The company’s owner, Paul L. Armstrong, represents the fourth generation of the family who started the business. He acquired EAA in 2003 after working closely with Anderson’s great-grandson, Jim F. Anderson, whom Armstrong is related to through family lineage, immersing himself in the day-to-day inner workings of the company.
Armstrong majored in architecture at the University of Illinois and during his junior year studied at the world-renowned École des Beaux-Arts in France, a year that had an influential impact on his thinking about architecture.
“We studied architecture and I saw firsthand how people from other backgrounds throughout Europe would make their homes as comfortable as possible for their families,” Armstrong says. “I got a really good sense of classic architecture and what ‘home’ really means.”
After graduating, Armstrong went to work for an architecture firm in Chicago run by Dirk Lohan, grandson of the famous architect Mies van der Rohe. The firm hired Armstrong for his experience in residential architecture, and he won a number of awards, including the Aspiring Young Architect Award in 1987 from the American Institute of Architects.
In the late 1990s, he worked for a well-known North Shore builder as the Director of Design overseeing the design and construction of high-end luxury homes that were being built as part of the Glenview Naval Air Station redevelopment. Being in charge of approving good designs fueled his desire to do both design and build, and the key to doing that was to own his own company.
Since purchasing EAA, he has reinvigorated it, building on its century old reputation for excellence and classic craftsmanship.
What differentiates the company’s approach to designing, building, and remodeling homes is that everything is, so to speak, under one roof. Clients have a point person, Armstrong, to work with from concept to construction. That’s just as important with a home remodel, a key focus of the company’s business, as it is with new home builds. Armstrong says it offers flexibility to clients, who can choose to work with the company for only the design or only the construction of the project.
“A big reason we like to do both is managing costs. I truly believe the best possible process is to have an architect like me who understands the design side but is also a builder who understands the build side,” Armstrong says. “We can give clients a cost estimate much earlier in the process.”
Capable cost management combined with the company’s long and successful history of helping clients build just the right place to call home, or to remodel their current home to make it their own makes EAA a smart choice.
“A testament to our good work is the many second generation clients we work with, and that’s because we stay true to our founder’s original inspiration,” Armstrong says. “The best in skilled labor, the finest materials, excellent trade partners, and the highest in ethical practices.”
