Selecting an architect

The first candidate was a freshly licensed friend. A lack of communication skills made it abundantly obvious he was too professionally immature for a project that would shape how we live.

In January, we talked to an architect at the Home Design & Landscape Show in Morristown. While he insisted the firm could “do modern,” the portfolio didn’t support this claim.

In February, I introduced myself to an up-and-comer at a chic NYC restaurant she helped design. I was star-struck—even more so upon seeing her name in a magazine. At a mid-June meeting, she and her partner explained leveling our house was necessary to achieve their vision. Moreover, they wanted to sub to a New Jersey architect, having that firm adapt this vision to local conditions.

I interviewed the firm behind a well designed New Jersey restaurant and bookstore; their sampling of shore homes was heady, if a tad minimalist. Yet we never seemed able to confirm a time to meet. Concerted web surfing yielded several sites with prose so portentous I couldn’t figure out if the buildings discussed were homes or holy relics.

As the roof leaked in August, Google brought me to Jimmy Dumas Architecture, LLC. Jimmy responded to my email. Then called. A few days later, he was standing in the rain at our front door. As we talked about the house, our rapport was comfortable, easy, like getting advice from a trusted friend. A reference check and retainer check later, his team spent the day measuring our house for the “as built” drawings, which arrived Friday.

Every email: responded to. Every call: returned. Appointments: kept, on time. Deadlines: met. Calls from Jimmy or his team members to say, “We got the ‘Manifesto.’” “We got the check.” “Just checking in...” They have the basics down cold.