa dreamed up and designed. The shutters rotate open when the loft is not in use and closed when we have company up there. This was a brilliant idea, brilliantly executed at not much cost. Lisa helped with fixture choice, color choice, and furniture choice, and worked closely with the general contractor and his subs. She exhibited great taste, a firm hand, and a keen eye on the budget. Recommended without reservation.”

“We have a mid-century one story home built in 1959. We hired TOLO Architecture to update the home. We worked with architect Peter Tolkin who transformed both the interior and exterior making it a fine example of contemporary design while being conscious of both budget and the integrity of the original design. Our living room, kitchen and dinning room were enlarged visually by exterior mounted "barn doors" which open the spaces to the outside, and by raising the exterior walkway elevation with wood decking to the level of the interior floor elevation. Peter's design added 5 feet to the master bedroom, designed a wall of built-in cabinetry of closets and drawers. The design placed barn doors on two adjacent corners of the room which transformed an ordinary bedroom into an extraordinary space which opens to the outside wood deck and pool beyond. He also resigned the circa 1959 "lava rock" free-form swimming pool. Peter used the pools existing footprint to create a new rectangular pool with spa which has a continuous spillway into the pool. It really is a water sculpture with sound! He secured our hillside with a 50' long horizontal white wall (5' tall) which not only keeps the landscape in place, but gives beautiful definition to the pool area. He designed a 400 sq ft pool house, perfect with shower right from pool. Barn doors at the corners makes the pool house an indoor/outdoor space. And last, but not least as the saying goes, Peter created an outdoor living room which steps down from the wood deck. It is complete with a cushion covered concrete banquette and a large fireplace within a concrete base. The house was featured in Pasadena Magazine (cover and inside) in an issue showcasing indoor/outdoor living. It was a pleasure working with TOLO Architecture!! They are creative, cost conscious, and responsive.”

“We hired Tagliaferri Achitects for our addition and remodel in South Pasadena. We were challenged since we needed to rearrange bathrooms and closets and give the 1922 home a needed facelift. Luciana couldn’t have been more helpful and accommodating to our needs, not to mention she is an absolute pleasure to work with; professional and friendly with a calm demeanor. Since our home is on the historical registry, she was diligent about keeping true to its history while breathing new life into it. We were so pleased that the drawings were approved by the city on their first submission—a difficult task by anyone’s standards. We look forward to working with Tagliaferri Architects on the next phase of our project—the pool house!”

“We loved working with Bill and would highly recommend him to anyone! He was able to take our vision to the next level with his design expertise! We are truly happy with the beautiful addition to our home!”

“Giovanni is creative, original, careful and considerate. I cannot imagine a better choice for your architecture needs. He did the plans for an apartment over our garage. When people open the door they literally gasp with surprise at the light, feeling of spaciousness (it's just over 450 sq ft), and unity of presentation. It's all down to him.”

“We worked with asap on one of our multifamily apartment projects. We were very pleased with their professionalism, quality of work, and dedication. Having worked with several other architects, I would say that they are by far the most creative ambitious and competent.”

“The team at Minarc is great. They designed and helped us build a new home from the ground up using their proprietary mnmMOD building system. Founders Erla and Tryggvi were deeply involved in every step of the process, from initial design, to permitting, to all the build details through final completion. They listened to us, understood what we wanted in a house, then went on to deliver beyond our expectations. Both are highly creative, energetic and a pleasure work with. For our home, they created spaces for truly comfortable living while still maintaining a clean, modern and minimal aesthetic. As an added bonus, our home has been featured in print publications and broadcast programs, was recognized with numerous awards and was included in a Dwell magazine home tour. They continue to be an incredible resource for every aspect of design, building and architecture. Highly recommended!”