Brennen Chasse, founder of Spokane-based architecture company Studio Ascent, says there’s currently a push for high-end design for residential properties.

“I think there’s a lot of people coming in from Seattle and outside areas right now,” Chasse says. “With a lot of people coming in, there’s a level of design that happens in bigger cities that’s being sought after now.”

Founded in 2022, Studio Ascent PLLC specializes in single-family residential homes. Projects are predominately high-end residential lake and mountain homes ranging in cost between $1 million and $10 million, with an average of $5 million per home, Chasse says.

The firm works on approximately five projects per year with a total of about $20 million in construction. He says they have a few remodels and tenant improvements sprinkled in. 

Studio Ascent’s design resumé includes homes in both Washington and Idaho. It’s currently working on a new construction on Schweitzer Mountain Resort, three houses on Lake Pend Oreille, one in Coeur d’Alene, and one in Liberty Lake.

The firm does business out of the Liberty Building, at 203 N. Washington in downtown Spokane. The company includes himself, a licensed architect, and another employee who is not licensed, but holds a master's degree in architecture.

Although the firm designs a lot of lake and mountain homes, Chasse says he doesn’t like to be locked into a certain style of architecture.

“I don’t really have an architectural style, it’s more of a reflection of the client and how we get to the end goal,” he says.

Chasse says Studio Ascent’s projects range between 2,500- and 12,000-square-foot homes, with an average of 5,000 square feet.

One project the firm is currently working on is a $10 million, 10,000-square-foot home with a guest house. Chasse didn’t disclose the area the house is being built.

Another house Studio Ascent designed has a main house and a built-in hangar for the client’s plane, which is located on an airstrip just outside of Sandpoint.

Schweitzer Mountain, which Chasse says is slowly growing in residential development, offers a variety of fun, but challenging, projects for Studio Ascent.

For example, the firm is currently designing a 2,600-square-foot single-family home on the mountain.

“Schweitzer properties can be a challenge because we are locked in with very short setbacks and a steep hillside,” he says. “But it forces us to be creative in a compact footprint. It’s a fun challenge. That’s what excites us.”

Another current project is a natural, nontoxic home built with woodchip-based building blocks by Philomath, Oregon-based Faswall.

“It’s essentially blocks that they stack, fill with concrete, and then apply the finish,” he says. “The insulation is built into the blocks.”

Chasse says he wants to keep growth at Studio Ascent slow, but steady.

“I like to keep in mind quality over quantity,” he says. “We want to make sure we have the right projects to facilitate the growth, rather than grow and figure out how to get work.”

He says the studio's design process is highly collaborative, beginning with the client and continuing through weekly meetings to ensure ongoing participation.

“They come in every week and we kind of work through the plans and the architecture together,” Chasse says. “The more the client engages with it, and enjoys the process, the more we feed off each other, and push each other to design better. It’s always a good back and forth.”

Chasse, 33, grew up in Sandpoint and attended college at the University of Colorado. After earning his master’s degree in architecture, he worked as an architect at Denver-based Alvarez Morris Architecture Studio, and, most recently, at Spokane-based Uptic Studios.

Although architecture wasn’t his first choice in school, Chasse says he was inspired by a professor who genuinely loved architecture. 

“He really lit the fire in me,” he says. “It was contagious … the way he talked about it and opened our eyes to it in class. It was amazing.”

With family still in Sandpoint, Chasse and his wife, Lydia, wanted to be closer to home following COVID-19.

Chasse says Spokane has everything they were searching for in a city.

 “There’s plenty of water, mountains, and the perks of the city … which is exactly what we were looking for, “ he says.

As growth happens gradually, Chasse expects to open an additional office in Sandpoint.