By Design

Bruce Butler designed a new home for us. It is beautiful, inside and out, and fits perfectly with the landscape and orientation. Bruce's sense of style is superb, incorporating many tasteful features that fit together gracefully. Bruce is a joy to work with, and brings a depth of knowledge, not just in architectural design, but in all aspects of the building process, from raw materials to heating to environmental footprint to lighting and fixtures. Bruce was also accessible and helpful in fine-tuning details as his plans took shape through the building process. We recommend him enthusiastically.

We could not recommend Bruce and his team more. They built us a solid, gorgeous, impeccably detailed, energy efficient house to withstand rough Maine winters and maximize incredible views of the water. All this while never meeting in person and conducting all communications over email and the phone. We built this house from afar and trusted Bruce and his team completely. They exercised practical and professional judgment, anticipated our needs and concerns, and facilitated our decision making with reasonable timelines, and a keen eye on the budget. They even helped unpack and set up furniture to ease our first night in the house! Bruce's attention to detail and his team's careful work and professionalism combined with a pleasant working relationship made the process seamless and successful - on time, on budget and we made a new friend in Maine!

We wanted the design for our new house to be modern and light, yet an evolution of the shingle cottage. Bruce worked patiently with us and created such a design, well integrating all our requested features and adding his own good ideas. Later during the time the house was being built, we were not living nearby; Bruce regularly sent us photos showing the progress, keeping us well informed, carefully working out details with us and with the builder. Recently we moved into the completed house. We are appreciating the style, character and enjoyable, practical spaces; better than we had imagined.

Bruce is the ultimate professional. Fast and knowledgeable. Has the rare ability to offer professional opinions/suggestions but still consider contrary viewpoints. Your ideas are listened to and discussed and you feel very much a part of the process. He really listens. He really works through ideas. He really knows his stuff. Bruce helped us renovate/expand/winterize a seasonal cottage and develop a unique home, blending classic design with contemporary materials. Knows all the codes and design parameters. Totally current on energy requirements and methods. He responds quickly and will continue to provide multiple solutions and drawings, until you are satisfied. We were quite familiar with general building parameters and he did a perfect job of dovetailing with our ideas and needs.

When we renovated our living room, we hired Bruce to create the design, lighting and furniture plan. We had a complicated set of requests: a workstation for 2, built-in shelving with room for the TV, drawers for files, cubbies for photos and smaller items, a gas fireplace, and french doors for both entries. Bruce met with us to hear our ideas, we looked at a few photos on Houzz.com together to give Bruce a sense of our style, and Bruce crafted a perfect plan. Bruce is calm, friendly, talented and almost studious in attending to detail. Bruce finished our project early and on budget and responded within a few minutes every time I had questions. The gas fireplace was new to our home, and Bruce met several times at our house with the fireplace vendor and installer to make sure everyone was on the same page and he had the details for the installation and location and venting of the fireplace. On those occasions, Bruce was able to help the others visualize how the venting could work. On another occasion, when the electricians were here and had a question, I called Bruce and he immediately created a blow up of the lighting plan to make it easier for the electricians to follow. It was a pleasure to work with Bruce. He truly took our ideas to a more integrated, seamless, professional, exactly-what-we-wanted level!

We have worked with Bruce on several new home construction projects. In addition to designing well thought out beautiful homes, his thoughtful and detail oriented approach to the entire process was invaluable as we executed his vision. He is an always available knowledgeable resource and collaborator and I look forward to building additional "By Design" homes whenever the opportunity arises. Greg Fitzpatrick, Custom Home Builder

By Design is the architectural firm of Bruce Butler, located in Maine. Before engaging Bruce, I'd interviewed 6 other firms, after screening various websites. From the outset my experience with Bruce was very positive. He came well-prepared to the on-site interview & followed up promptly on some of the issues we’d discussed. The project was new construction for a waterfront home. A major challenge came when the surveyor showed that the buildable space was quite limited. Bruce explored all the options & we decided on a plan that maximizes the views & provided a logical layout. He very patiently listened and answered my myriads of questions & adapted his drawings innumerable times. Never did I feel that his design could not be challenged or modified, but I did learn to think carefully about his ideas, having occasionally pushed ahead with mine only to come full circle back to his drawing. During the construction phase, Bruce occasionally came on-site to review work already done & discuss next steps with the contractor & crew. As during the first interview, he was always well-prepared & he had a great relationship with them. I enjoyed watching him very carefully & methodically look over the completed work & assess what he saw versus the building plans. If modifications were needed, he handled the discussions very respectfully & made sure everyone understood what would be required. Bruce was also an enormous help selecting just about everything, including the kitchen sink. I am design-challenged & so relied heavily on his expertise. Countertops, light fixtures, flooring, wall colors, kitchen & bath fixtures were among the choices that had to be made. Each area took some time to explore & decide, but the home, now completed, is a wonderful, incredible place to live & the selections we’d made throughout the house fit perfectly.

When people ask me to recommend an architect my response is to tell them to get in touch with Bruce. I know they won't be disappointed. As a builder I have worked with Bruce on a number of projects both large and small over the last couple of years. In every project that we have collaborated on the final product always feels like it belongs in its environment. If it was a renovation/addition it feels like it has always been in the home. If it was a new home it never feels out of place in the location that it was built. The designs are thorough and well thought out thus reducing the uncertainties (both in price and scope of work) for all parties involved. When questions or dilemmas arise I know the solution that is developed by Bruce will be both feasible (from a building standpoint) and keeping with the clients overall goals. If you are looking for an architect that can help you bring your vision to life then Bruce is definitely someone you need to get in touch with.

We highly recommend architect Bruce Butler of By Design. He has been wonderful to work with, and we are delighted with our new home. We had never built a house before--nor did we think it was in the cards for us to do so--so we were complete novices when we began. Bruce was very patient with our lack of knowledge and did an excellent job of educating us on the process. Based on information he gathered from us, he presented us with an initial plan that matched our vision! After that, our discussions with him were primarily regarding materials and finishes. Our dealings with Bruce were done from a distance as we lived a half-dozen states away from our building site. Regardless of this, the process was seamless. Bruce also effectively acted on our behalf with the town Planning Board and Code Enforcement Officer. Without making a single change, they signed off on our plans the very night he presented them. He also participated in our meetings with prospective builders and made field trips to see their work. Additionally, he was very proactive on pursuing cost- and energy-saving options. We interviewed other architects before selecting Bruce. After the fact, one of the other firms asked us whom we selected. We told them and they said, "Bruce does great work, I think you'll be in good hands." There’s no question that we were!