Architect and Interior Designer, Sarah Gooden

I’ve always been fascinated by how things are put together. My parents liked to hand me broken appliances to play with by taking them apart and putting them back together (if that doesn’t scream ‘80s child I’m not sure what does), and I had too many Lego sets to count, but my favorite prized toy was the Playmobil Victorian Dream House. I spent countless hours not just building it, but reconfiguring the rooms and furnishing. It’s honestly not that different from what I do every day as an architect and designer. Between a trip to Europe in High School, in an exchange ballet program, where I absolutely fell in love with the myriad details in old European construction, and a high school drafting class (where I was one of 3 girls) I knew I wanted to design buildings and never looked back.

I have a passion for old homes and historic details that started long before my high school trip to Europe. I grew up in an early 19th century American foursquare, and now live in an 1880’s farmhouse that my husband and I saved from demolition and fully renovated. My childhood home was the definition of a fixer-upper and there was always a project underway. Growing up and learning in that environment, helped hone my design skills and mindset. I bring that same attention to detail to my new construction work, so that what we build today can be enjoyed for generations to come.

My favorite part of my job is how impactful the built environment is on our daily lives, and how something as simple as an addition, renovation or reconfiguration of a space in your home can impact your day-to-day life. My second favorite thing is that no two days are ever the same. All of our projects are custom designed for the client. No two families live, work, entertain, and have the same personal style and I love designing houses that reflect that.

Sarah Gooden Architecture Resumé

In 2005 Sarah Gooden received her Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, her license to practice architecture in the State of Illinois in 2012, and her license to practice interior design in 2015.

She began her career at Myefksi Cook Architects and then Cook Architectural Design Studio. Her focus was on residential projects ranging from small additions and renovation work to numerous new construction residences in excess of 10,000 square feet.  Sarah also has extensive experience with the challenges of working on the lakefront, having worked on 9 different properties on Lake Michigan. Her main focus of work has been the North Shore, as well as vacation homes in Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, Idaho, and South Carolina. Sarah started her career as an architectural intern and worked up to Senior Project Manager before leaving in 2021 to start her own firm.