James Larew was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, raised in Iowa City, Iowa, and studied architecture at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. At Notre Dame he was trained in Classical and Traditional Architecture and Urbanism and spent his third year studying in Rome, Italy. After graduating, he spent 15 years working at Liederbach and Graham Architects in Chicago, Illinois. At Liederbach and Graham, he specialized in custom high end residential design and worked on a variety of projects ranging from a diminutive yet exquisitely detailed summer house to large scale multi-building estate developments. During this time, James had the opportunity to work on projects in a wide range of styles including shingle style, Mediterranean, Georgian, English cottage, and many others. His background in classical architecture and understanding of the underlying principles of good design that transcend style allowed him to deliver projects for clients that not only exceeded their expectations but also consistently won design awards ranging from historic preservation to excellence in residential architecture to masonry and craftsmanship.