Westfield’s residential landscape features homes inspired by the timeless elements of old-world architecture. Craftsman, traditional, colonial, and American vernacular designs grace the area’s urban and suburban communities. Translating the most ambitious style ideas into architectural designs are the best residential architects in Westfield.
Aside from being award-winning practices, these professionals have been commended for their lifelong commitment to sustainability, historic preservation, and quality architectural work.
Clawson Architects
511 Valley Street, Maplewood, NJ 07040
Clawson Architects is acclaimed nationally for its high-quality designs that lean towards tradition. Founding partner Mary René Clawson and partner Marvin Clawson serve as the studio’s principals. Their team’s commitment to long-lasting architecture and its ability to tackle complex residential projects consistently yield optimal results.
The studio is a standout with critics and can point to a stellar, award-winning track record. It is the only residential firm in the AIA Newark and Suburban chapter to win consecutive Design Excellence Medals between 2013 to 2019. Two of its recent awards include the 2020 AIA Chapter Design Award – Gold for Design Excellence in Residential Design and the 2019 AIA Medal for Design Excellence in the New Home Construction category.
The architecture and interior design studio completed over 600 projects in the area. That includes classic structures and contemporary spaces that range from Hamptons-style manors to mountain retreat cabins. The featured project, a Mediterranean Summit Home, is a winner of the AIA Gold Medal. The project plan used a streamlined design with contemporary aspects to meet modern living standards. It also has a striking barn that infuses a simple and sophisticated style with an agrarian structure.
Rosen Kelly Conway Architecture & Design Firm
16 Maple Street, Summit, NJ 07901
Established in 1986 by Dave Rosen, Rosen Kelly Conway Architecture & Design Firm is a celebrated practice with works featured in a variety of publications. Design+Decor, NJ Home, House Beautiful, and Gallery magazine have highlighted many of the firm’s projects in the past. The firm’s highly collaborative design practice has allowed it to complete a number of luxury residential projects in recent years. The firm previously partnered with renowned builder, Westfield Construction, to complete a home inspired by the grand form and symmetrical patterns of Georgian architecture.
The focal point of the residence’s façade is its central entrance framed by an arched overhang and supported by white, cylindrical columns. The home’s tall, expansive window groupings hint at its colonial roots, especially its double-hung windows and dark shutters. The home’s siding is set in a red-tile tapestry. Complementing its warm tones is its light gray shingled, cross-gabled roofing. Its overall earth-themed palette allows the home to blend in with the surrounding environmental and architectural context.
PK Architecture LLC
472 Westfield Ave. Clark, NJ 07066
PK Architecture is a product of AIA member and principal architect Paritosh Kumar’s three decades of residential and commercial architecture and design experience. Kumar founded the firm in 2001. Under his guidance, the firm deploys a competitively priced, efficient, and technology-oriented delivery method. The resulting practice has produced an award-winning portfolio recognized by the New Jersey Building Industry Association (NJBIA) and the Edison Chamber of Commerce. Local and International publications and media, including NJ Business and NBC have also featured many of the firm’s projects.
The same award-winning quality of work can be observed in the firm’s residential portfolio. One example of its works is the addition and home alteration design of a traditional-styled home. One of the challenges of the project was to incorporate the new structure while remaining faithful to the home’s existing style inspiration. The result is an updated façade and a residence with upgraded functionalities, including extended spaces indoors, an outdoor deck, and a wide front porch. The use of Hardiplank, a cool blue palette, and large windows that invite daylight in make the home a pleasure to be in.
Bol Architecture
251 Springfield Avenue, Berkeley Heights, NJ 07922
Bol Architecture is one of the oldest and most established firms serving Westfield. The company was established in 1974 to cater to the luxury residential sector. Principal architect and owner Alexander A. Bol is a renowned member of the region’s design community. Aside from being an affiliate of the New Jersey Society of Architects, he is also a member of the AIA. Bol is also a licensed professional planner and registered architect in NJ, New York, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania.
In recent years, AIA recognized the firm’s portfolio of high-end homes through its annual Gold Medal Design Awards. One example of the firm’s work for the luxury sector is a single-family home. The home was inspired by classic Georgian architecture. The grand, geometric façade features groupings of double-hung windows and dormers against a canvas of thick walls in brick tapestry. A central entrance introduced by columned roofing and steps in natural stone is a signature structure common in this eighteenth-century architectural style.
Vincentsen Blasi Architecture
552 Westfield Avenue, Westfield, NJ 07090
Serving the Commercial, residential, and institutional sectors, Vincentsen Blasi Architecture is an emerging architecture and planning practice that focuses on how the built environments interact with their users and their communities. Since the company’s founding in 2014, it has catered to project owners across New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania. Some of its completed works have been featured in industry publications, including NJ Magazine and Westfield Monthly.
Gregory Blasi, NCARB, LEED AP, leads the firm’s practice. As a residential architect who serves private homeowners, Blasi has produced some of the most stunning residences in New York and New Jersey. The firm’s deep knowledge of design, especially when it comes to old-world architecture, is exemplified in its luxury home projects inspired by the imposing forms and nostalgic presence of Colonial architecture. These homes exude the traditional elements of the period’s style, yet are also conceptualized to provide modern-day amenities and functionalities.
Robert Algarin Architect
225 Lenox Avenue, Westfield, NJ 07090
Robert Algarin started his private practice over 30 years ago to deliver contemporary commercial and residential architecture to the mid-range and high-end sectors. The firm’s portfolio features the best of what traditional and American vernacular design has to offer. The firm does not just deliver a typical traditional-inspired home. The company is known for incorporating the latest design techniques and construction technologies and marrying them to the old-world craftsmanship and materials of period architecture.
Custom homes, energy-efficient homes, pool houses, attic conversion works, and remodeling projects, are included in the company’s impressive portfolio. These projects exemplify this merger of function and style. Its list of luxury custom homes conceptualized and built from scratch, as well as its high-end interior spaces, feature the company’s expertise in producing designs that answer to modern-day lifestyles.
Forefront Designs
225 Lenox Avenue, Westfield, NJ 07090
Aside from offering architectural and design services to its commercial and residential clients, the firm also provides planning studies, inspections, and property analyses that allow clients to make educated decisions about their projects. The firm’s project services list includes custom residential architecture, historic preservation, renovations, and additions. They’ve also provided work on shopping centers, office buildings, and commercial interior renovations.
The firm’s extensive service scope can be attributed to the background of principal architect David Bailey. Bailey is a lifelong member of the New Jersey Society of Architects. AIA once named him as an awardee for the institution’s Medal for Excellence in the Study of Architecture recognition. His experience working for the home and business sectors has produced work that highlights the approachable and timeless elements of classic American architecture.
Space & Mark LLC
84 Elm St. Westfield, NJ 07090
Space & Mark LLC was established in 2014 to cater to the needs of developers and project owners from the single-family and multifamily sectors. Hayk Ekshian and Karen Ekshian lead the firm’s everyday operations. Its projects can be found in urban and suburban areas across New Jersey. These projects feature the natural materials of classic and traditional architecture. To consistently deliver projects of quality and efficiency the husband-and-wife team has developed a delivery method that puts clients’ needs first.
The firm’s three-step approach includes the pre-design phase where the firm studies the project, analyzes the site, then develops diagrams to represent the best strategy for the work. During the design phase, the firm takes advantage of the latest in design technology, including 3D modeling techniques. Technical drawings are produced during the construction documents phase so that the client’s plan is ready for bidding and permit processing.
Klesse Architects
38 Chatham Rd. Short Hills, NJ 07078
Klesse Architects is a residential architectural firm that specializes in historic preservation. Its restoration work has been commended by the design community since its inception in 1994. Recently, the firm won the Harry Devlin Historic Preservation Commendation. The firm is also a member of the AIA. Led by Timothy Klesse, a registered architect and licensed interior designer, the company delivers a full-scope design approach to the market’s high-end clients.
Traditional, colonial, and classic American architecture dominate the firm’s luxury home portfolio. These homes not only redefine the old-world forms and details of vernacular architecture but also introduce the functionalities of contemporary and modern elements. Aside from the firm’s custom homes, the company also provides renovations, interior design, and remodels.
Decosimo Architects
266 East Broad Street Westfield, N.J. 07090
Maria Decasimo leads this 25-year-old firm. Under her leadership, Decosimo Architects provides residential architectural services to the region’s home sector. These projects come in varying sizes, values, and complexity: a range that highlights the firm’s full-scale services. From new construction, interiors, renovations, additions, and exterior projects, the company provides architectural consultation, 3D design services, and final construction documents.
One of the firm’s most unforgettable works for a custom home building project is a Craftsman-inspired residence. The company redefined the style and introduced modern and more luxurious elements into the design. Signature elements typical to the Craftsman style include the wide front porch and a columned entrance. The home’s façade features beige-palette siding and low-pitched red tile roofing. Window groupings on the second level provide the main areas of the home with expansive views of the lush landscape.
Abrams Architect
765 Norman Place, Westfield, NJ 07090,
K Abrams Architect is an architectural firm known for its research-based practice. Kenneth Abrams leads the firm’s everyday practice. Under his guidance, the company develops specific solutions for every project that it takes on. These solutions are based on the functional needs of the project’s users and how these structures will interact with their landscape and surrounding communities.
The result of the firm’s comprehensive delivery method are residences and residential spaces designed for urban and suburban markets. A look at its residential portfolio reveals homes that celebrate the timeless elegance of traditional and colonial architectures. Aside from its residential practice, the firm’s extensive scope also includes services for the corporate, restaurant, institutional, and retail sectors. From its Westfield office, the company serves the entire Northeast.
