Architect James Phillip Wright, known for his beautiful Malibu beach bungalows and grand Beverly Hills mansions, is the founder and principal architect for James Phillip Wright Architects, a luxury residential firm based in Northern California. He also founded its Southern California subsidiary, Venice Atelier Architects, located in West Los Angeles. Previously, he headed residential design and build firms, Atelier Construction and Atelier Construction Management Inc.

Wright provides complete architectural, interior design, and landscape design services to luxury residential clients throughout California. He is responsible for the creation and direction of all aspects of his work, including conceptual design, design development, zoning planning and research, construction drawings, and staff supervision.

A California Licensed Architect since 1988, Wright also holds a general contractor license. His years of experience in construction management and development, helps preserve the integrity of his designs throughout the construction process, and he works closely with his clients to overcome obstacles and minimize unnecessary changes.

Wright was raised in Annapolis, Maryland, surrounded by stately Colonial buildings and neoclassical architecture. Fascinated by building and design from an early age, he was naturally drawn to the fields of construction and architecture. Wright graduated with honors from the University of Maryland's nationally ranked architecture school in 1982. It was here that he became inspired by the style of Antonio Gaudi and the "formulas of nature." He traveled to Spain, returning to Annapolis with the desire to create organic, modern architectural designs.

At the age of 26, Wright landed on a Rodeo Drive construction site at the invitation of a renowned Beverly Hills art dealer who asked him to contribute to the design of his art nouveau-style estate. At the project's end in 1983, Malibu Spa and Pool hired Wright as a construction foreman. This gained him access to potential architecture clients by way of backyard remodels and designs, and ultimately led to Wright's first large commission: an 18,000 square foot Mediterranean-French-style guest house for a Saudi prince's estate in Bel Air, California.

Wright's innate sense of proportion and understanding of classical forms spurred numerous other classical commissions. Between 1986 and 1995, Wright designed and built four classical estates in Beverly Hills. In 1995, he closed Atelier Construction and Atelier Construction Management Inc. to focus solely on architecture and design. Two architecture commissions in the Californian Oakland Hills in 1995 and 1997 inspired Wright to move to Northern California and found James Phillip Wright Architects.

He rediscovered his passion for sustainable architecture in 2003 while designing a private residence in Carmel Valley. He calls the nature-inspired concept for the project "Ancient/Future," which incorporates the classical formulas of the past with modern materials and sensibilities of the future.

In 2004, he was hired to design two, single-family, modern homes in San Francisco's Potrero Hill district. The project required him to take multiple geographical challenges, including freeway noise and a landlocked lot, and spin them into a cozy, urban sanctuary. This appealed to Wright's belief that it is often the projects that present the most constraints that result in the most creative solutions. Construction was completed in summer 2005.

Wright's current projects include an 18th Century French-style limestone chateau in Newport Beach and a modern "California organic" home in Carmel Valley.

Wright continues to maintain his architectural presence in both Southern and Northern California, as well as to contribute to projects statewide.