Kenneth David Lee is a study in contrasts. He is an architect that also presides over a construction company and invests in real estate. His firm’s eclectic projects encompass everything from Valley-floor master bedroom remodels to upscale hillside homes cascading from Mulholland. The firm’s services include interior design, furniture selection and landscape design. But don’t mistake the broad swath cut by Lee for flightiness. Every move he has made has been carefully planned and designed for its long-term benefits. Take the location of their current office, a single-family bungalow on Magnolia Boulevard in Encino purchased in 1992 primarily for its garage. At the time, the firm was ensconced in an office building on Ventura Boulevard, purchased two months after the Northridge earthquake out of foreclosure. “We felt it was a bad investment to rent a storage space for $500 a month (to store construction materials), and so we bought the house,” Lee said. The home was leased to a residential tenant until two years ago, when the business occupying the upper floors of their Ventura Boulevard building needed more space. Now occupying about half of the “home office” are three Lees Ken; wife Andee, who handles paperwork and bookkeeping; and daughter Catie, a landscape designer along with two draftsmen. Joe Anda, has been with the firm for 22 years, while Luis Hernandez joined the firm just two years ago. Another employee, Heather Anda (wife of Joe) does interior cabinet elevations from home. The other half of the office is utilized by two Vander Borghts and a Lee Jef and his son, Kyle, 23; and Mike Lee, Kenneth Lee’s brother, who manage KDL Construction, Inc. “I own half of the (construction) business, but I get 100% of the headaches,” Jef Vander Borght said. “There’s definitely an aspect of Kenny that’s far more creative than I am and at the same time he’ll be the first to admit I’m better able to organize the business and be more detail oriented.” The two met at the University of Southern California while pursuing their architectural degrees and went on to play racquetball every Saturday for 20 years, Vander Borght said. They decided to work together after Vander Borght gave up his position as director of commercial development for Rasnick & Sons due to the job’s burdensome travel requirements. “This was in 1989,” said Vander Borght. “Kenny had already started KDL Construction, Inc., and had basically just a small construction concern. He offered me a 50 percent ownership in the business and the rest is history.” (Vander Borght also served on the Burbank City Council for five years, spending one of those years as mayor, while still running KDL Construction.) Both agree that the construction entity has subsidized the architectural business and made their real estate investments profitable as well. “Architects are kind of notorious for being underpaid,” said Lee, ” people balk at wanting to pay architectural fees where they seem very comfortable paying contractor fees.” Having both services in-house gives an added value to their clients, said Vander Borght. By doing both architectural design and construction, a process known as design/build, “you get to know the client well, you know what they expect and want,” he said, “We can take the design and the plans and bring the project to fruition to meet the client’s needs without the traditional gap between the architect and the contractor.” The business owns a couple of apartment buildings and the architect-builder collaboration gives them the ability to have their own personnel do all the remodeling work that takes place when tenants move in or out at a much lower cost. It also gives Lee the opportunity to do very small remodels for very low cost. “Many architectural firms tend to get away from residential remodeling because it’s difficult work,” said Lee. “We’ve always done it. And in an economy like this, it’s kept us busy.” For instance, the director of the Venice Free Clinic was living in an 1,100-square-foot house with his children sleeping in what normally would have been a dining room. “So we went in and designed a master bedroom (addition),” at a reduced price. Those little remodels can lead to bigger and better things, though. For client Howard Bragman, the firm has designed three projects over the years. The first was a kitchen remodel; the second was a complete renovation of a house near Laurel Canyon and Mulholland while the third, currently on the boards, is a vacation retreat in Ojai. “I adore Ken and I adore his work,” said Bragman, whose firm, 15 Minutes, manages public relations efforts for high-profile entertainers. “His ego doesn’t get in the way of the work. He’s really a collaborator.” Bragman was so pleased with his hillside house, calling it “warm and wonderful,” that he bought Lee a Segway as a gift. The transporter allows Lee to meet clients, including Bragman, for lunch on Ventura Boulevard without having to drive or, even worse, find parking. While all of his business ventures and activities he is also a founding member of the San Fernando Valley Chapter of the American Institute of Architects and is involved in the USC alumni association might lead you to think that Lee is a hard-charging overachiever; he is, in person, a mild-mannered, thoughtful man who clearly cares deeply about his family and his work. He supported daughter Catie in her pursuit of not one, but three degrees from USC: a bachelor’s in geology, and dual masters’ in public art and landscape architecture. She graduated in 2005. “When I told my dad I wanted to start a company, he said, ‘you know, why don’t you use our extra computer and our extra desk,'” said Catie Lee, and even though she is commuting from Hermosa Beach, she said, “Frankly it’s fun to come in and hang out. I also get lunch everyday.” Catie works both as an employee of the architectural business and also has her own firm, CRL Landscape Design; a name she says was chosen without a lot of foresight, “since I’m getting married in two-and-a-half months and I’m changing my name.” Both the Lees and their clients get a kick out of the father-daughter team. One client called Catie Lee on a referral from a friend, not realizing that she was the daughter of the architect who designed an addition for their home 10 years previously. Another client, the Handley’s, first hired Ken Lee about 15 years ago. Now, Catie is designing the landscape for that home and has subcontracted her father to design an outside pavilion as part of that work. “That’s great fun,” he said. Which kind of sums up his approach to running his businesses. That, and a willingness to innovate and embrace new ideas and technologies. One of the firm’s current projects involves a hillside home remodel to make the house as energy efficient as possible. Catie is doing the landscape. “The 54 solar panels generate probably, depending on the time of the year, from 50 to 80 percent of the electricity.” He said. It also sports super-high efficiency furnaces, tankless water heating and additional insulation. It’s one of about a half-dozen “green” projects the Lees have tackled lately. “We want to be on the cutting edge,” said Kenneth Lee.
