PRAISE

We thoroughly enjoyed working with FAME. They are responsive, thoughtful, and have a good sense of humor. They felt like trusted partners. Every step of the way, they’ve been there to answer questions and provide considered guidance.

We were blown away by the designs they proposed. The vision package was a great way to see how they synthesized our needs, desires, and the conditions of our property to form three different solutions. We could see directly how what we’d shared around budget, style, and functional needs came to life in their designs. An example of this was the inclusion of the sun studies which helped us see that the designs FAME provided were derived from real data, not just cool ideas.

One of the biggest challenges we gave FAME was the request to integrate the house more into our sloped property and garden. We were thrilled to see how they met that challenge - something the previous architects had completely ignored.

When my wife and I decided to renovate our Venice home instead of moving, we knew we needed help.  We were fortunate to receive a referral from friend and renowned architect Steven Ehrlich of EYRC Architects to David and Marina of FAME Architects. From the first meeting, we knew we were in good hands and felt great confidence in their expertise.

They are very easy to work with and yet are able to integrate their knowledge and expertise with the client's desires and particular needs.  I know that this requires tact, diplomacy, and a strong grounding in their own artistic values.  The four of us were always able to work out any problems and made adjustments along the way, including the difficult issues of availability of products and supply chain problems.

Our remodel was extensive including new interior paint, all new lighting (replacing old track lighting and fixtures with recessed lighting), new kitchen countertops, new cabinetry, a custom-made vanity in the primary bathroom with a beautiful marble top, many pieces of new furniture and several light fixtures.  The beautiful hanging chandelier in the kitchen is what everyone first comments on when entering our home now.


One piece that is especially important to me now is the hanging pendant in the bathroom.  It was one of the last pieces that was chosen and by that time I had learned to trust their sense of design.  At first, I was hesitant about the piece but it has become my favorite, especially in the early evening when the soft glow of light with the dimmer switch gives the bathroom a feeling of beauty and luxury.  


David and Marina are efficient, capable, trustworthy, and easy to work with.  They always did what they said they were going to do and were scrupulously honest in their pricing and billing.  I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them (and have) as their technical understanding combined with their artistic and design concepts and their knowledge of materials and furniture allows them to work well in many different environments.

FAME wasn’t the first architect and design firm we worked with for our project. There were other designers that were plenty talented but didn’t have the vision that brought. Our experiences with other designers were always a bit underwhelming because they didn’t really try to get to know us before designing something they thought would suit us. David and Marina began our project by asking thoughtful questions about how we currently live, how we would like to live, and the big desires we had for our new family home. With them, it felt they were fully invested in our happiness beyond just designing something “nice”. We knew what kind of aesthetic we liked, but couldn’t articulate exactly why we liked it. FAME took our inspiration and improved on it, making it way better than we could have imagined. We are so impressed with their smart and thoughtful designs.

We wanted something much more special and different than what we had seen done before locally. David and Marina were the perfect duo to do exactly that. Our home feels like it is special to our family.

We were always eager to see what innovative ideas they had coming our way and it was a joy to discuss design possibilities with them. The duality of their styles always came through in the multiple design options they provided us. It was always an exciting time for us to see what they came up with. They never pushed ideas on us and were very good at understanding our thoughts and deciphering our wants and needs. We always looked forward to design discussion days because FAME never disappointed. There were always a lot of smiles and “Oooh’ing “and “Aah’ing”.

They’re so unique as a team and individually, and it really shows in their craft. As clients, we really benefited from their perspectives and design talent both in the creative sense and the technical. The thing that surprised us the most in working with them was how stress-free we were as clients. We felt safe, understood, and confident that we were going to get a fantastic product with them leading the way.

During construction, there are always a million decisions that need to be made and we were always confident in the ones we were making because we always felt like a team: the client and the designer. FAME was on our side, trying to give us what we envisioned for our home but through their expertise and professional guidance. We were always informed every step of the way in the design process and beyond. As issues would inevitably come up, we never felt lost or confused because FAME would always have either the issues solved already or a solid well thought-out plan B or even plan C. Even at the most frustrating times during our build, they were always with us 100% and carried us all the way through to the finish line. 

Their knowledge of construction was a huge bonus in hiring them. They understood what was feasible in construction and when contractors would push us in a direction we didn’t want to go in, FAME would always pull through for us because they KNEW that it could be done. If it wasn’t for FAME, the construction phase would have been very stressful. They alleviated any trauma we would have had by always being in constant communication with our contractor. We definitely benefited greatly by having them with us throughout construction. 

Furniture selection is a very daunting task and FAME’s guidance was essential to finishing up the final stages of our beautiful home. They even put the pieces we wanted in a 3D model for us to see in our space before we made any final decisions. Having FAME from the early stages of design all the way to furniture selection was a major factor in creating our home.

With each phone meeting we had, scheduling was always well thought out by FAME to finish on time. I think we would have been hard-pressed to have found an architect and design team who were always aware of our time and money like FAME was. As clients, we were very grateful for their commitment to keeping the project moving and the budget steady. 

FAME gave us their full design service, oversaw, and finished our entire home in 2020 during one of the most stressful years in modern history. Our finished home is better than we could have ever envisioned. We had so much fun working together and can’t wait for the day we are able to do the whole process with them again.

We are very grateful and happy clients, and anyone else lucky enough to have the opportunity to hire them will feel the same. 

David and Marina created a vision plan for us after getting to know what our lifestyles were like and the things we like to do together with the family. They addressed all our questions and concerns and were honest in their feedback, letting us know if they did not recommend a particular change and their reasoning behind it. The whole process was definitely a huge learning experience for us and we felt we were definitely in good hands the entire time.

We appreciated their guidance, encouragement, patience, and advice in creating the vision plan for us and helping us imagine all that our home could be. David and Marina are so gifted at what they do and we enjoyed getting to know them and know you will too. We have recommended FAME Architects to our neighbors!