“We found Joan via an Internet search in 2007 that led to her web site. We were immediately struck by her design aesthetic and scheduled a meeting. Joan was thoughtful, thorough and a wonderful listener so we hired her to design a new home for our family on Lake Champlain. The experience was fantastic from beginning to end, and that is especially impressive as most of the work we did with Joan was done remotely. Joan took the time to ask us how we envisioning using all the spaces in our home, and this lead to a wonderful floor plan and most “livable” home while still keeping a modern and clean look. She was always accessible, answered our questions big and small, and explained her ideas thoroughly. We truly cannot recommend Joan Heaton with more enthusiasm!”

Robin and Amin

“My new house was finished just about 6 years ago and I have loved every minute I have spent in it. I can’t speak highly enough of architect Joan Heaton. I had never done a building project before and she made the experience a joy. She is everything you would want in an architect. She listened and truly understood what I wanted. She was patient. She was creative in both design and budgeting; firm when she needed to be and flexible when necessary. She introduced me to the builder I hired and we made a great team. I was not in the area when the construction was going on and I trusted Joan completely to oversee the progress; communicate with me when necessary; and make small decisions without me. She totally earned that trust. I would recommend her to anyone.”

Missy

“Joan’s work speaks for itself. We were initially attracted to Joan’s clean, simple design style and the organic materials of her work. Working with Joan, confirmed her talent for translating farm vernacular into contemporary design. In an easy, efficient work process, Joan was able to translate our ideas for our 1788 Vermont farmhouse and work with the contractor to transform them into a beautiful, comfortable home. She and the contractor worked patiently with us to stay within our budget and time frame. Joan also recommended just the right landscape architect to create an overall outdoor plan connecting the farmhouse to the carriage barn, which Joan repurposed into a 2,000 square foot guesthouse. A lap pool and landscape improved the approach to the main house and provided a number of outdoor spaces to take advantage of our panoramic view of the Champlain Valley and the Adirondack Mountains.”

Lisa and Bob

“Joan helped us turn our very rough plans for a rustic cabin into reality. From site planning to final details Joan was instrumental in making our dream cabin come alive. There are many difficult obstacles that come up when building in a remote setting (I did not want any “roads” near or leading to the cabin) and Joan, along with the Silver Maple team tackled each obstacle with great skill and dedication. It is not often you find someone that has such amazing attention to detail while being able to focus on the master plan, Joan has this skill. That is why we have recently asked Joan to come on board again to help us with a kitchen and bath remodel in our city home.”

Eric

“Joan Heaton designed and oversaw the build of our Vermont ski home. She listened to every request/requirement we discussed and brought it all together in a spectacular plan that met both our needs and style. The space, the textures and colors are all perfect! We love our house and look forward to every minute we spend there. Joan was a pleasure to work with.”

Erin and John

“Joan Heaton has been the most fabulous individual to work with! From the moment we started conversations with her, we could tell that she understood our somewhat quirky desires to go with recycled and old elements and styles. She created an addition to a 1920s building that is just seamless and even made adjustments along the way that improved the building and the addition even more. She has been more that just a one-time architect in that she also has helped us with long-term planning for our vacation property in terms of needs for buildings. She helped us find the perfect location and design for a second structure that provides boat storage and exquisite guest space above. Joan is so good at listening to the client and working to solutions that make sense for everyone – she often was the bridge between our very practical builder and our fanciful ideas. It is also important to note that much of our conversations with her were over the phone or by email and she visited the projects while under construction many times more than we did. We could trust her completely to oversee the projects. We fully intend to keep creating projects for her over the next several years!”

Vanessa and Ned

“Working with Joan on the construction of our Stowe Vermont property was a terrific experience. Aside from her exemplary design and creative skills, she proved as well to be a careful and concise communicator and listener. She gave us the Vermont house we needed, as much as the house that we asked for. She designed a house that worked for us perfectly within our timing and budgetary constraints as well. Every detail was carefully thought our and considered. Despite not being local to our town, she was always available when needed, and worked closely and effectively with our builder and subcontractors. We cannot imagine having a better experience with an architect.”

Amy and Steve