Katherine Hillbrand enthusiastically engages with her clients to find design solutions that articulate functional beauty. Her work ultimately embodies the spirit of each specific circumstance and place. She is known to incorporate both handcrafted timber joinery and common, everyday materials in unusual and whimsical compositions. Her work includes both large and small projects that reveal a poetic juxtaposition of familiar elements and modern solutions. Her approach to sustainable architecture encourages environmental stewardship through design and culminates in well–crafted buildings that fit comfortably in their settings.
Katherine joined SALA Architects, Inc. in 1986 and became a Principal in 1995. She received both a Bachelor of Arts in 1965 and a Master of .... More

R W Knight founded his firm in 1977. He is a member of the Maine Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, having served on its Executive Committee for 10 years, and as its chapter president in 1985. He is a member of National Trust for Historic Preservation. He taught the first "Design and Build" studio at UCLA's School of Architecture and Urban Design, was a Lecturer in Design at California Polytechnic Institute in Pomona, and has taught design studios at the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor.
Mr. Knight graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with an A.B. Degree majoring in Architecture in 1966, followed by a Master of Architecture degree from Yale University in 1970. He has been registered in the State of Maine since 1977, and with the .... More

Ed Kriskywicz founded his design firm in 1991, but he has been building and designing homes and other structures since 1984. He has worked in 18 different states, and his firm has been involved in over 600 residential projects in Northwestern Michigan. In addition to stick framed homes, he has also designed numerous handcrafted log and timber framed homes.
Ed is currently working on a book for prospective homeowners, informing them of what to expect during the entire design and building .... More

Jean Larson, AIA, is a principal and co–founder of Rehkamp Larson Architects in Minneapolis. She designs new houses as well as additions for people who appreciate good design. Her work has been featured in various books, magazines, and television shows, including Creating the Not So Big House, A House for My Mother, Inspired House magazine, Residential Architect magazine, and HGTV's Before and After and Homes Across America. Her new book, The Farmhouse, was published by Taunton .... More

Boyd has long been interested in houses that are practical, yet exciting. He strives for versatility in design excellence, so that he can design in any style a client may prefer. He is interested in creating houses that are energy efficient, healthy, and an expression of the person(s) within. His goal is to create an environment that best supports the way the occupants will live.
Boyd received both his Undergraduate and Masters Degrees from Georgia Tech. Having built and remodeled several houses, Boyd has a far–reaching knowledge of residential construction. After working several years for other residential Architects, Boyd founded Boyd H. Leyburn Designs, PLLC in 2007. He is a registered Architect in Georgia and North .... More

Starting out his professional life with degrees in Physics and Engineering Physics, David LiaBraaten soon found himself drawn to the aesthetic sensibilities and creative traditions of his Norwegian and German ancestors. He began to pursue woodworking and wood carving, and later expanded his love of design and craftsmanship in wood to include buildings.
David founded his design firm, DesignHaus, in Bend, Oregon in 2005 after working in the design and building fields since 1997. From the start, DesignHaus has focused on innovation, livability and beauty in home design. In the last couple of years, DesignHaus has refined its focus toward sustainable, energy efficient designs. Armed with an understanding of the science behind building technology and materials, energy .... More

Michaela Mahady, AIA, is a principal in the firm SALA Architects, Inc., formerly Mulfinger, Susanka & Mahady. Since joining the firm in 1987, she has been involved in all phases of the architectural process on a wide variety of project types in locations including Minnesota, Colorado, California, Montana, Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa.
She has also been a principal and art glass designer for Pegasus Studio, Inc. and her art glass work has been dispayed in major exibitions and public art installations in several states.
She has lectured for various university architecture programs and has won numerous honors and awards for her architecture and glass work.
Michaela's work has been featured on several PBS series about residential architecture, and in .... More

Helios Design Group is a Boston based architecture firm offering a fresh outlook, a love of collaboration, and a focus on details. They've been designing beautiful homes and other spaces for more than twenty years, in Massachusetts and beyond.
Carol Marsh, AIA – Principal
Carol spent time in her youth dancing, writing, making art, and enjoying the waves on Venice Beach in California. She was doing ceramics when she discovered architecture, with so many of the same concerns at a larger scale – form, function, beauty, inside and outside. Carol studied architecture at the University of Southern California, and has worked for several architectural firms doing residential and institutional projects. In her twenty years of experience in architecture, she's .... More

Nick Mehl founded NJM Design Build on the principal that good design can be accessible to clients of all income levels. His designs are energy efficient and exhibit qualities of Modernism-contrasts in light/shadow, mass/transparency and contraction/expansion-without feeling cold or sterile. Designs are linked to their region through use of local materials and attention to climate and geography.
Nick Mehl received his B.Arch from the University of Notre Dame, and his M. Arch from the University of Texas at Austin. He is a licensed architect in the state of Texas and his work has been featured in the Austin American Statesman (July 2003) and on the Fine Living Network (October .... More

Bruce Millard, director and founder of the Studio of Sustainable Design, focuses on designing with an ecological approach toward a closer relationship between the earth and its people. He designs human environments, while protecting the health and beauty of the surrounding natural environment and its inhabitants. His experience in sustainable design spans 30 years. He has been a pioneer in solar and alternative energy, conservation design, and use of recycled materials since the 1970s, lecturing, teaching, designing and re-using buildings in Philadelphia, while a partner of Alley Friends Architects. He graduated with honors from the Temple University School of Architecture, where he also lectured and taught. Bruce is presently president of the Northwest EcoBuilding .... More

Ted Montgomery, a practicing architect with his own firm in Vermont since 1976, designed and built his own home, featured in Creating The Not So Big House by SarahSusanka. He brings a combination of soul, ecology, and whimsy to his architectural practice. He designs in virtual space with leading edge CAD visualization tools, while also building lighting fixtures, furniture, ponds, green roofs and garden rooms.
His work is featured in House Beautiful, the NY Times, Natural Home and on the HGTV and Discovery Health channels. He is an instructor at the University of Vermont and theYestermorrow Design/Build School.
Ted lives in an intentional community he designed, permitted and built called Ten Stones, named after his senior thesis project at the University of .... More

Dale Mulfinger co–founded SALA Architects as Mulfinger & Susanka Architects in 1983.
Dale received his Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Minnesota in 1967 where he is currently an Adjunct Professor at the College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. His professional background includes employment with several local, national, and international firms including the Architects Collaborative of Cambridge, Massachusetts and Brown Daltus of Rome, Italy. His interest in regional architecture is expressed in his ongoing research on the work of twentieth century Minnesota architect Edwin Lundie, and in the book The Architecture of Edwin Lundie published by the Minnesota Historical Society Press. Dale's most recent books are The Cabin and The .... More

Since 1992, as Principal of Living Shelter Design Architects, Terry has created designs for, and overseen documentation of, over 150 custom single–family homes, 5 clustered community projects, and 3 commercial structures. Her designs combine timeless style with sustainable solutions, integrating passive solar concepts and utilizing pockets of space that are often forgotten in other home plans. Terry took the apprenticeship path to professionally practicing architecture, including work as a plans examiner and building inspector, a mechanical drafter and drafting room manager, and several years as an architectural drafter and designer.
Terry has a depth of experience designing with many different materials that are both proven and sustainable. Since 1999 she has .... More

James Polk wears many hats. He is a practicing architect with over 25 years of experience designing sustainable buildings and neighborhoods throughout the United States, with stints in Washington DC, Wisconsin, and Mississippi.
As an educator, he has taught college classes in architectural history, sustainability, professional practice, design, and drawing at the University of Southern Mississippi and at the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture.
He writes a bi-weekly 'green living' newspaper column, publishes a blog - the New American Village - on sustainability and livable communities, and has a couple of book projects in the works. As a public speaker, his lively presentations of 'what can be' serve to stimulate a greater awareness of what it takes to .... More

Jon Rentfrow is an award–winning designer, and is a member of the American Institute of Building Designers (AIBD). He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Interior Design from Colorado State University in 1994, and he founded Rentfrow Residential Design in 1995.
Jon established the business to follow his passion for architecture. He has strived to develop his company by focusing on maintaining long–term relationships with his clients. Jon believes that building a relationship begins with satisfying the customer with a design that meets their unique desires and personal lifestyles. Jon's approach is to design a distinctive home by 'Creating Moods in Individual Spaces'.
Jon works out of his personal residence to afford time with his wife, Elisha, and .... More

Greg Robinson, AIA LEED AP has been designing custom homes and timber structures for Cascade Joinery since 1996. During this time he has worked with over 170 clients in 11 western states including Alaska, Hawaii, and British Columbia. Greg has always had a passion for timeless wooden architecture. Prior to joining the Cascade Joinery team he worked as an architect preserving and rehabilitating historic structures for the National Park Service in Mount Rainier, Rocky Mountain, and Grand Canyon National Parks. During graduate school at The University of Washington he received a scholarship to study historic wooden structures in Norway.
Since 1996 Greg's work at Cascade Joinery has received 5 Northwest Chapter AIA design awards and appeared in numerous publications .... More

Steven founded Sall Residential Design Group, Inc. in 1981 after working as an in–house architectural designer for a Denver based homebuilder. Since 1984, he has been winning local and national awards for his designs including a Gold Nugget Award for the "Best Condo under 900 S.F.", an AIBD award for a Custom Luxury Design, and a MAME award for a 30,000 S.F. residence. Steven continues to maintain his sensitivity to construction costs – ingrained while working for Homebuilders – while using his creativity to maintain his love of the relationships between living spaces and the outdoors. He also loves blending traditional, natural and "green" materials with a real sense of proportion and elegance into all of his designs. Steven has been incorporating passive solar, .... More

Laura Sanchez ran a residential design business for many years that specialized in beautifully–proportioned adobe homes in contemporary and traditional styles. Though she no longer designs homes, she maintains an intense interest in cost effective, sustainable houses. Laura currently divides her time between journalism and architecture.
Alex Sanchez, who grew up building houses, has taught courses in adobe construction and solar energy. He founded and currently heads the renowned computer–aided drafting program at the University of New Mexico–Valencia Campus. Alex and Laura have written several books and instructional CDs about computer graphics and .... More

Whitney Schrauth is the principal and founder of Sustainable Architecture & Consulting, a Sausalito, California firm that specializes in environmentally sensitive design & construction. SA&C's goal is to promote sustainable design while creating beautiful spaces that are a pleasure to inhabit. Emphasis is placed on an approach that minimizes environment impact while maximizing building efficiency and the use of alternative energy sources. Non-toxic and recycled materials are used whenever possible, as are alternative techniques such as straw bale and rammed earth construction. Photovoltaics & greywater systems are also encouraged to minimize the use of traditional water and electrical systems. Additionally, all SA&C designs carefully consider a .... More