Heritage Building Conservation Services in Derby, CT

“We worked most directly with Sara Nelson and could not have had a better experience. Sara and her firm were responsive, resourceful and highly creative with great attention to important and meaningful details that are a trademark of their work.”

“Dave is a highly skilled architect with a deep knowledge of the style and structure of the building(s) he is asked to design and draft. Dave is easy to work with and has a keen sensitivity for his clients' tastes. He spends considerable time listening and understanding the "wants" of his clients and balancing the practicality and realistic options for construction. I would enthusiastically recommend him to anyone interested in designing and building a "house of one's dreams". You will not regret the time and effort he contributes to your project.”

“I had a great experience working with Emilia. Her ideas were always very practical and smart but with a bit of the unexpected thrown in. The originality and expertise she showed in relation to design was a wonderful asset to have, and she incorporated them all so seamlessly into the overall project. And her attention to detail ensured all areas of the project were covered and taken into account so nothing was left out. I look forward to our next project together.”

“We had a complete renovation done of our bedroom wing with 3 bedrooms, 1.5 bathrooms and a hallway under Heike's guidance. This was the 2nd project we have done with her, and we are once more thrilled with the result! What we like about Heike is that, she is a nice person to work with, she listens well, does extra research, has a lot of knowledge of materials and where to get them, and last but not least the fact that she comes from Europe and understands our modern European taste well. She introduced a number of nice touches in the overall design and paid attention to the overall energy efficiency of the renovation. She also worked with our contractor and the building department of our town. We can full-heartedly recommend her.”

“We worked with Pat on two renovation projects, post-Irene and post-Sandy. We were impressed by her innovative designs, attention to detail, and her ability to secure the necessary local approvals. She has been instrumental in turning our 1920s beach cottage into a more beautiful and functional space, while preserving its original charm. We are thrilled with the outcome and wholeheartedly recommend her.”

“I can count on several fingers the times I have found a local business partner that I'd describe as a rockstar, and Brian Hopkins is on that short list. On Christmas Eve, my wife and I were out doing errands. We got a call from our teenage son, telling us that water was raining down from the upstairs bathroom, through our microwave and stove, into the basement, onto the furnace and water heater. There was some once-in-a-century rapid drop in temperature, we had some poorly insulated pipes, and one of those pipes ruptured in the floor of that second floor bathroom resulting in that disaster. Total nightmare. Thankfully, one of the other rockstars on our short list of local business partners is our general contractor. We already had a plan on the shelf to renovate that bathroom, our contractor was available, we were able to get all our tile and bathroom fixtures picked out and procured in record time, and shortly after New Year's our GC started the repairs and creating the bathroom of our dreams. Salvation! Everything was going awesome, until the building department showed up. In a rush, we neglected to get a building permit. We weren't being shady or playing games. We were just hasty and ignorant and didn't do the things we needed to do. We got an immediate stop-work order. And the only way to get back on track was to find an architect to do proper code-compliant architectal drawings for our already-in-progress bathroom renovation. I quickly learned that there are not a lot of residential architects hurting for business, certainly not at that time of year. I literally called at least 15 different places. Either people were too busy, or weren't interested in the project. I finally found one who couldn't take the job, but said "hey, we know this other guy in the area who is super good, that we refer people to when we're busy. His name is Brian Hopkins." Somebody directing business to a competitor?? I now understand why they referred me. Brian is only the second architect I've ever worked with, but as far as I can tell, he's as good as it gets. I was able to get in touch with him immediately, and he agreed to take on the work. He was incredibly transparent and clear about what he was going to do, when he was going to do it, and what it would cost. Throughout the process he was super responsive, empathetic, organized, patient, professional, and enjoyable to work with. He didn't nickel and dime us or play games; he was clearly focused on good customer service and outcomes. And from what I can tell, both the building department and my GC were very happy with the quality of his work. The entire ordeal we went through, particularly involving the building department and fines and delays was horrible. Had we not found Brian, had he not been so excellent, the situation might have been unbearable. He literally was our savior. It's absurd not to want to work with someone like this.”

“Michael Lewis is a consummate designer with years of experience, talent, and organizational ability. We felt supported by Michael and his able firm throughout our project. There was a culture of sensitivity to our needs throughout the firm and skillful handling of issues as they inevitably cropped up. The firm worked with our century old house to bring it into the modern age, by retrofitting an amazing kitchen into limited space and converting an unusable attic space into a dream master bedroom suite with dormers, increasing our living space significantly. We highly recommend this firm!”

“Jim is a fabulous architect who is attentive to details with a great eye for scale and proportion. he can make ordinary become extraordinary. i recommend him.”

“Eric Baker recently served as architect on a very challenging repair project to our hurricane damaged home. Despite the difficult circumstances, he made us feel at ease from the beginning, and was a calming influence through every step of the project. We were very satisfied with the design and the finished product, but equally important, I want to emphasize that Mr. Baker was professional, trustworthy, honest, reliable, and listened closely to our requirements. I would highly recommend him to anyone who is seeking excellent architectural work.”

“Caren is a true professional I have used her services on a number of occasions, residential as well as commercial .I find her to be fare in pricing,her work has always been complete and on schedule”