Colonial Home Design

Description of Work: We had Ed give an opinion on costs and evaluate a home we were interested in buying. He was very thorough and experienced. Decided against the purchase, but would call him again.

Description of Work: Provided design services and full set of construction plans for 1000sf addition to our existing home.

Description of Work: Initial consultation regarding upgrading our home.

Description of Work: He looked at a property I was thinking of buying to see what we could do with it.

Description of Work: I would recommend Colonial Home Design to anyone who is looking for an architect for a new home design or for an addition! For a flat rate cost of only $7,500 I received the following: A complete set of construction documents (which included an electrical plan and Rescheck), interior and exterior 3D renderings, as well as unlimited hours of one on one attention from owner Ed Buckingham whether in person at his office or over a conference call while seeing Ed’s screen via Go-To-Meeting. I could actually show him my screen as well! Ed was available 7 days a week from early in the morning until late at night, sometimes 10 PM. If I needed to change my design or to rearrange the kitchen, Ed was ready at a moments notice and the changes were made quickly, and I made several changes! I loved that I was able to see my dream home, COME TO LIFE with the three dimensional design both inside and out. It was nice to be able to put colors and materials in the rooms and change them anytime I wanted before actual construction began. I took my time during the design phase, as I made many changes and I never felt pressured or rushed. He was also there during construction with cost saving tips that actually paid for the documents!

Description of Work: Looking for an estimate for architectural/design services for adding dormers and a porch to the front of our house.

Description of Work: Consultation on home renovations.

Description of Work: My family has been in the custom home building for 50+ years and I have worked for national commercial construction firms since receiving by Construction Management Degree. My experience is from building High Rise Residential to Custom Hotels and Restaurants in NYC. I have worked with many high profile Designers and Architects and I can tell you that Ed not only understands Architecture, design, codes but he understands how to build. It was very important to me that I did not choose an Architect that can just draw me a pretty picture, but one that understand feasibility in constructing. I found Ed on the internet and when I spoke to him I knew he would be a great fit for me. Ed was available to me at 7am on Sunday mornings and late a night as we had online meetings to virtually walk through the house and go over every detail I needed help with. We reviewed window schedules, rough openings, door casing widths, roof pitch, stairs, deck size, kitchen island vs eat at counter options.... The detail he provided allowed me to place furniture in the rooms to determine locations for outlets during framing and let me know the size of my TV, couches, tables.... I virtually walked through the house and knew exactly what I was going to get. To make a long story short the pre planning and guidance that Ed allowed me to construct my 3000+ sf home in 16 weeks from digging the hole to move in. Our first child came home from the hospital and we moved right in. I would recommend Ed for any size project or style home you desire. If you do not have a construction backround or not he is a huge help! I look forward to working with Colonial Home design in the near future. ( I have never written a review about anything before but you have to give credit where credit is deserved)

Description of Work: I have looked for someone to help me design my project for a long time. Ed was honest about the numbers and delivered a great product. More than that, he gave a lot of thought about a different approach I had not considered. You do not need an over-priced architect.

Description of Work: Ed Buckingham provided the design for our addition which included an ADA design for a kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and livingroom and wrap around porch.

Description of Work: Remodeling design plans (drawings)

Description of Work: I am a general contractor. We hired Ed to create an as-built model of our client's home, develop the design concepts we had discussed and produce final construction drawings. The project was an addition and renovation to an older cape house in Wellesley. Ed produced several options during the design development phase and completed window and door schedules as well as the energy audit for our construction and permitting documentation.

Description of Work: Ed Buckingham designed our plans for our home. We bought a piece of land and Ed helped us design it. He was easy to work with, easy to communicate with and extremely helpful. He was affordable and we are extremely happ with the outcome.

Description of Work: Due to a flooding/damage problem, we sustained, Colonial Home Design -- and its professionalism -- pulled us out of the 'fire'. When contacted, they rushed to our assistance and put-together a plan to get us up-and-running, as fast as possible. During the shortened design process, "Flexibility" was their middle name. If changes came-up, CHD blended them, with minimal impact. The changes, to our structure, suggested by Mr. Buckingham, brought resolution -- and improvement -- to our original design. CHD was a very positve addition, to our addition.

Description of Work: Ed volunteered his time and expertise to create all the design and engineering drawings for a replication of an 1861 bandstand on our town Common to be built by high school students. The plans included very demanding State specifications for handicapped access requiring several modifications. The work was done immediately and professionally when changes were required by either State or local officials.

Description of Work: Colonial Home Design in Westford, MA provided us with comprehensive architectural schematics, 3D full color design renderings, and recommendations to replace an existing screened in porch (approx 12 X 12) with a larger four-season room that required replacing and raising the slope of the roof, maximizing window space, and installing decks on both sides of the new room.

Description of Work: I found Ed through Craigslist as I was searching for an architect to provide building prints and concepts for our two car garage mudroom addition. We had all ready started with another architect through a referral who was hand drawing all our concepts. We quickly found out that the just getting through the general layout phase with a hand drawn approach was going to get costly in a hourly service model as the turn around on a hand drawn concept was time consuming. We also felt that after the design was firm that making changes to the building prints if necessary would be time consuming and costly. After a few concepts with this architect we decided we needed someone with CAD tools to help us quickly visualize the space and this is when we found Ed. While Ed will tell be forthcoming that he is not a licensed architect, he has 20 years experience in residential construction as a general contractor and has parlayed that experience into a home design career. He utilizes a design tool called Chief Architect and is very proficient with the SW. Ed had the ability to host a live web meeting and build concepts of the space within a matter of minutes. His first appointment at the house he measured everything on the existing structure so he could put the original structure within Chief Architect. From there we had live web meetings via conference to work out concepts in real time. What I really liked about this model is we quickly narrowed down our scope of concepts which ultimately led to the final layout. Ed's business model is such that he charges a one time fee for the job (not a T&M model) which allowed us "unlimited" conceptual models in real time. His rule was once he starts on the building prints changes needed to be minimal and should the foundation layout change this would require a lot more work on his end so it would subsequently cost more. While we did not get in perfect during the concept change, the changes during the build phase we made were minor (removing a door adding a window) and included by Ed under the original quote. Ed is not a structural engineer however has contacts in the business so if your plans require to be stamped by a structural engineer that can be achieved. In my case this was another $300 or so and I was able to get my permits with the plans stamped by an engineer.

Description of Work: There were many services performed over the time we used Colonial Home Design. We needed upgrades and additions to our home including Built in Units, Outdoor Decks and Basement Redesign. Was expecting to see basic plans and design work. The owner invited me to his workplace and showed me in 3D exactly what the plans were and how it would be done in each case. Even more amazing was his honesty and his integrity in providing a price and adhering to that price. I would defnitely recommend this company to anyone looking for a company you can trust.