Heds: Hays+Ewing Design Studio - Charlottesville, Virginia

Mary C.

Chris and Allison have proven that with good design a certain elegance and family life are not mutually exclusive. Our three bedroom city house worked when the children were young and continues to work now as they leave the nest.

Energy efficient SIP construction--salvaged wood and stone--hand crafted details-- are a few of the features they encouraged us to incorporate while working within our budget.

And fun! One afternoon we designed a bed on slides that could mechanically extend through a retractable door over the back garden. (maybe now that the kids are out...)

James F.

We’re currently partnering with Allison from Hays + Ewing Design Studio on the full renovation of our home. We were keen to incorporate sustainable design concepts within a modern, but warm home. One that was simple, elegant, functional, yet flexible. We had great expectations and many constraints. We selected heds based on their portfolio, experience with green design and feedback from their happy customers. We have not been disappointed. Allison Ewing really knows her stuff and has never lost sight of our requirements. Allison asks great, clarifying questions and provides us with thoughtful, creative options to negotiate trade offs so that we can build a well designed bespoke home and still stay within our budget. So far the design process has been a fun collaboration and we’re very happy with the design. We’re looking forward to getting our home built! James and Adrienne. Arlington VA.

Sara D.

This summer marks the 8th anniversary of moving into my house designed by Allison Ewing of Hays + Ewing Design Studio, so I have a lot of experience behind saying that the house has served me well! The buildable space in the lot was entirely in a 100-year flood plain, but Allison's creative response sited the house perfectly on the lot and employed an innovative, elevated design. She carefully planned around six 80-foot plus trees to the east and put the first floor up one level; trusses allowed for a totally open first floor and with perfectly placed windows the result is a feeling of being in a tree house. I love it love it love it every single day. Also, the green design means it's super well insulated and also employs passive solar design. It is inexpensive to heat and cool, but what I really enjoy every day is how comfortable the home is, there are no hot nor cold zones. I love to entertain family and friends and overall the house let's me bring people in to my life and have the great space in which I can enjoy them. I'm so very happy with this thoughtfully designed home!

Ben B.

"My firm Capler Homes has been working with Allison for the past 18 months on an extremely unique and challenging build. The experience has been transformative. Her vision for our project challenged the concept of what can be a home. This unique build required her skill to put together a team of engineers, designers, and other architects to deliver the most comprehensive set of construction drawings we've ever had to build from. This has allowed us to push at the boundaries of conceptual to buildable. The result has been an incredibly well designed home that maintains her core principles of green building and energy efficiency through her thorough research of cutting edge products and building practices, without compromising an incredible design. In our highly competitive high end market she has created a buzz within the building community and raised the bar for excellence. “

Ben Butler
President Capler Homes
President Nelson County Home Builders Association