Our main office is at 63 Moran Ave in Princeton. Our licensed architects and professional engineers design additions, second stories, renovations and new homes for Princeton homeowners, from the downtown streets to the wooded lots of the former township.
Princeton is two places in one municipality. The former borough has tight lots and older homes close to the street, while the former township, merged with the borough in 2013, has larger and more widely spaced properties. A good addition plan starts by knowing which of those you are working with, because setbacks, coverage and the shape of the existing house drive almost every design decision.
Because we are based in town, we can walk your property early, measure the house, and come back as often as the design needs. Our architects and engineers work in the same office, so the structure for a new second floor or an opened up kitchen is designed at the same time as the plan, not bolted on afterward.
Licensed architects and professional engineers on one team, one contract and one set of signed and sealed drawings. See all of our services.
Rear, side and wraparound additions for kitchens, family rooms and primary suites, with the existing house evaluated by our engineers.
New floors over ranches, capes, garages and one story wings, with foundations and framing checked and reinforced as needed.
Whole house and partial renovations, wall removals and open plans, basements and attics, with structure and systems designed in house.
Ground up single family homes and teardown rebuilds, from site planning to sealed construction drawings.
Decks, covered porches, pergolas and garages engineered for footings, ledgers and loads.
Beam replacements, foundation fixes and engineer's letters for homeowners, buyers and insurers.
Princeton has an active Historic Preservation Commission that oversees about 20 locally designated historic districts, with Witherspoon-Jackson the most recent addition. If your home is in one of them, exterior changes such as an addition, a new or moved window or door, or a new building on the lot go through the town's Historic Preservation Office and then the Commission at a public meeting before permits move forward.
The Commission reviews visual compatibility: size and massing, window proportions, materials and how the new work relates to the house and the street. Routine maintenance and small changes at the back of a house that cannot be seen from the street are generally not reviewed. When a design also needs a zoning variance, the zoning board makes the final decision with the Commission advising.
We prepare drawings for these reviews with the same care as the permit set: existing and proposed elevations, a clear massing story and details that show how new work meets the old. That makes the hearing about the design, not about missing information.
However your project is approved, we deliver signed and sealed drawings to you, support you and your contractor through the permit submission and answer the building department's review comments in house. Read how a project moves from consultation to close out on our process page.
Only if the property is in one of the locally designated historic districts or is an individual landmark. We check the designation at the start, and if review applies we prepare the elevations and details the Historic Preservation Office and Commission expect.
Yes. Small lots usually mean the design has to work within tight setbacks and coverage limits, so we test options against the zoning ordinance before you commit to a direction, and we tell you early if a variance would be needed.
We deliver signed and sealed drawings to you and support you or your contractor through the permit submission, and we answer the building department's review comments directly.
See a fixed design fee in about two minutes, or book a consultation and we will visit your home.