A North Castle man who budgeted $500,000 for home renovations is suing a Thornwood architectural firm for producing drawings that allegedly would have cost more than $1 million to implement.
Robert Brewster accused Dimovski Architecture PLLC of negligence, in a complaint filed on May 20 in Westchester Supreme Court.
The firm’s conduct “was materially misleading,” the complaint states, “because it involved misrepresentations about the anticipated cost for the construction of the project.”
Brewster lives in a 1,709-square-foot ranch house on a 1.8 acre plot on East Lane, between Armonk and the Connecticut border. He and his wife, Neidaluz Salcedo, bought the property for $670,000 in 2012.
Dimovski Architecture’s website describes itself as a boutique firm “committed to providing our clients with realistic solutions that not only meet their requirements, they exceed their expectations.”
Brewster says he hired the firm in August 2024. The plan was to convert a first floor bedroom to a sun room, combine two bedrooms into a mother-in-law suite, enlarge the garage, and build stairs to a new floor.
The new floor would include a master bedroom, two more bedrooms, bathrooms and closets, and the house would feature vaulted ceilings and natural light and ventilation.
Brewster and his wife met with architect Steve Dimovski on Nov. 1, 2024 to review drawings, according to the complaint. Dimovski calculated that the work would cost $500,000 and Brewster consented to moving ahead with final drawings.
“We made it clear … that the $500,000 figure was the most we could spend on this project,” the complaint states, “and that if it were to cost more than $500,000 it would be beyond our budget.”
Brewster says four general contractors submitted estimates in 2025, ranging from $1,009,430 to $1,279,540.
The contractors said the costs were not due to increases in labor or material costs, the complaint states, but to the “depth and complexity of the project.”
“If I knew the cost of the project would be in excess of $1 million,” Brewster claims, “I would not have hired the defendant to prepare the drawings.”
Brewster says he has paid Dimovski Architecture $26,378. Now he is demanding unspecified monetary damages for alleged negligence, breach of contract, deceptive acts or practices, and violation of the Westchester County Consumer Protection Code.
Dimovski Architecture did not reply to a message, submitted through its website, asking for its side of the story.
