• From Start to Finish

    While our specialty might be interior renovations, we can design your home from the ground up and help you decorate it as well. Those seeking immediate transformations are generally not our best match: our ideal clients appreciate the time that goes into intimately learning about their lifestyle and preferences in order to create a layered, curated, highly detailed look. We love the specificity of designing a home, and our approach carries through each phase, from conceptual design to construction administration through furnishing.

    We strive for vibrant, intimate spaces that artfully combine contemporary and traditional architecture & interiors, rich in classic details, bespoke designs, and found pieces.

About the firm

Stark and Howard is a full-service architecture and interior design firm taking on work throughout the NY Metropolitan area, based in the unique and complementary design centers of Weston, CT and Montclair, NJ. Our ideal projects span architecture, interiors, and furniture - an immense value add for the client in terms of logistics and efficiency.  

While at Parsons School of Design for their Masters of Architecture, Lauren Stark and Amy Howard formed an immediate friendship. They took on every partner project that their studies allowed, and, ever since, the two have enjoyed many late night laughs in between frenzied sketches and flying fabric samples. Amy’s formal architecture training and passion for details is balanced by Lauren’s whimsical use of layers and thorough knowledge of materials.

Amy is a registered Architect in the states of New York & New Jersey and a member of the American Institute of Architects.

Lauren is a LEED accredited professional. 

Visit starkandhoward for images of their work and inspiration.

Contact

amy@ajhowarddesign.com
(267) 242-8449

Montclair, NJ

lauren@laurenstarkdesign.com
(303) 478-9284

Weston, CT

  • Amy Howard

    CO-FOUNDER

    Amy Howard was born into a family of makers: her Italian grandfather owned a machine shop next door and her Swedish grandfather had a full woodshop in his basement. Scattered throughout the family homes she grew up visiting in New Jersey were elaborate crosstitches and painted ceramics by her grandmothers. Memories of these spaces and objects enrich her deep appreciation for the built environment that surrounds us.

    Her childhood love of drawing and math led her to pursue a Bachelor of Arts degree in Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania and, after several years in the field, a Masters of Architecture from Parsons School of Design. She continues to be inspired by the creative pursuits of the colleagues (including Lauren!) and professors she formed bonds with over those long studio nights.

    Following a brief stint in commercial architecture, Amy soon followed her heart to residential work and spent nearly 15 formative years under the legendary Daniel Romualdez in New York City, eventually becoming one of his select project managers, overseeing projects that span the globe. Learning from his sophisticated ability to adapt to different styles and seamlessly marry architecture, interiors, and landscape has been her greatest apprenticeship.

    Amy lives in Montclair, NJ with her husband George, children Hugh and Josephine, and yellow lab, Wilson. She and George spend most of their “down” time fixing up old houses or talking about which old house to fix up next.

  • Lauren Stark

    CO-FOUNDER

    Lauren has over 10 years of extensive experience in the interior design field, with a focus on sustainability. Prior to forming a partnership with Amy Howard, Lauren served as a Designer at FXFowle Architects in New York City from 2005 until 2015. During her tenure, Lauren collaborated on the design and documentation of various multi-family residential, workplace, and educational institution projects in New York City. 

    She received her Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Design from the University of Colorado, College of Architecture and Planning in Boulder and her Masters of Architecture from Parsons School of Design in Manhattan. 

    She lives in live in Weston, Connecticut with her husband Jon (known for his passion for fly fishing), daughters Winnie and Louise (known for their mixing of floral patterns with panache), and shiba inu, Gus, and black lab, Rusty.