To whom it may concern;
I highly recommend Andrew Saxton, at Nosara Design and Build, as your project manager.
Throughout the construction process, Andrew proved to be an immense asset. His wealth of knowledge in the industry and the community alleviated a significant amount of stress. He was always professional, efficient, attentive and willing to put in the extra effort which makes the difference between success and failure. Andrew and his team were always a pleasure to work with.
I would conclude by saying apart from his professional responsibilities, Andrew is an honest, fair and genuine human being.
Cynthia Michaud, Canada, presently Nosara
2019
When you are dreaming about having your own home in Costa Rica everything is “Pura Vida”. But trust me reality exists in this paradise. When we decided to build, we knew we could not be here to monitor the build, and quite frankly we would not know where to begin. We enlisted the help of Andrew Saxton and his team at Nosara Design and Build before we had an architect, builder or even an idea of what we were doing. It was a very good decision. We built a pretty spectacular house (I am biased because we love it so much) and when I say “we” I am very much including Andrew as he was integral to this process. We managed to do the entire build with 4 visits to Costa Rica. And while we did have some of the surprises that come with building in the jungle the whole thing went very well. Andrew kept the build on track, on budget (except where we blew it), and allowed us to keep our love for Costa Rica alive. If you are thinking about making the dream of having a home in Costa Rica a reality I would very much recommend calling Andrew.
Greg McKechnie, Nantucket
2019
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/38696156?source_impression_id=p3_1580255783_uv06ot5UUjicc9Iz
The story of Casa Nautilo would be great fodder for a novel; a slightly unhinged, middle age woman arrives for a yoga training, falls deeply in love with Nosara and decides she’s not leaving without a piece of turf to come back to. She heads back to NYC, closes the deal on a parcel of land in the Guiones Beach Club and decides to build her dream home. Her friends are bewildered, her financial advisor has a coronary, her kids consider locking her up for her own protection and she starts to seriously second guess her decision.
Enter Andrew Saxton.
I returned a few months later when the rains had started to fall and the jungle had taken over the lot. Walking the property was not an option, so together from our perch on the roof of Andrew’s jeep we started to map out the site. I had found my dream catcher.
From that day forward, through a year of design and nearly 2 years of building Andrew never let me down. No question ( and there were thousands of them ) was too stupid and no deadline was unmet. While I was preoccupied with relocating to Toronto, both of my children’s weddings and caring for my mother, Andrew was “here so I didn’t have to be “.
Casa Nauitlo was a complicated project that tested the skill ( and patience ) of the architect and builders. With every seemingly endless detail Andrew would look at the issue ( design, budgeting, materials ) creatively, consider all of the options and always land upon the best solution. It was Andrew who saw the dream become a reality.
Its not just that its hard to find someone in the design and build business in Nosara with Andrew’s talent and integrity, its that its hard to find someone like Andrew in any business anywhere.
http://casanautilo.com/home
-Jane Nixon, NYC and Canada
2018
A new link to a great story, via Surfing Nosara
http://www.surfingnosara.com/content/rosie-and-petes-story
To Whom It May Concern:
Andrew Saxton and his company Nosara Design and Build was indispensible to the completion of my Playa Guiones home, Casa Primos.
As owner of a design/build firm focusing on both residential and commercial remodels in the US, I am very aware of the many challenges of construction, and especially when attempting to manage a project from afar. Andrew was not only my eyes and ears on site, but acted as an advocate and helped in identifying and solving issues before they became expensive problems.
His extensive experience in local building techniques, municipal codes and ordinances, and common pitfalls insured my project progressed in a smooth and timely manner. He was also a valuable resource in regard to design and sourcing issues one often faces in Costa Rica when dealing with material and fixture suppliers.
Because of his knowledge of the industry in general, his familiarity with many competent contractors and sub-contractors, as well as his command of the very specialized construction-related Spanish language, I would not hesitate to recommend Andrew.
I will certainly employee his services on my next project.
Mark Terkun, Casa Frisbee-1/4/2016
Prospective Clients
Nosara Design and Build Project Management
Playa Guiones, Costa Rica
Dear Sir or Madam:
I am writing this letter of recommendation on behalf of Andrew Saxton, of Nosara Design and Build Project Management. Andrew provided project management and supervision services for two houses I designed in Playa Guiones. I am a principal at a medium sized architecture firm located in Aspen, Colorado and have been designing buildings for over twenty-five years.
It gives me great pleasure to give Andrew the highest possible recommendation possible. He was instrumental in guiding both projects through the myriad of rules and regulations in Costa Rica. Some of the things included setting up interviews and supervising project bidding with three local contractors, helping the negotiate the final contract, securing our tree permit to start construction when other parties had given up trying, securing a discount on all our appliances, and coordinated pick-up, storage, delivery, and installation of all our furniture from nine different locations in San Jose.
When building out of country I think one of the most important things is to have someone watching over the project on your behalf, and Andrew filled that role and exceeded our expectations. He was involved in setting up the site surveying through supervising the final punch list items and kept me apprised weekly (sometimes daily) of ongoing developments with schedule, contractor, and other issues. Every week Andrew would send me video walkthroughs of the house so I could see the progress from week to week and gauge schedule versus anticipated completion date.
We are planning other projects in Costa Rica and Andrew will again be involved in the process. His services went above and beyond what the other parties to the build could and did provide, and made the building process enjoyable. Besides deciding to build in paradise, hiring Andrew was one of the best decision I made on the project. If you would like to discuss Andrew’s contributions in more depth or if there are any questions, please call or email at your convenience. (email and phone removed for privacy, can be provided)
Keith Howie
Principal, Poss Architecture + Planning
Andrew,
We would like to write a quick note to say THANK YOU !!! for being a
willing and more than qualified partner in our home build project. We’re
sure there were numerous occasions that you wondered if you had made the
right choice to assist with this project. We could not be happier with our
choice in project managers.
Attempting to build a house without being present was daunting to say the
least. Your knowledge of building and voice of reason along with a calming
attitude made the project a huge success.
You kept the project on track while allowing changes as needed, that is a
testament to your attention to the project and a great working relationship
with the builder. Your willingness to take calls, and many emails, put use at
ease.
We could not be more pleased with how the house looks and feels. We have
had so many compliments from our neighbors, guest and builders.
The compliments are a true testament to you and Leiman for your dedication
to making this a successful project for everyone.
As we said from day one – our main goal was to be friends at the end of the
project. We think we exceeded that expectation.
We look forward to many years of family time!
Many Thanks!!
The Barnett’s ( Eddie & Judith)
I wanted to write a brief summary of my experience in using Andrew Saxton of Nosara Design and Build to manage my current home build project in Nosara, CR. I purchased my land in the K-section a couple of years ago with the purpose of building a high end rental home in order to generate maximum rental revenue and provide occasional vacation use for myself and family and friends. I met Andrew during the purchase of the land at which time he gave me a summary of his role should I decide to use a project manager. Not being in the RE development business and residing full time in Boston, MA, his services were of interest to me.
I decided to use Andrew for my project given my limited time availability to travel to CR and having very little knowledge of all the builders. I felt I needed a 3rd party independent of the builder and architect who would protect my interest and make certain everything was meeting budget and to plan. He delivered on this.
I was able to get multiple bids with several architects and had several builders bid on the project. Andrew oversaw all of this. Additionally, the builders did come down on their pricing during the bid process. Once each was selected, Andrew was involved with overseeing the design as well as the entire build. He also worked out several issues with neighbors, permitting, and even assisting with furniture sourcing. I feel I would not have been able to have this run smoothly and finish on time without his involvement. When issues came up, he was on it. I felt it was the next best thing to me personally being there (which is not possible without me becoming unemployed). I would recommend him to anyone looking to build a house in the Nosara area that has limited time and knowledge of building a home in Costa Rica.
Dennis Erickson
Boston, MA
1/2015
Message from Beth Pelkofsky, New Home Owner – Nosara –
Hola,
Building a home is a daunting endeavor no matter where you live in the world. Building
one in a country where you don’t live and don’t speak the native language is
extraordinary. Still, many of us do it every year. It requires countless people – some
would use the popular phrase – ‘it takes a village’ – working together to make it
happen. Key to a successful build is a project manager; they are your eyes, ears, and
voice essentially this person is YOU, often better than you.
When thinking who should lead your ‘village’, Andrew Saxton is a superior candidate.
He is an expert about San Jose and Nosara from selecting an architect and builder,
processing of required permits and documents to the large network of necessary
services and everything in between, for building your home. Add in Andrew’s out-
going personality, attention to detail and problem-solving skills and you quickly learn
he is an excellent project manager.
Let’s face it, there are going to be challenges, delays and anxiety but knowing you
have Andrew on your team will reduce the sleepless nights. (most)
I am an excited new home owner in Nosara. I highly recommend Andrew as a project
manager. He was instrumental in the building of my dream home. If you have any
questions or concerns, please contact me at
(email removed for privacy, can provide)
Gracias
M. Branigan and G. Tardiff
Toronto, Canada
January 11, 2016
Andrew Saxton
Nosara, Costa Rica
Dear Andrew,
Thank you so much for all the help and advice you provided us through the building of our house in Nosara. Building a house at a distance has the potential to be a high stress situation, and you made it easy for us by always being available to answer our questions, be it by email, phone or through Skype calls. Your local knowledge, and the relationships you have developed with the builders and suppliers was invaluable in bonding our home and the result is nothing short of fantastic. Your calm “can do” attitude was appreciated when we might not have been calm ourselves.
We want to particularly acknowledge your availability on two different occasions to look at suppliers in San Jose for finishes, appliances and furniture, and for your patience as we were evolving our thoughts on how we wanted the house to look and feel. You were also able to help us manoeuver the closing of the construction contract as well as the supplementary items we required such as landscaping, gating and fencing. We were quite impressed when you are able to pull out a necessary receipt for your appliances when one of the them malfunctioned early on–on the spot, from your iPhone.
We’re looking forward to spending more time in Nosara over the next several years and look forward to seeing you around town on a regular basis. Best of luck with your project.
Sincerely,
M. Branigan and G. Tardiff
Casa Ashaya
