Mahoney Architects & Interiors

Colleen is composed, professional and highly skilled. Her firm helped us take our ideas and put them into reality. Phenomenal choice.

Colleen of Mahoney Architects and Interiors and her staff made our ADU plans and permit process a breeze. During a very busy time in her companies schedule, she took the time to come out and speak with us and see our place. She pushed through drawings / blueprints and permits for us. We were so thankful that she did because it is a very long process and we are still working to complete the work. If Colleen hadn't of been able to set forth a plan for us when she did we would have been much farther away in completion. Thank you to the staff and especially to Colleen for working with us. We are very grateful and hopefully can have the job completed by June 2022. Brenda and Nick Johnson

As a general Contractor I have built a number of projects designed by Mahoney Architects including custom homes, ADUs, residential care facilities and Buddhist Temples. In all cases the projects were successful. The plans were clear and well detailed, the projects came in on budget, and the clients were happy with the results.

Colleen and her staff are extremely professional, creative and capable. I am very happy with the design of the studio that they created for me. They helped me through a lot of the paperwork too. I highly recommend them.

Mahoney Architects are thorough, professional and easy to work with. They are timely with their responses; also very good at coordinating work with others, like engineers, energy consultants and helping with building departments and their requirements. My wife and I have done numerous construction projects and this has been the most enjoyable. Thank you.

Colleen was so helpful with our project and still is.we sat down and she showed us the process and talked about what we wanted for our addition and we got plans quickly and professionally. Colleen and her team got us on our way to our new addition

Beware. Colleen Mahoney, the principal and owner at Mahoney Architects earned my trust in November, 2021 by relating to our remodel objectives and budget. I’ve done two large remodels in the past so am experienced with the process. As far as remodels go, this was considered on the small side and largely consisted of opening up the kitchen to the living & dining room and opening up the space to the outside. We allocated a budget of $230,000 for this project. Colleen said that was reasonable and estimated her architectural services would run 10% of the total budget or $23,000. She assured me that her firm was excellent at managing their services to a budget. Short story is Mahoney Architects completed about 35% of the project for 100% of their estimate. Their invoices reflected rework and unnecessarily working on designs that did not meet project objectives and could have been easily resolved by talking to the client. Perhaps worse, is that Colleen never saw an issue with her invoices. A more detailed account follows. Mahoney Architects started the project on Nov 16, 2021, measuring the house and drafting the As Built Drawings in AutoCad. Because of a bookkeeper error, I did not receive the November invoice until Dec 30. At $5,926, it seemed high but after I asked how much of the project that invoice represented, Colleen emailed that it represented “20 - 25%.” That projected total architect fees of $23,704 - $29,630, which is higher than the original estimate, but still in the ball park. On Jan 7, 2022 I received the December invoice for $18,098. I was stunned the two invoices totaled $24,024. There was no communication that their billings were already over the estimate. All that had been completed was As Built Drawings (Site Plan, Floor Plan, Elevations, Cross Section of Floor Plan) and two design sketches that did not meet the project objectives. We still did not have a workable Design nor Construction Documents (Demo Plan, Floor Plan, Electrical/Mechanical Plan, Interior Elevations, Exterior Elevations). After I requested that all work stop until we had a discussion, Colleen took 6 days to write me a formal letter in which she listed everything they did and said it was all appropriate. She never acknowledged that they were over the estimate. She estimated that it would take at least another 100 hours or roughly $19,000 to finish a design and create the construction documents. We met to attempt to come to a reasonable resolution. But Colleen could never answer why the As Built Drawings were so far above the estimate, nor did she acknowledge or recognize why a client would be worried about that. There was no project scope increase and measuring and drawing the existing house is the most predictable part of a remodel project. In the end, I paid her firm $20,426 for the release of the four As Built Drawings. A very expensive lesson for being too trusting on what I was sold.

Colleen was professional, very knowledgeable, on-time, easy to work with, and did a fantastic job! I would highly recommend her!

As remodel “newbies” we were overwhelmed and intimidated when starting to plan a kitchen/bath remodel. After researching architects and designers on Houzz, we decided to contact Colleen Mahoney. Best decision we could have made! Colleen is calm, knowledgeable, personable and professional. She points out all the things you don’t know even to ask, so that by the time your plans are drawn, you get everything you want, and then some. She has made a point to stay in touch as we navigate choosing finishes and fixtures, as well as interviewing builders. One builder specifically told us how lucky we were to have hired her. Our plans came back fully approved from the city Planning Department with no changes or requests for more info - they were highly impressed with Colleen's plans. And her staff, particularly Betty and Tony, are awesome as well. We have very much enjoyed working with Colleen and her staff so far, and look forward to completing our project under her steady guidance. Thank you Colleen!

Colleen and her team collaborated with me to design a beautiful remodel in West Petaluma. Colleen and Betty listened to what I had in mind and strategically designed a work of art! Along the way, they have been supportive partners, helpful with the City Planning department, and have gone well beyond the typical accountabilities of an architectural firm. I highly recommend Mahoney Architects!

Colleen Mahoney is one of the best architects around, and, I can’t recommend her any higher. Before hiring her, we interviewed several architects, and, then saw a,portfolio of her designs. Right then and there, we knew she was the architect for us. We’re thrilled with our house. She’s easy to work with, returns calls immediately, and seldom gets flustered. In my opinion, COLLEEN MAHONEY is a top archyou can count on.

I have worked on quite a few projects with Colleen over the years, and am always impressed by her professional knowledge and her attention to detail. Her years of experience in the industry is evident when working with her, and in the finished project. Colleen is a true advocate for her clients, and continually strives to make the experience go as smoothly as possible, by trying to meet their priorities while guiding them through the design and permit process.