Sol Haus Design

I am building an ADU to use for my business and an occasional guest house. Vina has been a wonderful architect to work with. She has insights and integrity and is incredibly creative. I love her spirit and energy, and her ability to deal with permits and paperwork is priceless.

Vina is great to work with! She has been very flexible in taking our budget into account on our goals to build a backyard ADU and remodel our kitchen and bath, helping us find contractors, building materials, and modify designs to fulfill our vision without breaking our budget. She's friendly, easygoing, and professional. We've been really happy with her services!

Vina has been fantastic. She is amazing designer, of course. But she is kind, cares about what she does and works from her heart. Our project was a moving target and she stayed right with us as we discovered what we wanted. Very small project, but we never felt unimportant and could feel her dedication to helping us get what we wanted.

Vina is a pleasure to work with, very responsive to clients needs and request. She is a very creative problem solver, always offering ideas toward thoughtful solutions. As a project manager for an institution, I truly appreciated her willingness to make time for discussions and ability to set and maintain deadlines on deliverables.

Vina is a pro and her designs are light, airy and dreamy. She is designing and project managing an ADU for us and has been in our corner the entire time. She is fighting for our tight budget and ensuring the contractor and all other involved parties are on the same page. We are so grateful she was referred to us by several people.

Vina is a wonderful, creative, and accomplished architect who is working on an ADU project for me in collaboration with a builder and landscape architect. She is the leader who ties every complex part of the project together--always in her warm, friendly, fun, and organized way. There are many trades and other people who must work together and puzzles which have to be solved. She is like an orchestra conductor who is reading a complex score, knows every part, and who brings everyone together under her baton. Bravo, Vina! I love working with her.

Vina is a pleasure to work with. Easy going, creative and a great listener. Would recommend her a thousand times over.

I have been “following” Vina Lustado for many years when I found out she was “The Tiny House Lady”. I was intrigued. I am a single (never married) seventy- something originally from Brooklyn. How did that happen? LOL I have been living in Ojai since the 1992 Rodney King riots and was able to purchase a home in 1997. It has been my dream to be a “land baroness” and Vina is helping me make that dream come true. I am about to embark on a journey of owning a Tiny House for my backyard. She paved the way for allowance of Tinies in the city limits of Ojai. I absolutely could not have have found anyone more able-bodied and sane to accompany me. She is smart, has fantastic taste, extremely knowledgeable and just plain fun to work with. If you are seeking help with interior design, trying to purchase a Tiny or anything else which requires design expertise, Vina is your gal! Signed, The Land Baroness Fern Barishman

Vina was warm, knowledgeable, professional, and took the time to answer all of my questions. I'm so looking forward to working with her again! As far as my experience goes, I can say with confidence that she is an absolute expert in sustainable building, alternative housing, and code/zoning guidance for the Ojai/Ventura area. I highly recommend her services.

Great designer. Very professional and easy to work with and had our designs completed in a timely manner. I would highly recommend her.

I adore working with Vina, and several times during the process have felt the urge to pat myself on the back for finding her. She is extremely experienced, knowledgeable, and, critically, an excellent communicator. She responds to my specific requests and concerns with clarity and attention to detail. From the beginning she has understood exactly what I'm looking for, which has made the entire design process easier, more efficient and more fun. I love her aesthetic and design ethos, and her general attitude. It is genuinely a pleasure to work with her.

Choosing Vina Lustado to design my mini-van conversion has proven to be a wise and joyful decision. After listening to my project idea during our first meeting, she asked me to make a list of my goals and desires for the build-out. This request really helped me to focus clearly on all that I envisioned when it would be complete. More importantly, Vina's design proposals have remained true to that list while she has also listened and made changes when new information about the space arises. I appreciate her way of doing business-- a good balance of professionalism and approachability.

Vina was crucial in our tiny house process and made our ideas possible. She was incredibly responsive when we reached out, and never went two days without returning an email. When we started our design, she was so interested and invested in our ideas that it allowed our tiny house to be truly personalized and fit our needs. Vina's designs were exceptionally creative and made us feel that our tiny home was going to be something out of Narnia. If there was anything in her designs we didn't like, she immediately took it out and reinvented it. What was the most helpful was her knowledge on the subject. We had never built or lived in a tiny house before so we had no prior knowledge on the specifications or what was needed in a tiny home. She walked us through every step of the way and showed us things that would get the most out of a small space. We are incredibly impressed and happy with the finished product and would recommend ten fold to any other tiny builder.

Vina is very knowledgeable and very receptive to client's ideas. I feel we got good value from the initial consultation Vina offers. She was very close to her estimate on providing initial plans. She is very pleasant to work with and I would differently recommend her.

Working with Vina was an absolute pleasure! She customized my dream tiny home, and I couldn't be happier with the plans she provided. I am so glad I came across her design because she was able to provide recommendations and first hand experience. Vina contacted me every step of the way and I am so grateful for her expertise!

Vina has been very thorough and diligent. She has kept me informed every step of the way, regarding her design for the SOL HAUS PREFAB MODULAR. She goes over all the details before moving on to next steps, and working with Vina has been a joy. I can't wait to have my Tiny House built and for Vina to see her design become a work of art in 2021. I highly recommend working with Vina who is very professional yet down to earth.

Highly recommend Vina and Sol Haus Design. She is the kind of designer to whom you can explain your vague thoughts and preferences, and she turns them into a concrete reality. She worked within our price range and with sustainability in mind. We were hoping for a fresh, modern feel for a bathroom remodel in a challenging space, and it came out so nicely we call it our "spa bathroom." Vina was a pleasure to work with, kind, always on time, reliable, and true to her word.

While researching a plan to “age-in-place” in my 659 SQ FT condominium, I came across Sol HAUS owner and designer Vina Lustado’s house tour. Her design philosophy, aesthetic and thoughtful approach to the design process resonated with me. And after a delightful get-acquainted meeting to discuss my project, we are in the process of planning a space which I already know will exceed my expectations. Vina’s enthusiasm and understanding of the project and quick responses to communications is reassuring and vital to the success of the project as we move forward. She is respectful of budget and on top of her varied experience and obvious design ability, she is very pleasant to work with. I’m so excited to see the end product of our collaboration. I know it will be a lovely and peaceful place to call home!

Sol Haus Design owner, Vina, was prompt in communications and keeping us updated on design progress. She was well versed in the process and potential glitches working with the County of Ventura. I would confidently recommend Vina to family and friends.

I would recommend Sol Haus Design for reasonably priced professional architectural drawings. Vina has assisted me with the drawings for the permit process for the City of Ojai. She is both professional and personable. I would highly recommend her.

My husband and I got in over our heads with a garage to studio conversion. We live in the small town of Ojai and I found Vina with Sol Haus Design through Houzz. She was great at helping us pull things together and create a cohesive, well designed studio rental. She was reliable, extremely devoted to her work and a pleasure to work with!

Vina was a pleasure to work with from the outset. She listened to our needs, respected our vision and gave great insight and alternatives when needed. Vina was very calm and organized, always as excited as we were to see our vision becoming a reality. She was also able to advise on companies to locally source from or who to reach out to for environmentally friendly materials. She also recommended individuals to use within the community who turned out to be reliable, trustworthy and in turn an intrigal part of succeeding with our project.

Vina has shown excellent listening skills, willingness to work with my wife and I to develop designs for very detail oriented (and friendly) clients, and has presented a variety of design options with a good aesthetic sense, to the many requests on a limited budget. Her work has definitely helped us move from goals to evaluating options to selecting a design solution, in a cost-effective manner. Working with Vina has been a very pleasant experience.

Vina is very detail oriented. She is focused on doing the best job for her clients in a timely manner.

It was a small project but I appreciated that Vina immediately understood what we were after and respected our desire for sustainable practices. ! I can see that she is a problem solver who knows her materials, and stays inside the deadline we agreed on. She is very pleasant to work with and I would highly recommend her!

Vina was responsive to my needs in every way. Working on my Ojai home remodel the past year, I had hit a wall. A passionate environmental design student forty years ago, I never learned to draft on the computer, and so was unable to communicate my ideas clearly on paper. She surpassed my expectations for collaboration, carefully listening to my aspirations and made valuable design suggestions. She then documented the details so that the contractors could follow through with the plan even in my absence. She is a joy to work with and I recommend her whole-heartedly.

I love the short and sweet job interaction we've had with Vina. She asked all the right questions and delivered the drawings in such a timely fashion I would not hesitate to use her services again. I would not hesitate to recommend her to anyone. john

Vina helped us to solve a complicated problem in connecting 3 structures with many angles and levels . The result is a new grand entrance that looked like it always belonged, transforming our home into an estate, a dramatic increase in beauty and value.

Vina is an amazing person dedicated to creating sustainable living spaces for her clients. She not only works to create beautiful space that will satisfy her clients but she also wants to make a difference for how it will impact our planet. And she is delightful, warm and wonderful to work with.

My husband and I are working with Vina to see if we can afford to build a home in California on an EXTREMELY tight budget. Because of this we sought Vina's help to economize our design and overall project and our experience has been absolutely incredible so far. The floor plan my husband and I initially came up with was two bedrooms and two bathrooms in 750 sq ft. She was able to give us every single feature we wanted in 600 sq ft, which has the potential to save us so much money and give us an even smaller environmental footprint! Upon receiving the space plan we spent like 4 hours studying every inch of it and it is just so clever and amazing. We were able to see so many things that she anticipated and considered that we hadn't--such as the bedrooms being far apart from one another for privacy, the loft being awesome, the master bedroom having fun high ceilings, the efficient roof line...it really is a masterpiece, a true work of art. I'll add this last part finally: designing a home is a very personal, vulnerable experience where you admit the things you do in the privacy of your home so that they can be accounted for in the design. Vina expressed no judgement and instead only affirmation and support of our goals, aims, values, and intentions for how we want to live. That's not easy to do when you're also trying to hang onto efficiency and affordability. Vina is a practical artist...and just a very lovely human. If you are weighing if you want to work with her: do it. Trust me.

Outstanding professional, creative design ideas for our 'old house' kitchen and bathroom. Vina was always on time for meetings and stayed within our budget.

Vina is working on designs for my Movable Tiny House. We have been working long distance through phone, emails and video conference. Our relationship is long term, as we are still working out details for my design - she has been extremely patient! She has brought to me great ideas, knowledge base on construction/design and she understands that quality is more important. I would highly recommend Vina and Sol Haus Design to anyone thinking about design.

I enjoyed working with Sol Haus Design as the landscape architect on the project. Sol Haus was sensitive to the needs of the client and project - creative architecture, sustainable methods and materials and a special and unique aesthetic.

Vina was great to work with as she has lots of enthusiasm and communicates well. I hired her company to design a tiny house for one of my clients. She is very prompt, responsive, and good with time management. During the process she asked a ton of questions to get a clear understanding of what we wanted and delivered designs with a very quick turn around time. She was also open to our critiques and suggestions to deliver a great design. I will definitely recommend her to others!

As a designer myself (and the home owner of this to-the-studs renovation I hired Vina to help me with), I have loved having the best of both worlds in Vina: both a sophisticated, collaborative (and patient!) partner in the design process, and an architectural consultant who expertly and quickly translates design ideas into final plans and specs for my contractor. I also appreciate that Vina is on the national stage as a pioneering architectural activist in the tiny house movement. She receives my highest recommendation.

Vina was a pleasure to work with. She created a concept design for us just as we agreed in a timely fashion within a reasonable budget. It was fun working with her in her tiny house office as well.

Sensitive, smart, educated and talented! Working with Vina as a design professional constantly proofs to be a rewarding experience. Her design sense of space and practicality comes with Vina's skill for taking a space and making it something that is architecturally beautiful, useful and functional. Vina has a professional, very likable personality that bodes well when meeting with clients and other professionals in the construction industry. Simply brilliant!

It was a pleasure to collaborate with Vina on a major remodel that my company designed -built over the past two years in Malibu.... Restoring and updating an original Ranch Style house. Turned out beautiful. I will look forward to working with her again.

After tiny houses first got on my radar I discovered there were many tiny house shows. I began watching old episodes of Tiny House Nation and saw a segment on Vina Lustado and realized that she lived less than an hour away. I reached out to her and set up a tour of her house. It was the first tiny house I ever stepped foot in and I marveled at the beauty, simplicity and comfort of her tiny home. I knew I had to work with her so I asked her to do to my architectural design. I already had a good idea of what I wanted in terms of floorplan and even questioned if I needed help at this point. Much to my delight, Vina had so much to bring to the table, great insight and knowledge, she took into account so many things I hadn't considered. She was able to rearrange, consolidate and improve my original plan by leaps and bounds but never lost the personal touch that made the house "me". The minimalist simplicity Vina imbued in the architectural design gave me fresh inspiration and a clean and simple pallet for the interior design. Vina is humble, passionate and extremely talented, it was such a pleasure to work with her. I ultimately build the tiny house as part of a workshop and thus didn't use Vina's services for project management

Sol Haus Design was innovative, professional, and devoted to the Highest outcome for myself, the property, and the city. I highly recommend Vina for architectural design and follow through.

Vina is an exceptional designer with a desire to incorporate Green and Sustainable products into her designs whenever possible. Vina has a warm and delightful demeanor yet is very professional and hard working. She is a pleasure to work with and we have worked with her on many projects from commercial to residential.

Vina was our first choice when it came time for a design consultation and site plan preparation for a vision that we have for a property we recently acquired in Ojai, California. Vina's sensibility is flawless...her aesthetic is clean, contemporary and efficient...all while maintaining a refined soulfulness. Vina values warmth and the use of organic materials, which is evident in all of her projects. Sustainability is of the utmost importance to Vina, which spills over into the mindful consideration she takes of the natural surroundings when she approaches her projects. Throughout the permitting process we valued Vina's tenacity and focus immensely. She is a professional in every sense of the word. Vina has become a valued friend as her warmth and delightful energy is simply a pleasure to be around. We anticipate many more collaborations with Vina in the near and distant future. She is a remarkable human being, and we recommend her highly!

Vina is great to work with and her dedication is above other architects I have dealt with. She's truly amazing and very intuitive.

Sol Haus Design has created a beautiful, custom tiny house design for me. Now the project moves to the build phase. Looking forward to living tiny.