Unreliable. They were perfect until we signed with them, then they changed the rules of the game…read moreand decided to try to siphon as much money as they possibly could from us. We got nothing from them, not even an idea, anything to go with, and they still took $2000 from us, claiming they worked for hours. On what? No one knows for sure. Scam.

Bill is the absolute Best! His intimate knowledge of Santa Cruz code requirements made my project…read morepossible. His excellence, enthusiasm and great results make him my choice for best architect in Santa Cruz

Leif Rideout is an outstanding architect and a good guy. My builder said Leif is one of those very…read morerare architects who "gets it" about the realities of construction and the expenses involved in various design alternatives. Leif saved us a bundle by using that knowledge to design a very attractive addition to an existing century old house that blended the roof lines in a way that was far less expensive than alternatives proposed by others. Leif has a great sense of design and tempers it with common sense about construction. He accomplishes that without sacrificing visual appeal. The result is a great looking very functional structure that doesn't blow your budget when its time to build it. He has all the latest CAD tools and uses them to optimize efficiency. He is really good at squeezing every last available square foot possible into a design and still complying fully with zoning lot coverage rules. He is also very aware of sight lines and what can be seen from different vantage points. He can design additions that add a huge amount of space yet maintain curb appeal and are nearly invisible from the street. Leif also plays well with others. My builder said he will recommend Leif on other projects because Leif "gets it" about construction and is a pleasure to work with. Leif is also a great guy. Honest, smart as hell, easy to work with. I recommend him highly and without any reservations.

I whole heartedly agree with the other reviewer! Leif is such a joy to work with and such a great…read moreperson. He is mellow, flexible, extremely knowledgeable, very creative, and his work passes through the permitting process with flying colors. His designs are elegant and practical and he really understands our design aesthetic and sticks to it. We have a huge fixer upper that we divided into two living spaces, one for us and one for my mom. It turns out that Leif did work on this house for the previous owner 20 years ago, adding an addition that joined the main house with the cottage in the back yard that is on a steep slope. The addition Leif originally did is a wonderful light-filled space. The cottage it connects with was not part of the remodel he originally did (the original cottage was not Leif's design), so we hired him to design the cottage to continue the work he did on the connecting section. The results are just amazing. It's now a light filled living space with triangular decks overlooking lovely views. Leif eliminated numerous problems such as water runoff flowing into the cottage, butterfly roofs that leaked, and a really ugly entry now transformed into something from Dwell magazine. Our style is California modern, but Leif can do all sorts of styles. When working with our builder who is herself a seasoned veteran, he added a lot to the process, including explaining the expansion and contraction of our clay soil, which caused damage to a concrete slab. (Normally you would have to hire a soils engineer to explain stuff like this.) He is also extremely knowledgeable on keeping the cost of a project down and how to get beautiful effects without breaking the bank. Leif also does design/build, but we learned this after we had already hired our builder. I would trust him completely with any sized project, and he will be our architect for all future projects. You can see his work if you drive by Santa Cruz Montessori or look at their website, and I got him in touch with Tara Redwood School to design the interior of their temporary building where the old Soquel post office used to be.

The Kastrop group are very professional company. My house was a total re-build and both Mike &…read moreBrian made this incredible task go very smooth. I would definitely use them again and would recommend the Kastrop Group !!!

We found The Kastrop Group through the Better Business Bureau. We were looking to renovate about…read more50% of our home and raising the floor in our laundry room to create a 2nd bathroom for the house. Brian V. came over to check out our house and to see if our expectations were realistic. He was very calm and organized. We found him very knowledgeable, especially about the San Mateo County permit & planning department. We interviewed a couple of other architeture firms, but found Brian at The Kastrop Group to be the best. Once we hired Kastrop, Brian quickly set up a time to come measure the entire house. Our 80 year old cottage had no central air/heat, so Brian referred us to an engineering firm that would help work out all the  computations that the permit department would need to approve this addition. As we moved through the architectural design process, Brian came up with solutions that would give us what we needed, along with a few suggestions that would provide more storage near our new second bathroom. We found Brian and Kastrop to be very accomodating with no drama. We like it when there is no drama. Once the architectural drawings were approved, we wanted to know if we had budgeted enough for the renovation. So, Kastrop had a General Contractor look at the plans and visit our house to give us some preliminary numbers. This was a big help for us and we were so thankful for this extra step. The Kastrop Group is an outstanding architecture firm that took us through the entire architecture design process with a gentle hand and no drama. We were grateful for their professionalism and their recommendations. If you are considering renovating your house, your first stop should be The Kastrop Group for impressive architectural expertise and being a great partner to navigate the county permit process.

We hired Patrizia to help us figure out what we could and couldn't do on our property in Santa Cruz…read moreCounty, California. She was a wealth of information and is a fabulous resource! Even in just the first meeting she helped us avoid a huge number of possible mistakes and ensuing headaches that would have followed - we used he fabulous decision making method and feel confident that we are making a long-term sustainable choice for our future home. We highly recommend her!

Patrizia is knowledgeable about building a sustainable living. She is passionate and willing to…read morehelp you find the best way to achieve your goals and have your building a house a pleasant and fun experience.

Working with Anna has been an absolute pleasure! We had some previous work on our home that…read morerequired revisions, which meant documenting existing conditions and navigating a process that could have easily become overwhelming. But Anna had a way of making everything feel manageable. She was upfront and communicative every step of the way, so I never felt left in the dark. That was especially valuable during the back-and-forth with structural engineers as she always made sure I understood what was changing and why, which made the technical process much easier to follow. Her responsiveness was top notch as well. Anna stayed on top of everything and turned things around quickly. I highly recommend her if you need an architect who is knowledgeable, reliable, and genuinely easy to work with.

Anna is excellent at following up and chasing down issues. She was also flexible in terms of…read moreadjusting scope of the project as we encountered very tough requirements in the first round. The hardest part in doing a private job is the higher scrutiny the county has on it. So, it was definitely helpful in having someone who understands the "politics" of the process.

We live in Carmel Valley and hired Justin and his team to do an addition and full remodel of our…read morehome including re-plumbing, rewiring, redoing the septic systems and replacing our ridge line beam, after having a terrible experience with our first contractor. Justin's team picked up the project while in the permitting phase and did a fantastic job on all aspects of the project, from pulling the permits through the final. They were always available, transparent with their bid process and exceedingly fair when unknowns came up in the project. Doing a high-end remodel is never cheap, but their pricing was fair, transparent and they worked with us to fit everything we wanted into our budget and schedule. Could not recommend them more highly!

I am a CA Licensed Realtor and would hire Hastings Construction for any of my clients. They are…read morevery professional, communicative, clean and do an excellent job.

I called Sam about a year and half ago to quote me for my home addition and he was very…read moreprofessional but I decided to go with someone else (family referral) Biggest mistake I have made. Two months ago I moved my office and I needed to make changes and needed a new layout. I called him and I was thinking since he didn't get my last job he would have been passive. Him and his partner Vardan took the job and delivered. These guys are young with a modern prospective and know what they're talking about. On top of that he was open to help me with my house addition. They faced a lot of challenges with the city but got everything done in timely fashion.

This guy knows his stuff. all you have to do is tell him how many rooms, bathrooms, etc you need…read moreand he'll create an amazing space for you. price was great and he even designed so constrcution would be most practical on price. true creator. i didnt go for the lowest bid when i was searching for an architect. i just asked to see his previous work and was convinced that he'll get the job done right.

Guy is a great architect and a really nice guy. He drew up the plans for our recent renovation and…read moredid a fantastic job at a very reasonable price. It was clear that he put a lot of thought into everything, and he made some really insightful recommendations. We are extremely pleased with the final plans, and look forward to living in this well thought-out space for many years to come. Highly recommended! Thanks Guy!