We are a second career duo with life-long passions for everything home related.
Sapling Design is a state licensed & insured general contractor, and a certified PHIUS passive home builder. We have a real world understanding of how homes are built and how construction projects progress, which puts us in a unique position to offer design services that are not only creative and aesthetically pleasing, but also feasible and remain within budget.
Rachel
Rachel has a professional background in interior design and is a major proponent of timeless, lasting, and healthy homes. As an extremely compassionate person, Rachel is constantly weighing design functionality with occupant health, safety, and comfort. With a gifted eye for color and unique design style, she is guaranteed to come up with an interiors package worthy of being featured in any design magazine.
Nupste (her dog)
Nuptse loves homes. Mostly because he spent the first year of his life without one. Formerly a street entertainer in Mexico, Nups now lives the high life in Portland, Oregon.
If he’s not sitting in his window seat, he’s exploring the neighborhood, barking at potential intruders, thinking about how much he loves mom, trying to uninvent the skateboard, or hoping that a salmon will land in his dinner bowl (it’s happened, twice).
He enjoys dog friends, sand, getting the zoomies in the snow, Moab, hiking with mom, eating stuff, sustainably built-environments, sleeping in tents, raging with dad, and running alongside a bike.
He does not enjoy skateboards, smoosh-faced dogs (besides Troop, love is blind) swimming, or kale.
Jon
Jon comes from an engineering background and is focused on the construct-ability of our designs, from zoning and code compliance, to assembly details and building performance. His attention to detail and extensive knowledge of structural framing and building science are invaluable to Sapling Design’s offerings (not to mention that he is the fastest draftsperson in the West!).
Trooper (his dog)
Trooper hails from Canada (oui, il parle français). Formerly an international spy, he now resides in Portland, Oregon.
Trooper loves the indoors more than anyone. He lounges, hard. If he’s not rolling around in dirt, he’s definitely sleeping on a couch.
He enjoys frolicking with his chicken friends, short walks around the block (can’t be away from the couch too long, amirite??), sleeping in bed with dad, and he’s never met a parcel of food that he wouldn’t sacrifice his life for. In fact, he once jumped off a mini cliff in Moab, Utah for an old sandwich. Was it worth it? Yes.
Trooper does not enjoy being cold, rain, or when mom and dad watch movies (for real).