Stout Design Build

I really enjoyed Tom Stout when I met him. He has a great sense of humor. I was impressed by their website photos and the credentials for Tom and the designers. I agreed to pay their consultation fee and also for their drawings. Unfortunately they would arrive late for meetings they requested and not call to advise me of their lateness. They would act like I was not there. They had a turnover of designers. One was away and then it turned out she was out of the country and not returning. They had introduced me to another designer but nothing came of that. They finally set me up with a third designer and I just was not comfortable with her. I told them what I wanted for my very large but strictly dirt backyard-an enjoyable yard and patio for both my enjoyment and that of my 2 dogs. I told them I wanted a pathway for the dogs and I to run-they never put that in the plans. I told them I did not want flowers on the ground as the dogs would destroy them. There were numerous flowers in the plans and was really a botanical garden, not what I wanted. With billing I was sent a request for payment by email, paid the next day and then was sent a reminder. That was the beginning of the end for me. I pay promptly and I don't appreciate harrassment for a bill already paid. After 4 months of being ignored, weeks of not hearing from them, being ignored I contacted them and said I was moving on and interviewing other landscape contractors. Tom had the nerve to say I owed money as I had signed a contract. I had not, just for drawings. Stout appears to do beautiful work so if you are very very patient and can wait months for any work to be started you may wish to work with them. I went with another company who got to work for me almost immediately and with my wishes a priority. I now have a beautiful yard designed for my dogs and I-a huge deck with exotic wood, a beautiful awning, paths for my dogs, hedges I love, plants and flowers I love. It is simply amazing. The owner and project manager are caring and easygoing. The project manager helped me select plants, patio furniture, planters. I have a firepit and barbeque. A wonderful experience. I gave Tom Stout and his company more than enough time and it just didn't work out.

I contacted Stout based on their photos of completed work. The photos were impressive as was the website, credentials of designers, and Tom Stout himself. They charge a large amount for their drawings and were very inflexible about what I wished to do for my large yard. Their meetings would be scheduled yet they would arrive late without a phone call advising me. I would be ignored while they spoke with each other. I felt it was very rude. There was also changeover of designers with one disappearing, then I was told she had left the country, and I was assigned to someone else I was very uncomfortable with. This happened with each meeting. They are late. I am ignored and my desires disregarded. For example Tom wanted me to have a particular hedge. I would indicate I would like something different. He would say, this is what you want/need. I wanted a pathway for my dogs and I to run in the yard. He ignored it and it was never added to plans. I would indicate I don't need a botanical garden. I'm concerned my dogs would ruin the flowers. He wanted me to have a very high end impractical yard for my purposes. Anyway after being ignored at meetings, 4 months elapsing and nothing happening I contacted them and said I would not be proceeding with working with them and was interviewing other landscape contractors. Tom's response was requesting money as he stated I had contracted with them. I had not contracted with them beyond the drawings for plans for patio and landscaping, and the man who does their billing had harassed me for payment previously. I had paid a day after I received their email request for payment, so any billing from them was questionable and that man is rude. So the overall experience with Stout was disappointing, frustrating and I wasn't going to waste more time. I wrote off the thousands already paid for drawings. Their work looks very pretty but their treatment, their unnecessary harassment for payment when already paid promptly, being ignored at meetings, my request for changes ignored, waiting 4 months and nothing, I was done. I found another company who does very nice work, a pleasure to deal wih, both the owner and the project manager and the actual workers, no turnover in designers as experienced with Stout, and the finished project absolutely amazing. I now have a very large beautiful deck beautiful lighting, exotic wood, and an amazing awning, trees, plants, 2 pathways wih DG and stepping stones for the dogs and I to run. The project manager helped me select trees and plants, patio furniture, barbeque and firepit. I am so happy. I am not sure what the problem is with Stout but I am so glad I left. I would have left sooner but for the money paid for drawings.

I can't recommend them enough.
They turned my over-grown, unusable front and back yard with no appeal into a beautifully designed and constructed, highly appealing place to live.  I told them how I wanted to use it (more living space for the Venice life, low-maintenance landscaping and some hard-to-find plants, etc.), and they came back with multiple designs and fantastic ideas.  This process took a few months, and it was worth it.
The construction and landscaping were done by a group of skilled, thoughtful, and creative workers that only made the entire process that much more enjoyable.  You pay for quality, and that's what they do.  They stand by their work and have fixed details that had gone unnoticed during the haze of excitement of having the project completed.  This might sound too good to be true, and I never thought I'd write a review like this, but it's all sincere.
Tom, Julia, Martha, Rene, and everyone else were a pleasure to work with.  Thank you.

After interviewing 3 different landscape design companies, we chose Stout Design Build to do a complete makeover of our entire front and backyard.  We are extremely thrilled with the results and our space has been transformed. Our designer Gabrielle Fladd, Tom Stout and his entire crew did an amazing job. 
I have read some comments about the design consultation fee, but we felt it was worth the cost. We didn't see it as a fee just to get an estimate. It was an actual design session where our designer gave us useful tips and design advice specifically for our space. We could have taken those tips and implemented them ourselves, but we liked her ideas so much we hired them to create our landscape design and implement it.
I really value the fact that their design and process is eco-friendly.  Our new plants our drought tolerant with drip irrigation, they use swales to capture rainwater and water run-off, and our sprinkler heads are low water rotators.  When they removed large bushes from our property, they dug them up carefully and put them in pots so I could give them away on Craigslist. They also reused wood scraps from the deck they removed to create molds for new concrete steps and pavers.
Like any construction project there were a few bumps along the way, but they resolved them quickly and made it right. They care about the quality of their work and want to make their customers happy. We still have more work to do on our front yard (phase 2 of our project) and won?t hesitate to hire them again.

Maybe 10 firms responded to our inquiries by coming out to see the job. Most never contacted us with a proposal. Of the three proposals we received, we chose Stout because their portfolio included clean, modern designs & their approach was particularly professional. Even though their proposed price was the highest, we believed they would do quality work & our confidence turned out to be justified. We worked principally with Gabrielle whom we found to be smart, knowledgeable, patient & professional. Her beautiful first design was clear, professional & showed well that she'd been listening. This was our first, fairly major renovation project, so we had a lot of questions & concerns. Gabrielle took them all in stride, provided clear & thorough answers & was always responsive. Jacinto, too, our project manager, deserves special praise. At one point, it appeared the new stairs were being constructed in a way that was inconsistent with the design. We were considering a compromise alternative. Jacinto insisted on ripping them out & re-doing them to give us what we'd expected. We very much appreciated Tom Stout's willingness, too, to accommodate our special requests (like for the Corten wall) when they were not part of the costed-out design. I would recommend that owners allow for a little more time than planned to complete their project, but all in all, if quality is key, Stout is the right choice.

Tom was great with design ideas and what we ended up with maximized space and fit the house much better than what previously was there.  It all happened quite quickly, and they kept at it until everything was just the way I wanted it.  Highly recommended.

We hired Stout after consulting with several designers and installers.  We chose Stout because his plan had all the features we wanted at a sensible price, and because he would be able to oversee installation from start to finish, and would warranty the results. Stout's design was tasteful and he was willing to adjust it according to our requests.  He was able to combine several disciplines into his design and suggested some excellent features that made it into the final plan with which we are very happy (including the BBQ, special paving and astroturf features, a custom water feature, and the overall plant plan). Stout hired Renee Mendoza to complete much of the first stage of install.  Renee's works was of a very high quality and he managed it very well.  Stout and Renee were able to accommodate the renovation of our interior, which was happening simultaneous with the landscape work, and was flexible and creative when he encountered challenges.   We added to the scope of work throughout the project, and Stout stayed reasonable in most of his pricing, even after he had begun the job.  Because of his fine work, we extended the work to include a large hillside and areas surrounding the driveway, to which we added all-new irrigation and hydroseeding, and additional hardscape and planting up a long fairway to a landing.  Stout hired a second team for this project, and they performed at the same level as the previous crew, completing the project on time and with an eye for detail.  My only concern through some of this process was some lack of oversight on behalf of Stout during critical parts of the installation.  When deadlines approached, we had to take a heavy hand to make sure task lists were completed and to make sure new costs were not incurred.  Otherwise, we are extremely happy with the work and the interface with Stout, and would highly recommend him for this type and size of job.

Tom was the only landscaper with great taste who was willing to work within our budget. While he presented a wide variety of imaginative plans for us to choose from, he also found ways to use planters that we already had to save money. When the refurbishment of some of these didn't turn out as planned, he didn't overcharge to build new ones from scratch. He is extremely detail oriented and demanding of his employees. If the results aren't exactly as he envisioned them, they have to fix it. Tom won't leave your job with any detail askew. You can get him on the phone and he'll be there if you suddenly need him to answer questions during the progress of the work. I will definitely hire him again when we move to a new place.

We hired Tom's firm to completely redo our property (most hardscaping, all landscaping, all required utilities, lighting, Water fountain, BBQ cabinet, fire pit, etc....).  He also came up with an excellent solution for us to have a self contained portable hot tub that was countersunk to have the visual look of an in ground jacuzzi, with all of the advantages of having many more jets by using a portable tub.

He met all of our quality requirements and met our overall timelines.

Overall Tom and his team did an excellent job.  He or his contractor/landscape installer were always on site when any work was being done, so we didn't have to track the "bosses" down when an issue arose.

We continue to have Tom come back to our house periodically to review the health of our landscaping, make suggestions for improving the property and making sure everything (lighting, irrigation, etc) are all properly working.

He was professional when he was here but he was late in delivering the plan to us.  On a scale from one to ten, I would rate him seven on the actual plan that he discussed when he was here.

You don?t need to look for anyone else. Tom Stout is the one to hire!  

His designs are gorgeous and his work is high quality. Tom is knowledgeable and experienced but will also listen to you ? this was a first for me.   Our original back yard consisted of an un-useable 1200 sq. ft. deck. We now have a gorgeous outdoor space perfect for both relaxing and entertaining. It includes an outdoor kitchen, fire pit, rain garden and fountain. In addition, Tom beautifully designed both the hardscape and landscape. He added a low-water irrigation system and the plants are thriving.  

If you want the process to be easy and done right and the end product to be amazing, call Tom.