James V. Coane & Associates Architects

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The first step in building your DREAM HOUSE is finding your DREAM ARCHITECT! James Coane is your guy! He sure was ours! From day one, he did measurements and brought ideas he had for the house from our previous phone conversation. I mean, he took notes before agreeing to our project? WHO DOES THAT?. We were totally blown away! Either James is a supercomputer or he was just reading our minds! The ideas he presented were amazing! Some ideas that James thought of that I'm forever grateful for was:
1. Increasing the height of the roof from 10 feet to 14 feet.
2. Giving us the famous Neutra Kaufmann House look and adding a stairway to our roof create a pavilion.
3. Making the house with floor to ceiling glass windows. I mean WOW!
4. Giving us a themed wall that really ties the whole house together.
James has artistic insight. When he couldn't physically be there, his staff carried out his vision seamlessly. James is in demand!
However, he was always available on his phone or would drop by to discuss ideas after his meetings with other clients. He ALWAYS MADE TIME FOR US and actually cared about our project. HE understood our woes and fears.
One of the things he said will always stick with me:
"Guys, listen, this is your house, your haven.....your sanctuary. This is where you'll be creating memories.....this is HOME....I want to make it happen for you". Wow! Talk about a guy who's on your side!
James provided us with detailed CGI images of what the house will ultimately look like with exact measurement and even with furniture suggestions to help decorate the place. We actually were so impressed that we used him for our decorating choices too....yes, he has a decorating division too!. After it was all said and done....we were thoroughly impressed and so happy we found James. I know you won't be disappointed if you go with James Coane...we sure weren't. I'll post some pics to show how happy we are with James for making a house, OUR MCM DREAM HOME! Thank you James!

JIM COANE is the single, most-trusted, most relied upon name in my every real estate holding.

I have been fortunate to be able to call upon Jim since 1993 for every one of my real estate ventures, residential and commercial. The environmental enjoyment of space is vital to my employee's creativity and success, my company's growth and our personal happiness. My collaboration with him has achieved enormous and unexpected benefits.

Jim's designs and insights have brought balance, logic and extraordinary comfort to my completely out-of-balance life. It is incalculable how many compliments I get from clients, potential employees and celebrities who visit our offices. His home design has also proven to be a timeless masterpiece, still garnering unsolicited compliments 25 years after the last wood plank was set.

Jim Coane is a treasure and his genius and craftsmanship are gifts that impact almost every hour of my every day. I could not be more blessed.

I first met Jim about 16 years ago. I was working at NBC at the time and several people there had worked with and spoke very highly of him. I was living in a small Spanish Colonial house in Sherman Oaks and hired him to help me expand it and add a second floor. I always remember how, to some of our initial meetings, along with his designs he brought several tabbed historical reference books, showing me examples of the details he had in mind so that when the project was complete, everyone would think it was all original, and that he had really done nothing. I always thought that was really an interesting approach: make it so great and take no credit. It was not about him, it was about the house.



The project went pretty smoothly. All remodeling projects have surprises, once demolition commences and you get to see what is really under there. Our project was no exception. Jim was always there to help work things out and make any last minute adjustments and to work with the contractor and the subs to ensure that the final outcome adhered to his original vision. He has a calm and easy-going demeanor that built good working relationships, not adversaries, with all of the workers and City officials. I believe this was a big factor in how smoothly our project went. He was a calm leader and never blamed anyone. He just created solutions.



We were very pleased with the finished house and were happy there for many years. After moving in, we began to realize and understand better how great and functional some of Jim’s design ideas that we talked about in the early phases of the project worked really well for our lifestyle.



About 5 years ago, we were interested in building a new and larger house high up in the Hollywood Hills. Of course, I called Jim again and he came out and met me and we discussed the project. He was pretty much the same nice guy from 10 years earlier. Calm, yet funny as ever! He seemed to have reservations and told me he wanted to do some research for a few days and get back with me. We met again the following week and he shared all of his research, including several existing easements that no else had bothered to tell us about. Basically, he told us all of the reasons to NOT buy this property and to look for another. Although we loved the lot, he was right, so we got out of the deal. He never charged us for any of his work.



So of course, when we found an even better property with even better views about a year later, called on him again. This new house is really a Mid-Century Modern inspired residence, and, like before, Jim amazed us with his designs, 3-d models, and piles of tabbed books of all of the best Los Angeles Mid-Century Modern architecture for inspiration. Like before, he carefully guided us through the process, including this time dealing with all of the complicated neighborhood politics and Homeowners Association meetings and the City of Los Angeles Mulholland Scenic Corridor processes. He and his staff were always attentive and usually responded to our requests with more than we asked for and far exceeded our expectations with their many creative design surprises.



He oversaw the construction as he did before: working with all of the tradesmen and inspectors and building consensus to work together. Our contractor, who was different this time, was very complimentary of Jim and said he and his staff were a real asset to this complicated project and that he really hopes to work with them again.



Jim and his team are currently working with us on completing the final interior design details such as furnishings and fabrics.



We built our dream house with Jim and can’t imagine having done it any other way. We consider him a good friend and refer him with full confidence to all our friends that are building. We would never attempt any future building projects without him.

He hands over your project to new grads aka interns. Projects take forever to complete and he is very slow to respond. Think days to weeks. Sometimes your messages go unanswered. Very expensive. Best to use a more reputable architect

James is a true professional, extremely creative and easy to work with. He helped design, create and oversee the complete build of our new home build in the Hollywood Hills. We interviewed 5 other people and James was far and away the most creative and full of idea's and creative direction. I can't say enough good things about James, but if you want to see his work, check out his website. jvca.com

James Coane has designed a half dozen major projects for me, both commercial and residential, over the past 15 years. I continue to hire him for his brilliant design skills and I have never been disappointed. If I can look at an architectural project that was completed 10 years ago and still marvel at its design I know that I've hired the right firm.



I will continue to use Coane as he always delivers a creative product that exceeds my expectations. I can hardly wait to find another project.