About Us

Our firm crafts places and spaces that feel truly timeless.

Two core principles shape the architecture we design for our clients and inspire us to help them make their timeless dream homes a reality. We believe that good design has the power to improve lives, and that learning from the past is crucial to creating the future.

About the Firm

Our historically motivated designs advance the art of placemaking in America’s most storied communities.

For more than four decades, Patrick Ahearn Architect has specialized in creating classic American architecture designed for contemporary living. Whether restoring and renovating landmarked homes or crafting new residences that reimagine the classical architectural vernacular of New England, our firm balances the romance of traditional architecture with the ideals of modernism. Working largely in Greater Boston, on Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard, we are sensitive to the original spirit of every property and its surrounding neighborhood. This allows us to create beautifully authentic homes that stand as integral parts of their historic surroundings, even as they encourage people to live the way they want to live today.

Our 2018 monograph, Timeless: Classic American Architecture for Contemporary Living, already in its fourth printing, reveals the philosophy behind eighteen of our projects.

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"This architecture is why people covet Martha’s Vineyard real estate."

Fred Bernstein, Architectural Digest

Our Design Process

"If I have done my job correctly, I will be like a ghost who visits in the night—leaving no trace and most successful when no one sees my hand."

When creating a classically inspired house, we think of ourselves as storytellers as much as architects. We write a detailed script that explains a home’s origins and how it evolved over the years to meet the needs of the inhabitants. This imagined narrative—grounded in research and knowledge—helps us select a style that is appropriate to a property’s place, ensuring a look that feels true to its surroundings, yet meets the requirements of twenty-first-century living.

Scripting also allows us to split large, contemporary programs into interconnected smaller buildings that remain in context with their historic surroundings better than a single monolithic home could. Just as important, the ensemble makes the most of indoor and outdoor living with a variety of discrete environments in which to congregate and celebrate, relax and recharge. The resulting properties have a timelessness that pleases their occupants and lifestyle, preserves their neighborhoods’ character, and contributes to the greater good of their communities.

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Patrick Ahearn's Headshot

About Patrick

One of America’s most celebrated classical architects and a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects.

Patrick Ahearn FAIA began his career with ambitious adaptive-reuse public projects, including Boston’s Faneuil Hall Marketplace. For the past four decades, he has focused primarily on historically motivated, site-sensitive residences in New England, from Greater Boston to Martha’s Vineyard, where he has lent his expertise to more than 350 buildings, 225 of them in the village’s historic district. Raised in Levittown, New York, and based in Boston, he received degrees in architecture and urban design from Syracuse University. Today, he oversees sixteen designers in studios in Boston and Edgartown. A recipient of many awards, Patrick and his work have been featured in numerous magazines and newspapers and on HGTV.

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Michael Tartamella AIA

Managing Principal

Michael Tartamella

Since joining Patrick Ahearn Architect in July 2005, Managing Principal Mike Tartamella has become an integral part of the team who has provided outstanding design and project management for some of the firm’s most significant and award-winning projects. His passion for residential architecture and keen sense of scale translate into homes that are as timeless as they are contemporary, with a mindful eye towards modern family living. As Patrick himself likes to say, “Mike sees with my eyes.”

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Introducing Our Team

Nancy Ahearn

Director of Operations

Matthew Blumenthal, AIA

Architect

Peter Fletcher, AIA

Architect

Garrett Goodridge, AIA

Architect

Francesca Gordini, AIA

Architect

Mark Jagodzinski, Assoc AIA

Consulting Project Manager

Trevor Laubenstein, AIA

Architect

Colby Mauke, AIA

Architect

Cesar Monte, AIA

Architect

Garrick Potz, Assoc AIA

Project Manager

Heather Skinner

Project Manager

Caroline Stone

Director of Marketing

Tim Szczebak, AIA

Architect

Isabela Tiñana-Diaz

Architectural Designer

Our Mascots

Finnegan

Team Mascot

Millie

Team Mascot Emeritus (2007 – 2019)

Join Our Team

The firm is seeking a full-time Architect with 5-8 years of experience to join our office in Boston’s historic Back Bay. Find details about the position and learn how to apply here.