We were referred to Cecil Lee by a structural engineer friend last year when we were in the process of purchasing an older home in Berkeley. Cecil was very helpful in assessing the condition of the house and estimating the cost to remodel/upgrade the house. Because of his thoughtful advice and design/build evaluation, we ended up purchasing the house and using Cecil as our architect and project manager for the remodeling. We wanted to convert this old 1350 sq. ft. Berkeley craftsman house (built in 1918) from a 3 bdrm/1 bath to a 2 bdrm/2 bath house. Cecil was exceptional in maximizing space and flow, and modernizing the kitchen and bathrooms while still maintaining the architectural style of the house. He listened to our input and accommodated our ideas but he also showed "gentle" firmness when he thought our ideas were not in the best interest of the overall design of the house. Cecil is a great communicator not only in the design phase but also in the construction phase. He kept us abreast on construction issues, schedule, and cost. He worked extremely well with the contractor and their sub-contractors. All the workers seem to know of Cecil's work and always had high praise for his technical skills, management style, and follow-through on any open issue. In our lifetime, we have gone through eight major remodeling/addition projects for our homes. Due to those past experiences, we are very meticulous in ensuring that our goals are met and are demanding of the people involved with our projects. We can honestly say that this is the first design and construction project where we have absolutely no complaints. As far as design/remodeling projects go, this was a very positive experience thanks in large part to Cecil's professionalism, dedication, and real world work experience. We will definitely use him for future work. read more