About Us
Carol's Journey
It was that time, to decide what I wanted to be when I grew up. I told my father I wanted to be an artist, yet I had never drawn, painted or sketched anything in my life. Plus you only start making any money until after you’re gone, if you're any good. So that was not going to fly with my father. So instead he suggested I take some hand
It was that time, to decide what I wanted to be when I grew up. I told my father I wanted to be an artist, yet I had never drawn, painted or sketched anything in my life. Plus you only start making any money until after you’re gone, if you're any good. So that was not going to fly with my father. So instead he suggested I take some hand drafting courses in high school to see if that would be something I could do; it was a perfect fit. It allowed me to draw in a way I had not thought about before. That led me majoring in Drafting and Design in college. After graduating in 1978 from Pennsylvania State University, with an Associate’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering Technology, I started doing hand drafting in the Newport News Shipyard for a brief time. From there I moved on to designing HVAC systems for the facilities at NASA in Hampton, Virginia. While working full time I went back to school to acquire another associate’s degree in Architecture Technology. I loved drawing so much I started drawing at night for people I knew and from referrals which lead me to my next career move. Leaving the mechanical field I moved to the civil field. Working for a Civil Engineer designing roads, building sites and underground utilities was challenging. I learned an enormous amount about working with the land and preparing it for a building. It also gave me the opportunity to do some commercial building design. Creating an addition to a famous restaurant in Williamsburg was my first commercial building design. It was the most challenging design I had ever done. I worked there for many years till an opportunity opened up in the architectural field and I grabbed it. Working for a spec builder, putting together plans sets and some doing some design was the beginning of my architectural career. I moved around a bit more until I landed a job with a custom home builder. There I was challenged to come up with designs that truly astonished me at times. I was able to perfect my skills and develop a design standard above and beyond what the codes required. When the market crashed the builder went under and I was laid off. That is when I started this company and have been doing design work ever since.