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Testimonial From Persson Residence Project

“We worked with Dotter & Solfjeld to design a villa on a steep hillside in Saratoga, CA which several other architects and contractors had deemed an unbuildable site. As soon as we bought the lot, Russ began studying the landscape, spending significant time at different points in the day to intimately understand the light, the views and the flow of the hillside. Once he felt he knew the property, he and Wencke spent time with us to understand what we like and dislike and then began designing our house based largely on Italian building principles of thick walls and simple, yet elegant, construction.  Russ and Wencke involved us in every step of the process and ensured we were completely comfortable with each phase of the design before moving forward.  Once we were ready to build, they totally went above and beyond the call of duty by negotiating with our planning department and even mediating a heated dispute with one neighbor, that resulted in Planning Commission reviews and appeals.  The appeal, which we easily won, was argued on the night their second child was born, but they were by our side nonetheless!  Russ was our advocate with the City and was clearly extremely well respected by everybody he worked with.

During the building process, Russ worked closely with our Contractor and foreman to ensure that the project ran smoothly and stayed on budget. Often times, there is tension between architects and contractors, but our contractor loved working with him…basically everybody loves working with Russ and Wencke. Speaking of tension, building a house can be a stressful time, but doing it with Dotter & Solfjeld was a complete and total pleasure. We can unequivocally and enthusiastically recommend Dotter & Solfjeld!”

Jennifer Persson
President
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