Daniel designed our custom home in a gated community outside of Austin in the Hill Country. We was…read moreimpressed with his architectural vision from the beginning and after 10 in-person meetings ( 3 in person and 6 via zoom ) we had a fully developed architectural 3D model that we give you from all sides. Daniel was very generous with his time and since we have quite a few impressive views we wanted to capture all of the views perfeand all of the Hill Country ambiance

5 star Architect for a reason!…read more Daniel has an architectural approach that I believe people will find very rare and refreshing these days. He is very giving of his time, knowledge, and is the most collaborative of the 3 Architects we have used on the 2 other custom homes we have built. As an example, even before we signed a contract he made multiple site visits to give us his friendly professional insight about several lots we were considering before we selected the property we ultimately purchased. He was extremely accommodating and friendly throughout the entire process. Collaboration is his priority from the beginning and he made it very convenient through the use of screen share as we designed the home together. We were really impressed with the architectural 3D model that Daniel created. It was amazing that we were able to have a computer-generated 3D model to visualize the complete exterior as well as the outdoor entertaining, outdoor kitchen, and the pool and spa area. We were able to have the majority of our meetings in the evenings after we got off work and we even did a screen share to collaborate on our laptop while we were out of town visiting family. Not only is he extremely knowledgeable about both the architectural and contractual aspects of building, but he seems to have a great instinct for what the client is looking achieve. He also had the desire to study alternatives and create several layouts that might make the most sense for the lifestyle we described. Our custom home is amazing and we would definitely recommend him to our friends. We enjoyed the process of the architectural design of our custom home and even more surprisingly we enjoyed the building process that is often stressful. Instrumental in our smooth building process was Daniel's custom home building budget that he accurately laid out from the beginning giving us many options and associated costs. Daniel's project management and selection of the builder really took confusion out of the process and stress off of our lap. Other critical details that made build successful was his guidance and assistance with the interior design, kitchen, and bath design, and selection of all of our interior finishes and fixtures. Our kitchen and bathrooms really stand out with exceptional design and we are very grateful for that. All in all the 3% that he charged to be a complete steward of our project was an easy decision. We will definitely be using him in the future and so will our friends that are very impressed with our the result as well as our highly detailed and accurate design and building process.

CB has been an absolute life saver. The permitting process in City of Austin is extremely a…read morenightmare, and its 100 times worse when the permit is for a grease trap for a daycare kitchen. CB got my plan approved less than 2 months after I had struggled for over a year and half. He is also a gentleman and goes out of his way to guide me step by step after I had permit on hand, checking on the project periodically to make sure all the construction / installation went smoothly. The grease trap just passed City of Austin final inspection! I can't wait for the day we start serving hot & healthy food to our little friends! Thank you, CB, for your wonderful work!

CB Ellis is the only permit expediter you should ever work with. Full stop…read more The City of Austin's Dept of Development Services is a mess of sub-departments run by people who all have different answers, interpretations of code, etc. Unless you're a large company and/or rich, the permit process can completely wipe you out, financially and emotionally. For our small business, what should have been a simple series of small hoops to jump through became a full-on nightmare, with us being sent on a wild goose chase of emailing, calling, video conferencing with people in permitting. We were given completely different answers at every turn, and none of the other permit expediting services we contacted responded to our pleas for help. Except for CB. He knows the ins and outs of permitting in Austin, he's personable and honest, he's not here to rip anyone off, and he makes you feel like he's on your team during a very stressful process where it seems like everyone else's job is to make your life hard. I'm just echoing what all the other reviews here say, but it's all true. CB Ellis is a magician.

Hubby and I wanted to add on to our house as it is less than a mile from the new apple building and…read morewe thought it was a great investment. We were referred to a different architect initially and when I described my vision she asked "Do you expect this to be a free service?" Yikes. no ma'am, but I did expect it to be a fun and exciting process. So I started looking. And looking. Annnnd looking. When I came across Chris and Gina's web site, I knew I had found 'my' people. Fun, whimsical, one-of-a-kind, not mass production. When we spoke, we were disheartened that they advised us the cost to add on far exceeded the value added at resale. Wow! What a stark and wonderful contrast to the other folks. If we ever do need an architect, there is no one else I would consider.

Some Assembly Required is awesome! Nearly 8 years ago they designed an amazing addition and…read morereconfiguration of my 1950 cottage style home, I absolutely love everything about the transformation. Bonus: working with Chris and Gina is the best! If you're considering making changes to your house, or looking at purchasing a house that might be great with a little (or a lot) of a tweak, Chris and Gina will be an invaluable asset and worth every penny. They made the process fun, and the house is a perfect fit for my needs, even as those needs have changed over time.

After receiving a quote from another draftsman connected to the landscaper we are using, I called…read moreJohn to get his take on the quoted price. He was kind, easy to get in touch with, professional, and offered genuine, industry-informed feedback on the quote. The info he provided was so helpful. I was very impressed with him and his knowledge and definitely recommend his services!!

Chris and John provided excellent quick development of CAD files for a new home addition. We hired…read moreATX Drafting Services to prepare As Builts for an existing home we recently purchased. Their team came out and completed the survey within the estimated time and were professional while on site. The CAD files prepared were to a high quality and we used them to develop the architectural plans for an addition. They are competitively priced, responsive and worked within our schedule. I plan to work with them in future projects!

Review for Celeste Reese…read more What a pleasure working with Celeste Reese. I called with a very small (in relative terms) project. Just wanted a porch added to a Georgian home in South Austin. She listened to my wishes and dreams and then asked some important questions that could have greatly affected the project. It looked like my porch was going to be reduced from a splendid addition to just a narrow facade due to a mandatory set-back. Celeste was able to work with city permitting and was able to advocate for a variance that propelled the project forward. With this new information she was free to design a Georgian/Federalist portico that completes the grandeur of our house. Her design elements were exactly what we had talked about and she brought in details that I had not even considered which only made the whole design that much better. Celeste was so delightful to work with and went out of her way to make us feel important and special. The relationship is built for when we design our new house. This project may have been a small one but I know it will lead to bigger and better things for all of us. I can't wait to work with Celeste Reese Design again and would give her my highest endorsement.

I can not say enough about your design of my house, I love it and am surprised it is so beautiful…read more Anyone wishing to see a fantastic home, come drive by 4906 West Market Dr, here in Austin.

Blue Diamond did a terrific job…read more We had spoken to many contractors, but too many either did not return calls, or wanted to make cosmetic changes but not fix the basics, or wanted to do work without city permits and inspections. Our small 1958 house needed all the basics. Sewer lines needed replacement, water line needed replacement, interior galvanized plumbing lines needed replacement. Unsafe ungrounded electrical wiring needed replacement. We needed more outlets, better lighting, outside outlets. HVAC was in attic, old, not up to code and ripped ducting. Needed to be replaced and relocated. Roof needed replacement, old aluminum single glazed windows needed to go. Cream shag carpet and ugly hard to clean floor tile (which was on counter and backsplash too) had to go. We needed insulation. A proper vent for the stove. New backsplash and counters, new toilet and sinks. We left our fifties single bath and cupboards to save money. In only a little over two months from start of work, working with city inspectors and all up to code, they took our house down to the bare concrete floors, the ceilings down, the bare bones exposed, and built it back up, new, improved, everything safe and working, and much more beautiful. With a working kitchen and finally a dishwasher and disposal and washer dryer! The bones are 1958 but the house is 2020. Shout outs to Hayk the electricIan, Zach the plumber, David the carpenter, all the drywall guys and everyone else for doing a great job. Max addressed any issues promptly, and was very responsive. The team accommodated us staying on site with the cats, and there were no escapes. Having the in-house Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing made all the difference. Sometimes we had multiple crews working simultaneously. Everyone was courteous and wonderful to work with. The whole house was brought up to code and passed all the needed inspections. and even the inspectors commented on the quality work that was being done. We still have a small, three bedroom one bath house, but it's now the house we dreamed it could be. In fact, we had everyone sign the house as they finished! Quality craftsmanship is an art form, and we are delighted with the results. Blue Diamond worked well with outside contractors, too. To save some bucks, we had Window World do the windows and a neighbor did a great job paintIng. This caused no problems. On time, at budget (yes there were a few unforeseen items that brought it up but nothing serious)). And now we have a beautiful home we can retire in. Kudos to Blue Diamond, one and all! Thanks for the terrific house!

They came back and changed the hinges on the corner cabinet and added a piece of filler to make the…read moregaps less noticable.

My husband and I were in the process of buying a house and the inspection indicated we needed to…read morehave a structural engineer look at the house. Chris was recommended to us and he generously checked out the issues in the small window we had during our option period. He was incredibly responsive and communicative. We would highly recommend Chris and his firm.

He picked up the job from yelp and was very knowledgeable and prompt about getting the job done…read more Chris, the structural engineer helped with the issue of maintaining the structural integrity of the bathroom as my team would replace the subfloor in the bathroom in our home.