Malcolm Edgerton Architect

My husband and I bought an 1898 brick fixer-upper with tons of Victorian charm -- original plaster reliefs on the ceilings, crown molding, and beautiful woodwork throughout. With all this beauty, however, it was completely unlivable -- the kitchen had been gutted, and it needed all new plumbing. To top it off, we decided to change the second floor, sacrificing a small bedroom to create a second bathroom. We knew we needed an architect for all these changes, but we didn't have a large budget for fancy plans. A friend recommended Malcolm Edgerton, and we met with him at the house to discuss the possibilities. Right off the bat, he was sensitive to our budgetary restrictions and assured us he could come up with plans to meet our needs within our budget. Also, he enjoys old houses and seemed excited to work on ours. That, plus his calm, easygoing nature made us feel very comfortable hiring him for the job. We'd never worked with an architect before and weren't sure how to get started. Malcolm met with us and listened to our ideas for both the kitchen and new upstairs floorplan, then went home and sketched a few rough ideas. We were able to take these initial drawings, and together with the features we knew we wanted, come up with a design that worked for us. All in all, I think we met with Malcolm three or four times to hammer out the layout, and each time he listened and helped visualize what we told him until we arrived at the final design. Once we'd settled on some plans, he suggested meeting with our general contractor, which we did. It was great to watch the two of them go over the plans and iron out the small details before the work actually began. An added bonus provided to us by Malcolm was that he walked us through the labyrinth of acquiring a city building permit, once the plans were done. With 30-plus years as an architect in Chicago, he's very knowledgeable of the system. We were able to get our plans approved in a short time, thanks to his expertise. We couldn't have had a better experience! We're very happy with the plans and would recommend Malcolm Edgerton to anyone needing personalized architectural services.