Two names.One contract.
Margaret Halden draws the house. Tom Rowe builds what the drawing refuses to lose. The shop has worked these towns since 2008.
Fixed-fee design, credited to the build. A written report every Friday.
The founders
Margaret Halden and Tom Rowe.
Margaret Halden, architect
She learned these houses by walking them, Evanston to Lake Forest: the commissions, the ravines, the way a 1920s eave turns a corner. She still draws the section before it goes into the set.
Tom Rowe, master carpenter
Stair, sash, and panel. He cuts a knife profile from a sample taken off the wall. If the wainscot is sound, the crew copies it. They do not invent a new one.
The carpenters are on our payroll. The architect and the project lead sit in the same Friday meeting. There is no second contract hiding behind the first.
The kind of stair and panel the shop is asked to keep.
The crew on a job
Four people you will actually meet.
Elena Voss
Project lead
One lead on the house. She writes the Friday letter, and she is the person who picks up the phone.
Daniel Cho
Carpenter
Stair, sash, and the panel profiles copied from the room that is already there.
Ruth Adelman
Preservation drawings
She stands in front of the commission in Winnetka, Wilmette, Highland Park, Glencoe, and Kenilworth.
Marcus Ellison
Plaster
If a wall is sound, he keeps it. If it knocks hollow, he runs the old profile in new plaster.
Plaster left up. The floor sanded, not replaced.
What we keep
Original plaster and millwork, wherever sound.
A wall that knocks hollow gets new plaster in the old profile, not a sheet of board with a cap glued on. Oak floors are sanded. Leaded glass is releaded. Brick is matched to the bond that is already on the house.
We do not cover a sound moulding to make a room look new. The point of the work is the house you bought.
Warranty
Two years on the work. Ten on the frame.
Workmanship is two years, on our labor and what we installed. Structure is ten years: the frame, the sistered joists, a wing we added. You get it in writing at handover, with the Friday letters behind it.
| Workmanship | 2 years, our labor and what we installed |
|---|---|
| Structure | 10 years, the frame, sistered joists, and a new wing |
| Not covered | Finish wear, equipment we did not specify, work by others |
Where we work
From Evanston to Lake Forest.
- Evanston
- Wilmette
- Kenilworth
- Winnetka
- Glencoe
- Highland Park
- Lake Forest
Lake wind, clay soil, and the preservation commission are on the drawings from the first visit. We appear in front of the boards in Winnetka, Wilmette, Kenilworth, Glencoe, and Highland Park.
Renovation loans arranged through partner lenders. We do not lend, and we do not name a bank.
(847) 555-0186studio@haldenrowe.exampleMon–Fri 8am–5pm CTLicensed and insured in Illinois