Lynn Gaffney Architect, PLLC

If you are looking for a seasoned professional with a designer's eye, hire Lynn. She was an absolute pleasure to work with and immediately understood our vision for the full-scale renovation of a log home in upstate New York. Not only does she have one of the best-looking portfolios of all the architects we interviewed, but she also has a calm professionalism that speaks to her decades of experience. We bought a cabin in the woods that hadn't been renovated since it was built in the 1980s. It was all wood everywhere and needed light, as well as a few changes to the layout to maximize its potential. We knew it needed a proper entryway and that we wanted to remove a wall that separated the kitchen from the living area. We also thought that the wood and stone elements on our property lent themselves to borrowing design ideas from Japan, a country we had lived in for several years. Lynn took our brief and turned it into a home we absolutely adore. She had a small addition built to create a Japanese entryway (called a "genkan"), moved the wood burning fireplace into a better spot in the living room, enlarged all the main windows, turned the main bedroom into a master suite, and reclaimed wasted space in the laundry room for the addition of a powder room -- all ideas we never would have come up with without her. We have a bit of interior design experience ourselves, but not enough to renovate a whole house on our own. However, joining our ideas with Lynn's design eye, we didn't even need to hire an interior designer and the end result is stunning.

I was already familiar with Lynn's work when I approached her about working with us (we both work at the same coworking space), even as my husband and I apartment-hunted in NYC. We were looking for an apartment with potential to renovate, and she helped us assess our two final contenders. Having an architect look at an apartment layout with your goals and lifestyle in mind is immensely helpful. She was able to tell us what might or might not be possible in each building. In the apartment we ended up buying and renovating (a duplex that had been combined in the early 1990s), Lynn was able to see ways to make the tiny, dated kitchen much more functional. She also helped us to get the most out of the living/dining space. She brought a ton of storage into the space, while also thinking about light and cohesion throughout the apartment. Our goals were to make our home both functional for entertaining, as well as a showcase for our art collection. Lynn's insights in redesigning the staircase, reconfiguring a set of closets to open up the entry hall, creating a glass/metal wall to bring light in from the front of the building, as well as reorienting the living/dining/kitchen space have made a huge difference. We truly get use out of every space, and we get a ton of compliments on the aesthetic of the space as well.

We hired Lynn to renovate our 700 square foot apartment in Manhattan. We’ve lived in our apartment for close to 17 years before deciding to remodel, and still another 2 years before we finally pulled the trigger to start the official process. At the onset, through ideation, we thought we were open and flexible about possibilities, but looking back we definitely had more “must haves” and “can’t live without” requirements than we thought we would. What I appreciated most about Lynn was how she not only understood our aesthetic requirements, but as well her ability to translate our functional needs to fit within the overall design. Through multiple iterations of layouts and endless surprises that came along with opening up 90 year old walls, Lynn was able to keep proportions and design elements consistent, and most importantly, prioritize how we live as a family above all else. And there were also the countless moments our impatience and shortsightedness may have given way to concessions. Lynn was always on top of the most minute details and seemingly minor transactions with subcontractors and material vendors to ensure the overall cohesiveness of the project. Lynn was accessible, patient, reasonable, and focused in the middle of a process that lends itself to feeling chaotic and out of control – and Lynn’s attitude was apparent both through the renovation and beyond. Having our place renovated prior to the stay-at-home orders for NYC, we’ve had a lot of time to spend in our place, and we couldn’t be happier with how everything has turned out. We’re still discovering details and perspectives 5 months later that make us smile. Lynn surpassed our expectations on so many levels, from managing expectations, to budget constraints, and ensuring deadlines were met. Whether it’s a 700 square foot renovation or 2,800 build from scratch, we couldn’t imagine doing it without Lynn.

Ours was a very challenging project, in which we combined two adjoining coop units into a single unified apartment on the Upper West Side of NY City. We have a modern aesthetic and wanted a clean and sleek and uncluttered design which at the same time is livable and practical. Lynn created a design that meets all of our aesthetic and living needs, assisted us in the selection of the contractor and supervised the work and gave us periodic reports since we were only in the city at sporadic intervals. The finished product meets all of our requirements, with great spatial flow, lovely design details and a totally satisfying encapsulation of our aesthetic and practical requirements.

We hired LGA to redesign our kitchen and living space, and convert our one-bedroom apartment to a two-bedroom. Lynn and her associates made sure to stay attuned to our practical needs, as well as our aesthetic and design preferences and hopes. Her team consistently fused our ideas with their expertise and vision, resulting in a plan that is sensible and practical, increases our ease and comfort at home, and is great to look at! Working around the quirks of a pre-war building, LGA’s plans allowed us to enlarge and open our kitchen, while maintaining gracious bedroom and storage space. She included modern, elegant features, such as clever open shelving and a beautiful wood box shelf that drops from the ceiling over the open counter, bridging the living/dining and kitchen space while maintaining a sense of distinct rooms. Her thoughtful designs envisioned a modern kitchen that complements the less contemporary architecture of the apartment. At each juncture of the project, Lynn was communicative, friendly, smart, and good-humored, and was willing to problem solve as needed. She consulted with us and our contractor about all aspects of the building process, including permitting. She directed us to a range of vendors as we chose finishes, and helped us make those decisions. It was a pleasure working with Lynn’s firm from start to finish. We are thrilled with the outcome, and would absolutely hire LGA again, and refer her to friends.

We hired Lynn based on a stay in her weekend home, which she designed from the ground up, having been attracted to her use of materials, minimalism, and as-green-as-possible approach. Lynn was excellent to work with, shepherding a near gut renovation of a three bedroom apartment on a very short timeline. Lynn had very practical ideas for maximizing space and storage (highly important in NYC) and added style and polish to our ideas. She was a strong advocate for us when needed and a voice of reason when the situation required it. Lynn filled any role we requested, from recommending lighting fixtures, to adjusting designs on the fly, to ordering finishes, to negotiating through disputes with suppliers. Lynn's attention to detail on the extensive millwork on our project is appreciated every time we sit down for dinner. We would recommend her without reservation.

We wanted to expand our almost 150 year old small home in upstate NY into a place where we could better accommodate overnight guests and do more entertaining. The open space solution we wanted involved adding a new master bedroom suite and a new family room connected to a kitchen that needed to be reconfigured and remodeled. We had worked with Lynn once before so we were excited to get her involved. We were not disappointed! Lynn's design seamlessly integrated the two floor addition with the exiting structure. She did a great job of maximizing the space, paid attention to all the details and offered lots of advice along the way. She is a great listener, very easy to work with and always professional. I highly recommend her.

Lynn Gaffney is the Architect you really want to hire. She modified my apartment into a wheelchair accessible apartment for my disabled son. She listened to all of my son's needs. She is so professional, approachable, detailed-oriented, just such a nice person. We are very pleased with the job done in my kitchen, bathroom and living room. My son is now able to move around the apartment with ease. Thank you Lynn!

Lynn Gaffney transformed our old bathroom into a gorgeous, functional, comfortable space. She was responsive and sensitive to all of our ideas, applying a creative eye toward the constraints of our space to fit everything in comfortably and efficiently. She worked with my existing design preferences by having several options that fit within my aesthetic for the details where I didn't yet have anything picked out or was undecided, with very successful results that married modern with traditional looks. She was extremely efficient with regards to our time constraints and worked with the contractor (whom she found and worked with) to ensure a perfectly on-time date of completion.

The 5 stars say it all, but in other words: creative, professional, knowledgeable, punctual, attentive, candid, personable, detail-oriented, approachable and enjoyable and are just some of the words that come to mind when thinking about our experience with Lynn and her role in transforming our kitchen and bath.

My wife and I hired Lynn to design the renovation of two UES co-op apartments that we were merging into one. She listened carefully to our ideas and showed us several concepts. When we selected the one we liked, she proceeded to execute the plans to a very high level of competence. She worked well with our building manager to ensure that the design conformed to the building rules. She assisted us is selecting the contractor, including interviewing several candidates and helped us in negotiate the contract. During construction, she supervised the contractor and the job generally. Both quite closely. Lynn developed quite a good rapport with all the parties to the renovation the contractor. She adhered to our schedule deadlines and made certain that all others did as well. Lynn was also quite good at providing us many options for the various decisions that we had to make along the way, including lighting, finishes, bathroom and kitchen hardware, window treatments and closets. What struck us most about Lynn was an extraordinary attention to detail. We have already recommended Lynn to friends who are considering their own renovations.

We first worked with Lynn on our Manhattan apartment combination in 2003, and were so pleased by the quality of her work as well as how easy and pleasant she was to work with that when we purchased land in the Catskills to build a second home, we immediately called her. This was a very challenging project as it was a greenfield site but with a lot of restrictions on the footprint of the house and how it would work with the surrounding area. We also wanted to make it as "green" as possible, using sustainable materials where possible and ensuring energy efficiency. Lynn was amazing - from doing independent research on the materials (reclaimed mushroom wood, recycled glass countertops, radiant heating, tons of natural light using creative skylights and other ways to bring in light, etc) to a beautiful design that fits perfectly into the landscape. She worked extremely well with our major contractor as well as with contractors to put in solar for electricity and thermal. All our visitors are extremely impressed with this unique home that is beautiful, efficient, as well as very comfortable whether we are just by ourselves or have house guests. Important to note that we relocated to Moscow, Russia soon after we purchased the land and hired Lynn. We worked on the initial design before we left but most of the finalizing of the design and all the building was done while we were abroad. We worked with Lynn by Skype and email, and paid only occasion visits to the site, maybe twice per year. The success of the project underscores her incredible communication and listening skills. Given her prior work on our Manhattan apartment, we trusted Lynn to make decisions on house accessories, and she didn't disappoint. Lynn also made recommendations on the initial furniture and fixtures, and the layout of the furniture. We have not changed this bc it fits us so well. In short, we cannot say enough good things about Lynn and would recommend her without qualification.