Today we’d like to introduce you to Lance Stratton.
Hi Lance, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
I am a San Diego area native, born in La Mesa, then my family moved the sleepy town of Ramona when I was 13 years old. I graduated from Ramona High School’s class of 1985. While in high school I enrolled in the ROP program for drafting and became certified the same year of my graduation. My father and brother were general contractors in Ramona, and I would draw the plans for the homes they built in San Diego Country Estates.
When I was 19 years old, I went to work for a prominent local architect, Don Edson, AIA, who specialized in high-end residential projects. In the time I spent working in that office, I met a number of qualified and influential people whom I still work with to this day. It was a very formative time for me. Shortly after I got married in 1989, I was invited to join the architectural department of a well-known design/build contractor in La Jolla, Dewhurst and Associates. I worked under a gentleman named “Trip” Bennett who became my mentor and remains my very close friend to this day. While working with Dewhurst and Associates, we opened a kitchen design showroom right on Girard Ave. in La Jolla. We set out to find the finest cabinetry brand that was made in America, and we Landed on William Ohs Cabinetry out of Denver. We opened that showroom in 1994, with myself as the lead designer for the Kitchen department.
In 2002, William Ohs Cabinetry bought the kitchen department from Dewhurst and made me a partner. We flourished in La Jolla until the Great Recession finally caught up to us in 2009. By 2010, we had to restructure. I took over 100% ownership in July of 2010, and Studio Stratton was born of fire and necessity.
I remained in La Jolla for several years but moved to University Heights in 2018, leasing a space in the Park Blvd. Artworks building alongside my longtime friend and colleague Michael Borelli. Borelli Design & Cabinetry is a fine design frim and cabinetry manufacturer in their own right… I know it seems odd to go in right next to another business that might be a direct competitor, but as it turns out, we have a completely different client base, and both of us have really benefitted from our association.
Having mastered the disciplines of my craft, I specialize in creating one-of-a-kind designs for my customers here in San Diego and across the country. My wife, Marcie Stratton, is my partner in life and in our business. She heads up the operations side of our business, working closely with our customers to coordinate schedules, etc., and with our manufacturers for orders and deliveries. Elly Leahy joined our team in 2021 and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in interior design and tile, as well as kitchen and bath design.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
We started in business at a time when many others were going out… 2010 wasn’t a great year to be in any sort of luxury design business, but this work is seriously all I know. Because the economy was so down at that time, I literally had no options. No one was hiring locally or even nationally! If I wanted to stay in the design field, I would have to forge my own way. Those were not easy times by any means, but I learned so much! I joined an organization called Vistage, participating in “roundtable” meetings with other business owners and also working directly with a mentor as part of that program as well. It was expensive and hard-fought, but I learned to be a competent businessperson in addition to being the lead creative in our firm.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
I approach design from a very personal and relational place. A big part of my process relies on input from my clients. If you look at the body of my work, you won’t find a “signature style” because I prefer to take inspiration from my customer and their lifestyle rather than impose a vision of my own creation onto them. It’s true that some people want a designer to swoop in and tell them how things must be… possibly like what they see on HGTV… that’s simply not my process, and ultimately not the type of client who gravitates toward me. Many of my customers have become close personal friends, and I like it that way.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
While I was still in Jr. High, my father and brothers were building spec homes in Ramona. I would work on those jobs over the summer. As it turns out, I had zero aptitude as a carpenter… like zilch, nada! To his great credit, my father had the foresight to point me in the direction of design and drafting. His early guidance put me on the path as a very young person.
When I was in high school, and for a year or so after, I worked for an Architect in Ramona named Jim Geldert, and his company was called Aspin Design Group. This was my first real job… in fact, when I started there, I had to walk to work after school because I wasn’t old enough to drive! Jim is very creative, and I found his work and his personality inspiring.
Don Edson’s office was a pressure cooker, and I learned to work hard in that environment. He taught me that nearly anything was possible if the budget would allow for it.
My Time at Dewhurst and Associates was really where I came into my own. I have already mentioned Trip Bennett… That guy is so damn talented! You can gain so much just by sharing space in his orbit. Also, Don Dewhurst was a wealth of knowledge and one of the kindest people I’ve ever met. I learned so much from him. I had the true pleasure of working with that firm for 12 years, and it was really something special.
Contact Info:
- Website: studiostratton.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/studiostratton
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lance-stratton-3818315/
Image Credits
Martin Mann
