Gary L Holmes Architect, GLH Construction

Gary Holmes was the Architect that after several meetings with us and city of Santa Barbara, CA. officials, developed concept and final plans for our home. His professional ability and experience were determinnig factors in the quality and elegance of the final product, that blend very well with the marine enviroment and the beautiful California coast and its views.

We worked with Gary on the planning, design and construction of a very complex large second-storey porch for our 30-year-old home in Los Altos, Calif. This project required an unusual combination of engineering skill, aesthetics and knowledge of specialty suppliers, as well as the local zoning ordinances.. While Gary managed to keep costs to a minimum, he worked thoroughly and carefully, tackling the project with enthusiasm and skill. He was exceptionally patient as we struggled to understand some of the intricacies of the work and crystal-clear in his explanations. We were absolutely delighted with our interactions with Gary, as well as the final product. We also happen to have enjoyed the time we spent with him. Needless to say, we'd use him again without thinking twice for any project.

We live in the Meadowridge house which we bought from Gary in 2000. He had designed and built the house in 1994. We had him add on to the house, converting the garage to another room and building a new garage. My wife and I love the house. In fact we are expanding again adding space to the garage and putting two bedrooms above the garage along with other changes. Gary had left the area so we are using another architect/builder. But we have continued his designs in the new addition. My comments refer to The original house and addition. The design is fantastic. The best attribute is the sky lights that run run the length of the house in both directions. These make the house what it is! The use of wood (aspen ceilings, vertical pine logs, sand blasted wood trim around the doors, etc.) and stone (entry way and some outside walls) give the house an outdoors feel inside. Several rooms/closets do not have doors giving an openness to the house. We love the vaulted ceilings leading up to the sky lights that emphasizes this openness. He also used interior windows to light up areas that would not receive sunlight. In short we love his architectural ideas as expressed in our house. We have lived in the house for 12 years and have had no structural issues in spite of heavy winter snows. -Cres Fleming