Bickford And Company

Our Philosophy

Bickford and Company is an innovative team of specialized architects and designers dedicated to providing superior custom residential design services and to practicing a personal architecture based fundamentally on the individual needs and desires of each client.

In designing both new homes and home renovations, we practice “personal architecture.” By this term we mean individualized residential architecture, developed through a team approach involving not only our staff of professional designers but also the builder and especially the client. We take great pride in creating client-centered custom designs, and in resolving difficult or unusual circumstances to achieve the result best suited to the client. Bickford & Company makes it a point not to have a signature “style.” Our principal designer, Scott Bickford, stresses the client’s preferences more than his own artistic expression. We work within context as much as possible, designing with respect for the project’s surroundings, be they a rural setting, a historic neighborhood or a brand-new suburb. We regard the house not just as an abstract exercise of the designer’s artistic virtuosity and technical skill, but also – indeed, primarily – as an adjunct to the client’s lifestyle and as an expression of the client’s character, values and status.

Furthermore, by maintaining a close working relationship with both the home builders and their subcontractors, we are able to understand their concerns and difficulties in the field. This connection helps us to ensure that our plans are practical and realistic. Insight derived from this relationship enables us to develop one-of-a-kind designs that are innovative and exciting, yet buildable.

Our professional goal is not to design what we ourselves would like to live in, but to advance the practice of personal architecture. The client is the focus, though we are also cognizant of the environment of which each project is a part, and of the requirements and abilities of each of the builders with whom we collaborate. For the client, this inclusive, integrated approach results in a distinctive, well-made home that both complements its setting and, in turn, serves as a compatible setting for the manner in which the client wants to live.