Scottsdale · Paradise Valley · Arcadia
Some kitchens are installed. Yours will be designed.
Northstone is an architecture-led kitchen practice. We accept fourteen homes a year and draw every one from the structure out — because the room you cook in deserves the same rigour as the house around it.
The problem
Why most new kitchens feel old in three years.
A kitchen fails long before the finishes date. It fails on the drawing — in the decisions nobody questioned, made by people who never watched you cook in the room.
It was ordered, not drawn
Catalogue boxes arranged to fit a wall. The house was never consulted — so the proportions fight the ceiling height, and the room always feels slightly borrowed.
The layout was never questioned
The sink stayed where the plumber found it in 1998. Every trip from fridge to range still crosses the one place three people stand.
Storage came last
Cabinets sized to the leftover space rather than to what you own. Two years on, the island is a landing strip and the pantry is chaos.
Materials were chosen on a screen
A slab picked from a thumbnail behaves nothing like the one in your light. Veining lands in the wrong place, and the seam sits where you look every morning.
The transformation
Paradise Valley.
Ninety-one days.
A 1996 galley with a load-bearing wall down the centre. We took the wall, moved the range to the exterior elevation, and drew twenty-two feet of uninterrupted stone. Drag to see it.
Before
After
Project N-118 · Paradise Valley, AZ · Wall removed, range relocated, 22 ft of book-matched quartzite.
What we do
Four services. One drawing set.
Design, joinery, stone and construction sit under one roof — so nobody can tell you it was the other trade's fault.
Full Kitchen Remodeling
Walls, structure, services and finishes. The complete redraw, permitted and built by one team from demolition to the final reveal.
02Custom Cabinetry
Milled to your ceiling height and your possessions, in our Arizona shop. Not modified stock — drawn, cut and finished for one house.
03Countertops & Stone
Quartzite, marble and porcelain selected slab by slab. You approve the actual stone, with the veining laid out before a single cut.
04Kitchen Design & Architecture
Measured drawings, structural coordination and full elevations — the part most remodelers skip and every good kitchen depends on.
Selected work
Fourteen a year.
Each one drawn twice.
Every project is designed in full, then reviewed against how the household actually moves before a single cabinet is ordered.
View the full portfolio
The process
Five stages.
No surprises.
You will know the drawing, the material and the number before demolition begins. That is the whole promise.
Consultation
Ninety minutes in your kitchen, not our showroom. We measure, photograph, and watch how the room is actually used. You leave with a written investment range — free, and yours to keep whether or not you hire us.
Design & drawings
Measured plans, elevations and structural coordination. You see the kitchen in full — every cabinet, every switch, every stone joint — before anything is committed.
Material selection
You stand in front of the actual slab in daylight and mark where the veining should fall. Hardware, finishes and fixtures are confirmed in one sitting.
Construction
One site lead, reachable by name, for the whole build. Dust walls on day one, a written schedule on the wall, and photographs to you every Friday.
The reveal
Cleaned, styled and photographed. We walk the room with you, resolve the punch list inside ten days, and hand over the ten-year workmanship warranty.
Clients
What it is like to be one of the fourteen.
We ask every client the same question at handover: what would you tell someone still deciding?
"We interviewed four firms. Northstone was the only one who asked to watch us make dinner before they'd quote. That told us everything."
"The drawings were so complete that nothing changed mid-build. Not one change order in ninety-one days. I still don't quite believe it."
"Two years on, there is still nowhere in the room I would change. That is the part nobody tells you to look for."
The practice
We limit the work so the work stays good.
Northstone was founded in 2003 by a residential architect who was tired of watching good houses get ordinary kitchens. Twenty-two years later the model has not changed: fourteen projects a year, every one drawn in-house, every one built by our own crew.
It is a deliberately small number. It is also the reason a principal is in your kitchen on day one and at your reveal on the last day — and why we can still name every client from the past five years.
- Founded
- 2003 · Scottsdale, Arizona
- License
- Arizona ROC #331402 · Bonded & insured
- Credentials
- NKBA Certified Kitchen Designers · AIA affiliate
- Warranty
- 10-year workmanship · lifetime cabinetry
Financing
The kitchen you drew, not the one you settled for.
Most compromises happen in the last week of design, when the number gets real. Financing exists so the decision stays about the drawing.
Questions
Answered plainly.
The six things people ask before they book — with real numbers, not ranges designed to avoid the question.
How much does a kitchen remodel cost in Scottsdale?
A full architectural kitchen remodel in Scottsdale and Paradise Valley typically runs $85,000 to $250,000. The range is driven by three things: whether walls or structure move, whether cabinetry is custom-built or modified stock, and the stone you select. Northstone provides a fixed written investment range at the end of the first consultation, before any drawings begin.
How long does a kitchen remodel take?
Plan on five to seven months end to end. Design and drawings take six to ten weeks, custom cabinetry is milled in ten to fourteen weeks, and on-site construction runs eight to twelve weeks. Northstone sequences cabinetry milling to run alongside design approval, which removes roughly a month from the traditional timeline.
Do I need an architect for a kitchen remodel?
You need one whenever walls, rooflines, structural beams or window openings change — and for most kitchens worth remodeling, they should. Northstone includes architectural drafting in every project rather than subcontracting it, so the person designing your layout is the same person who understands what the structure will allow.
What is the difference between kitchen remodeling and kitchen renovation?
Renovation restores what is already there — new doors, new counters, same footprint. Remodeling changes the plan itself: walls move, the work triangle is redrawn, storage is rebuilt around how you actually cook. Northstone does both, but only recommends renovation when the existing layout genuinely works.
Do you offer financing for kitchen remodeling?
Yes. Northstone offers 0% APR for 18 months on approved credit, and fixed-rate terms from 60 to 144 months through our lending partners. Applications take about four minutes and use a soft credit pull, so checking your rate does not affect your credit score. See the full financing page →
Which areas does Northstone serve?
Northstone works across Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, Arcadia, North Phoenix, Cave Creek, Carefree and Fountain Hills, Arizona. Because the practice accepts only fourteen projects a year, availability is scheduled by quarter rather than by waiting list. See service areas →
The whole idea
A kitchen is the only room in the house you use before you are properly awake.
Next step
Bring us the room. We will bring the drawing.
Ninety minutes, in your kitchen, at no cost. You leave with a written investment range and an honest answer about whether the layout is worth changing — even if that answer is no.
Three consultation slots remain for Q4 2026 · No obligation · No sales visit