Sustainable Design Services in Sands Point, NY

“Gustavson Dundes provided complete architectural and design services for a redesign and renovation of a 1950's Cape home , and transformed it to a modern colonial. The project was challenging in that the footprint of the house was narrow, and my wish list was long! GD excelled in ensuring the efficient use of small spaces. In particular, the family room includes a desk area and a small bar. They were flexible and listened to my concerns throughout the project. When I decided, rather late to flip a tub from the master bath to the guest bath, they made the change easily. They worked closely with the contractor and monitored progress through out.”

“Very pleased with work from Clawson Architects - Rene, Marvin and their team. Over a number of years they have supported 2 projects at our house - new bathroom, new kitchen and other changes that made the house meet our needs. In the last job, we had ambitious plans, they listened to why we wanted to do it and suggested a smarter, much lower cost approach that gave us exactly what we needed. One innovative idea that no one had suggested in 10 years of our living there until they and it saved me quite a lot of money. Their work is thorough and top notch.”

“We have worked with Karen at Brinkman for countless projects; baths, kitchens, whole-house remodels; light commercial spaces, and additions. She is a true professional and has some great ideas for the spaces we are hired to remodel. She is willing to stop by on a moment's notice for questions and advice, which is important for the remodeling that we are involved in. We plan to continue working with her for all of our remodels in the future.”

“My home is one of the exhibits listed here. This architect was easy to work with and gave appropriate and timely advice when needed. She is currently working another project for me, a renovation of a Frank Lloyd Wright's apprentice work in the Berkshires.”

“LEAP designed our modern and green home addition. They handled much of the creative work on the project, as well as detailed renderings, bid consultations, and construction supervision. LEAP's work was very creative and responded directly to our needs. They found ways to get energy efficiency and modern design details into a "buildable" and cost-conscious project. They are humble, hardworking, and consistent. I would choose to work with LEAP Architecture again without hesitation.”

“Very helpful and organized. Helped walk us through designing a 2nd story addition. Drew up a few interior and exterior options and walked us through pros and cons before picking one. Assisted builder with question as they came up.”

“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.”

“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.”

“I have worked with Taeik for nearly 7 years now on projects ranging from $50,000 to $5,000,000. He and his organization are prompt, courteous and effective. Their plans work and they have the ability to develop on the fly in the field as well as in the studio. We have undertaken projects both Residential and commercial and they have never let us done. Its refreshing to know that there still are professionals who are dedicated to their work and care”

“Neil is amazing. I am a new developer and he was always available, explained everything to me and helped me make intelligent choices. As a result my four rental apartments always get rented within a week. They look like condo finishes but did not cost nearly as much as how expensive they look. In addition I ran into some structural and equipment problems. He helped streamline the repairs and helped me feel confident that I was making the right choices for my building. My project lasted for a couple of years because after I renovated two of the units two more became available. It was always a pleasure to have Neil on my team. He can tackle any project from small to large!”