CahillStudio practices regional design, creating custom homes that embody our clients’ values and sense of place.
Chris Cahill has led CahillStudio for fifteen years and has practiced for over twenty-five. The Studio is informed by a Northern California regional aesthetic—rooted in a connection to the environment and shaped by modern design principles.
We take time to understand our clients — how they live, what they value, and what they envision — guiding them in defining and refining their goals. Each home emerges from a collaborative process that blends listening and discovery, resulting in architecture that is both uniquely personal and deeply connected to its site and region.
Our approach balances design sensibility, technical expertise, regional insight, and environmental responsibility, always grounded in collaboration. Chris leads the studio with kindness, humor, integrity, and respect, ensuring the design journey is as rewarding as the finished home.
Chris Cahill, Principal
Chris founded CahillStudio in 2010 to focus exclusively on designing custom residences and vineyard estate properties in Northern California’s wine regions of Napa and Sonoma. A great communicator and collaborator, Chris excels at building strong teams and guiding projects with clarity and leadership. His site design skill, combined with a keen eye for detail, provides the foundation for creating architecture that delights, endures, and co-exists seamlessly with its natural environment. Chris approaches every project by identifying a clear design concept, then leading a rigorous process of evaluation and collaboration, allowing the best solutions to emerge. Guided by his clear vision, clients are empowered to embrace the creative journey from start to finish. Chris bridges innovative design, regional sensitivity, and a deep embrace of collaborative partnerships.
After completing his education in New Orleans, Chris spent a formative year abroad gaining professional experience at a London-based architectural firm and traveling extensively throughout Europe, which strengthened his belief in architecture’s role in shaping cultural identity and solidifying our relationship to the natural environment.
Chris began his career in San Francisco at Backen, Arrigoni and Ross Architects, where he worked under renowned architect Howard Backen on flagship retail spaces, iconic Napa valley wineries, and custom homes in the San Francisco Bay Area. He later joined Backen and Gillam Architects in Napa as senior designer for several award winning commissions. In 2000, Chris became lead designer at RossDrulisCusnebery Architecture in Sonoma, where he established the firm’s residential studio and began cultivating enduring partnerships with developers, builders, designers and artisans—collaborations that continue to enrich CahillStudio’s work today.
Education
Bachelor / Master of Architecture, Tulane University
Independent Study, Pratt Institute School Of Design