Hendricks Churchill

As a luxury swimming pool and spa design/construction firm, we have had the privilege of working with Rafe Churchill for over a decade on some of the areas's most well-appointed homes. Rafe has an excellent eye, impeccable taste, and an attention to detail that our mutual clients require. His designs are realistic and can be executed down to the finest detail. Whether the project is on Main Street of a country town or situated on a hilltop field, Rafe's vision helps the home blend seamlessly into the surrounding environment. We recommend Rafe often and without reservation to our clients.

It has been a pleasure to work with Heide. She has an easy-going nature and works well with everyone: clients, contractors, manufacturers, tradesmen. She has many local service people as well as a good knowledge of NYC stores, showrooms and Design Centers. She respected and adhered to budget guidelines, has great energy and was responsive and enthusiastic. She has technical proficiency with design software and spreadsheets for budget and project analyses AND a great sense of style! . She absolutely gets it done, and has a great attitude and never has to be 'chased down'. She manages to be collaborative while staying true to her opinions and views. I look forward to continuing this project to full completion (thank you Heide for moving me forward!!!), and to future work on my Larchmont, NY house!

We worked with Rafe and his team on the renovation of our home in Salisbury, CT. From our first meeting, Rafe asked the right questions and quickly "got us" and how we lived in a space. While we fall in the modern/minimalist camp - not the typical client for a design firm called "Traditional Houses" - Rafe and team respected, honored & translated our 'wish list' in the plans. Throughout the design and construction process, Rafe was responsive and available to answer any and all questions. Thanks to Rafe's talent, eye & professionalism, our home reflects the modern farmhouse we set out to build.

Heide has helped me out on multiple projects. She is kind, easy to work with, and innovative. I was always 100% happy with the project from my daughter's Manhattan bedroom to our suburban living room. She combines a modern take with a country flair. She finds unique pieces that fit an individual's home. Heide was always very aware of my budget and stuck to it!

heide worked with me on two different projects and if found her not only to be a joy to work with (smart, kind, funny, etc.) but a supremely talented interior decorator as well. she has a deep knowledge of different styles and periods, and is able to comfortably mix antiques with vintage and contemporary pieces, creating extraordinary spaces time and time again. she is adept at finding unique pieces and she takes a holistic approach to color by considering hues that flow well from room to room. she is a master of time management and extremely mindful of budget. i could not recommend her more highly.

I worked with Heidi from the conceptual stage when building my home in Sherborn, MA. through until the final project was finished and I have moved in (about 14 months). We worked on all details of the house from furnishing, paint colors, curtains, rugs etc. I cannot recommend her more highly. She is easy to work with, has a distinctive style that she carefully and respectfully imparts. She is punctual, reliable and organized with billing and budgeting. She works well with other vendors and clearly has great contacts in the design world who often find great items for her. In short, she brings the whole package to a project. Elizabeth Sheehan

Heide is fantastic. She is so easy to work with and I learned a lot from her about color and design. She is very flexible and has fantastic taste. She also get things done quickly and efficiently. We worked with Heide on two projects and both turned out terrific.

After seeing Heide's work at a friend's house I hired her to help with the renovation of our NYC co-op. She drew up plans for our contractor and worked seamlessly with his team. Our renovation was not an easy job as the rules and demands of the co-op board were sometimes extreme. Heide managed to come up with fantastic solutions for every single problem that presented itself. (We couldn't re-finish the wood kitchen floor and Heide suggested painting it and it looks fantastic). She is extremely efficient and mindful of budget. I especially appreciated her quick decision making abilities, her fantastic eye and her never ending source of classic to eclectic furniture. She bowled me over when she found the absolutely perfect fit for a tiny, odd shaped space next to our piano to store my son's sheet music. She seems to love what she does and she made our rather stressfull renovation MUCH easier. I highly recommend her.

Heide helped us tremendously when we moved into our new home in Brooklyn. We greatly valued her advice on what to bring from our old place and what to edit out, and she gave new life to some of our long-held items by finding more functional, creative, and attractive uses for them. Heide's amazing eye has brought gorgeous colors and textures into our living spaces, and enabled us to find unique, beautiful furniture at very good prices. She also designed our built-in bookcases and found the best possible spots for our art. I continue to ask her advice when I'm adding something new and feel very fortunate to have her expertise and creativity as a resource.

Heide did an outstanding job with all aspects of our project, from conceptualization to completion. She had creative ideas for working within the space and budget we had. I especially appreciated her creative sourcing, from antique stores, to internet finds, to local and international artisans. She did a great job pulling all of the pieces together and keeping track of the details. She was receptive to our ideas and helped us create an interior that we really enjoy. We initially hired Heide to redo our Living Room/Dining Room. We were so happy with her work, that we expanded to redo the bedrooms, and we are now getting ready to tackle the hallways and the home offices!

Consulting with Rafe and his clients on lighting choices has consistently been a well timed and focused process with true collaboration. It helps me when working with a builder or architect who can easily convey both the design aesthetic and technical detail I can use to make good recommendations. He and his office really do make things easier for everyone involved. It's also a great pleasure to see our lighting in his project photos where our handiwork is so well placed and properly scaled. I think his spaces make my stuff look better!

We had the immense good fortune to be introduced to Rafe Churchill by our real estate broker when we were first shown the wreck/ total disaster of a house that would become our beautiful family home. The house, originally built in the 1830’s had suffered years of additions, divisions and decorating desecrations. The plot and surrounding grounds were almost as bad. It had been on the market for four years and no one would touch it. Had we not met met Rafe at the time we would never have had the confidence to buy it. Fortunes being what they were, eight months after we closed on the property, we moved in, the near-total 4500 sq foot gut renovation completed on budget and a month early. The joy of working with Rafe is two-fold. First there doesn’t seem to be anything about old and traditional houses that he doesn't know. From the tiniest detail to the major dramas, Rafe had the answer. He has an innate understanding of how houses of this age and style should feel and flow. This is matched with his ability to bring a house like this up to modern day standards while maintaining its original look and character. Secondly working with Rafe really was a truly collaborative process. He really listened to and incorporated what we wanted, what we needed, and our ideas, some set in stone, others changing on a near daily basis. While understanding our immediate needs, he considered how these would change over the short and longer term and adapted the plans to best balance these. What my husband loved most about working with him was when the occasion demanded it Rafe saying no to one of my plans or ideas on the basis that our budget just would not allow it. For my husband, having been through the renovation process several times previously, to get to the end and not be met with a tsunami of change orders or any nasty financial surprises was nothing short of a miracle. (He also loved the fact that Rafe took the role of bad cop without complaint!). This is not to say Rafe is inflexible. Quite the opposite. It was his management of both the budget and the project that meant we really ended up with everyone happy in a perfect house. What I loved was Rafe’s willingness to not just appease but really get on board with any of my quirks and obsessions. From building the perfectly spaced library shelves, to the bespoke 900lb AGA range that had to be shipped from England to having ro reframe the master bedroom to accommodate a curtain pole (!), Rafe was all for it. (Or at least gave a very convincing performance that he was!) His experience in building and renovating traditional houses is priceless. Throughout the renovation there were many things that I would stress, obsess or dream about and that Rafe would have to either talk me in or out of. Of all the things I thought we just had to have but that I’ve since never thought of again or those that I was reluctant to spend money as I didn’t think necessary but Rafe would tell me I’d rue the day forever more if I didn’t – 100% correct every time. Rafe is a perfectionist. There was not an inch of the house that was ignored in the plans. It is why what was an absolute disaster is now the most beautifully proportioned flowing space, with no oddness, jars or mismatches. He truly restored a historic house to its former glory. It is also helps that style vs. substance is not really a debate Rafe goes in for. Everything has to have both. From the materials to the fixtures and fittings, it was not a case of them being the most expensive but rather the highest quality, functionality and appropriateness. If that means they might not be the easiest to find, so be it. That said, he generously welcomed my involvement in finding these, accepting the flow of non-working, non-compliant European light fittings with enthusiasm, patiently listened to my lyrical waxing for totally unsuitable bath tubs and knowing full well when the novelty of looking for socket covers/switches/cabinet pulls would wear very thin very quickly, he would be left to resume the search. The fact that Rafe was a one-stop shop from the initial beautiful hand-drawn plans to the final cleaning crew the day before we moved in was a dream. All but the last two months of the renovation took place long distance. The voices of doom who said it would never finish if we weren’t on site could not have been more wrong. The crew of contractors he assembled were not just excellent professionals and craftsmen, they were all a pleasure to be around and all seemed to share our excitement about the house. To complete our renovation in the time, with the budget and with the final result as they are was a Herculean feat. I’m sure at times it must have the source of headaches, angst, stress and deep frustration. Maybe for Rafe, although we certainly never saw signs of it. For us though it was a joy from start to finish. Rafe is a brilliant architect, a very astute and experienced project manager, a master craftsman and a very honest, kind and humorous person to work with. Suffice to say if we were ever to undertake another building project of any size or nature in the future, we would not want to do so if Rafe were unavailable. There surely can be no higher (and in this business, rarer!) recommendation. David and Pom Shillingford