About MWA

About MWA

For nearly four decades, MWA, Inc. has worked to create thoughtful spaces that reflect the unique character of Truckee and the greater Lake Tahoe region. Our multidisciplinary team specializes in architecture, engineering, and interior design, and we approach every project with curiosity, collaboration, and care.

MWA, Inc is a nuts-and-bolts firm with artistic talent and a strong understanding of how to create enriching places for happy people. We’re passionate about crafting designs that are both beautiful and practical, blending timeless elements with forward-thinking ideas. Our team thrives on bringing creative visions to life while staying grounded in the unique beauty and culture of our mountain community.

We listen to what our clients say, educate them and help them weigh-off the multitude of options, factoring aesthetics, function, environment, long-term vs short-term costs, marketability, flexibility, and user satisfaction through the ages. We create a synthesis of concepts generated by our clients and ideas garnered from careful consideration of the potential.

While most of our projects are snow country designs for Truckee and Lake Tahoe, many of our satisfied clients commission us to do additional projects around the world including Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Baja, and throughout California and Nevada. Our staff currently holds Architecture licenses in California, Nevada, Colorado, and Washington, and Engineering licenses in California, Colorado, Nevada, and Utah.

The majority of our commissions have been for high-end residential projects. We have also designed commercial buildings and centers, restaurants, multi-family housing, starter homes, industrial facilities, airport facilities, mixed-use projects, and remodels.

Our goal is to build strong relationships between the owner, builder and architect. We understand that architecture is much more than just pretty pictures. We develop builder friendly plans to ensure our client's vision is clearly delivered to the people building it.




Kristi/Karin,

On October 18, we moved into the new house that you designed for us and have been enjoying it immensely. It is even nicer than we had envisaged when we were looking at the plans on paper. The living space (Great Room, kitchen, eating area) are working out perfectly. We’ve had two sets of guests up already and having all that open space has been very handy. All the large windows in the back (Great Room, kitchen, master bedroom) make it feel like we’re camping. The steel staircase complements the exposed steel beams and posts and is a phenomenal centerpiece as you walk into the house.

We greatly appreciate the collaborative way in which you worked with us to come up with this design. We had some ideas on what we were after when we began the process, but you were able to shape our inchoate thoughts into something really spectacular. You also were very proactive in talking with the town’s building department and submitting our permit application at a fortuitous time for us. We also valued your input on what it would cost to build the place. Interestingly, despite COVID and all the related supply chain issues we’ve experienced over the past year and a half, our actual construction cost came in very close to your original ball park estimate.

Thank you very much for your partnership in helping us realize a real dream home.

All the best,

Joe Naylor & Karen Torres


-- Joe Naylor
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