About

My passion for "making" was ignited in third grade with a knife and a block of scrap cedar when I began carving small boats in my parent’s basement. In high school, I designed and built my first piece of furniture, a table (named “drops”) carved entirely by hand. My mother likes to tell people that the piece she expected to put in the basement playroom became (and still is) a centerpiece in her living room! Although I continue, even now, to design and build furniture, by my early 20s it became clear that architecture was the medium that could fulfill both my creative drive and technical instincts. 

I was fortunate early on to be mentored by Donald Lococo, a perennial award-winning Washington D.C. architect, who two decades later continues to be a touchstone for me.  Donald taught me the distinction between good and great -- and what it takes to get there. He taught me about proportion, precedent, and drive. He taught me to draw through the building, to consider carefully how every detail could support the whole and to take nothing for granted. 

My work with Donald was followed by other great opportunities. Among so much more, Stephen R. Holt exposed me to the intricacies of the shingle style. John P. Margolis introduced me to classicism, taught me the significance of the Golden Ratio and its application in both the natural and built world. Eric I. Daum modeled the importance of exhaustive precedent study and furthered my appreciation and application of the five classical orders. To this day I rely on Donald, John and Eric (Steve Holt passed away in 2021) for guidance both personally and professionally on an almost weekly basis.

All of this played out against an important family backdrop—my grandfather was a carpenter who, with his brothers, owned his own construction company for decades in upstate New York; and my dad, an engineer by degree, maintained the family interest in building construction, managing the building of various manufacturing facilities over the course of his career. 

In my own work, I take pride in applying historical precedent, contemporary influences and technologies, and each client's unique tastes, needs and budget to create respectful, forward leaning architecture that meets both human needs -- performance and beauty.