Specializing in high-design residential and wineries, we bring structure to the process of building or remodeling. Our emphasis is on successful collaboration—a reflection of good communication, a thorough understanding of goals and the overall project context—as well as expert knowledge of construction methods, details, and craftsmanship.

We’re based in Paso Robles, and we’re happy to announce opening our second office location in Carpinteria, CA. Our location doesn’t limit us. Additionally, we have a portion of our portfolio in the San Francisco Bay Area, and have a few projects as far as Oregon. Our clients are across California, several states, and even have a client based in Australia!

Our Mission

We put people first.

We apply the same driving force of compassionate design utilizing insightful details with a big-picture approach.

We trust explicitly in the process. Not rushing, letting things sit and unfold naturally. What settles out? What rises to the surface? Because of this, we discover the essential core, the hidden gem of each project.

We take the time to get to the heart of what really matters.

Our Values

Catch Architecture was founded as a people-first firm. Our highest hope is for your comfort.

We believe in the strength of Communication -

It can make or break our process, draw out important details, educate, and empower.

We believe in the power of Listening with a purpose -

We listen deeply not just to what is said, but to the parts that are left unsaid. This is often where the magic happens.

We believe in the importance of Trust -

It is the baseline for professionalism and accountability. Our approach is upfront - we demystify and simplify the process, setting manageable expectations from start to finish.

We believe in the necessity of Transparency -

We’re clear from the beginning, taking the time to illuminate the path.

We believe in the value of Being of Service -

Leading with openness, approachability, and generosity.

Meet Our Team

Nina Nazarov Hambly

PRINCIPAL ARCHITECT + founder

A former tiny home dweller and Airstream aficionado, Nina Hambly is a free spirit at heart. Raised by engineers, she’s grounded by the long line of accomplished women behind her. She’s found the perfect balance in architecture, where her creativity and love of process can happily coexist. Nina finds everyday joy in hanging out with her dogs, cooking dinners with her husband, and exploring wine country.

From dreamy homes to tasting rooms, Nina creates meaningful design for the goals and concepts of each project. She has an ability to really listen, drawing out and articulating a client’s vision, before master planning with a high level of expertise and attention to detail.

Nina leads with curiosity and openness. She founded Catch to build and foster connection, advocate for the simple joys of being human, and listen fervently to her client’s hopes and dreams.

Nina was recently featured in “SAY IT LOUD,” at the 2023 American Institute of Architects national convention. She received her Bachelor of Architecture from California State Polytechnic University-San Luis Obispo. She spent a year studying at the Danish Institute of Study Abroad where she honed her minimalist design chops and developed a true obsession for mid-century furniture.

Pablo Zarama

lead designer

Pablo loves to cook, play soccer, and golf. He’s well-traveled and art has been at the center of many family trips. In pursuit of fluency in French, he attended a Swiss high school in Bogota and later spent six months in France. He comes from a family of architects and was sure of his path from the beginning.

A project designer and job captain who loves to develop out-of-the-box creative design concepts, he brings solid design experience and a strong point of view. He’s determined to always bring new ideas to the table.

His awards include two honorable mentions and a third-place prize won as an up-and-coming designer in Bogota. Additionally, Pablo was selected by Architizer as one of a hundred finalists in the 2020 One Drawing Challenge. He’s also lectured about the evolution of the villa. He’s convinced that good design can bring joy, happiness, and just simply make life better.

Pablo holds a Bachelor in Architecture from Universidad de Los Andes, Bogota Colombia, and a Master of Science in Architecture Design from Cornell University.

Alush Nushi

SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER

Alush loves to spend time outdoors, especially when standing at the grill, and his grandkids keep him on the move. He enjoys camping, competitive shooting, and both scuba and freediving.

He is a builder at heart. One of his earliest memories is of moving a house and riding on the roof lifting power cables with a forked board and walking down the ridgeline as the house passed underneath… Years of hands-on experience in the family business give him a broad knowledge of the building trades and make him uniquely valuable to our team.

As a senior project manager with almost 40 years of experience under his belt, he reviews documents for constructability, coordination, and expertly leads teams through all the stages of project development.

Natalie Gale

OPERATIONS MANAGER

Natalie comes from a family of artists (including a Bay Area Master Sculptor). She’s traveled to over 30 countries across 5 continents and is passionate about interior design, architecture, film, and music. She lives in Paso Robles with her daughters and their 2 dogs, 3 cats, and 30 stick bugs! She loves hiking, dining out, and discovering treasures in antique and thrift stores.

She’s always enjoyed helping other people organize their environments and wields her optimism to encourage others to reach their fullest potential. She actively and expertly supports our clients and our team and creates order in the office.

Born and raised in London, England, she worked in advertising in the UK and in an administrative supportive role in the San Francisco Interior Design Industry. She earned a degree in Cultural Studies from the University of East London.

Moises De La Cruz

Architectural Designer

Moises’ creative pastimes are wonderfully diverse and explorative. From playing the guitar and songwriting, moviemaking, and web designing, to photographing the Milky Way. He explores different mediums, and exposes himself to as many genres as possible, always keeping an open and curious mind. This curiosity was further sparked when as a teenager he would help his Acapulco-born father with his window cleaning business in Sonoma County. Gazing at a variety of different homes, small and large in wine country. It was then he decided to pursue a career in architecture, which he later discovered had always been a dream of his fathers.

In the office, Moises loves to deconstruct the complexities of assembling construction documents, analyzing the fine details, and arranging the presentation to be clear, concise, and seamless.

Moises graduated from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, in June of ‘22 with a Bachelor of Architecture and a minor in Sustainable Environments. He envisions a future of designing elevated spaces, which enable clients to have meaningful and artful experiences, from the comfort of their homes.

Mick Atkins

Architectural Designer

Mick is a hands-on creative soul with a passion for wood and metalworking, fabrication, and furniture design. Originally from Dallas, Texas, Mick grew up in a design-forward household. The son of an interior designer and an architect, he spent his childhood engrossed in inventive activities, especially anything involving working with his hands. These interests and inspirations eventually lead to Mick embarking on a career in architecture. As well as creating unique furniture pieces in his workshop, you can find him most Saturdays on the rugby field where he is a member of the successful SLO Men’s Rugby Club (So-Cal Men’s Division III Champions), and then after a match, enjoying a well-earned brew with his teammates!

An admirer of the interdisciplinary designers, Ray and Charles Eames, Mick enjoys the application of both schematic design, where he’s able to express his creativity and the compilation of construction documents where he resourcefully applies his problem-solving skills. He also loves to see the fruition of the combination of design and documents, when he’s able to make site visits.

Mick is a graduate of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Architecture as well as a Minor in Construction Management. He hopes to obtain his architectural license in the next few years, and one day would love to run a custom furniture design practice in tandem with this architectural career!

And let’s not forget some other very important members of the team …

Lola

Margarita

Macie

Tuco

Ruby

Testimonials

“Nina and team are a delight to work with. As a builder, I have worked with several architect firms over the years and Nina has put together a great team. Their attention to detail, communication, and follow-up was second to none. Also, their job site visits during and after Construction show that they really care and are interested in the client’s vision, needs, and expectations. Since working with them and having several collaborative conversations with Nina I have recommended them to several potential clients and will continue to do so in the future. “
Aaron
“We contacted Nina in June of 2021 with an idea to convert an existing foundation on the vineyard we bought into an ADU for residential use adjacent to the manufactured home on the property. Immediately upon visiting Nina had a concern about the structural integrity of the foundation. She brought an Engineer with her on a second visit to evaluate the foundation. The bottom line, despite permitted plans, the foundation was not built to the permit requirements. If we had built it, it would have collapsed.

I was very happy with this early detection and ultimately steering us in a better direction for the property. This led us to work with Nina and her team on a master plan and new residence design for the property. We first shared our thoughts on a vision that Nina turned into conceptual illustrations. These illustrations rapidly turned into a final design of a three-bedroom residence with a large garage and workshop area for home winemaking. The process was smooth and organized and our vision was captured into realistic architectural drawings. My wife and I are very happy as these drawings are becoming a reality!”

FRANK, CLIENT
“Hey, Y'all...
I truly appreciate the assistance in getting this proposal together for us. This gives me a great idea of where we stand with this portion of the design process. I would just like to say, before departing, that it has been an absolute pleasure getting to correspond with you, Natalie, and Alush during the initial introduction to Catch Architecture. It's not often we get to deal with people that are so genuine in their presence and demeanor. This was evident the minute we began speaking. Being in the Building Inspection and Testing industry, I speak with my fair share of Design Professionals and Construction Leads on a daily basis, and let's say… some of these experiences rank low in the "good human status"... so, thank you for being good humans. Your help and knowledge during these conversations were refreshing.
For the sake of brevity, it has been a pleasure and I look forward to reaching out again when my wife and I decide that new construction is our course in life...

Sincerely...

Pat and Sandy”
“From the minute we reached out to Nina, we were instantly impressed with her level of knowledge, expertise, and attention to detail. We had no idea what we were doing when we started the process of designing and building a home, and thank goodness we found Nina! She helped us design our “forever dream home” over the course of two years and stayed with us until the entire project was complete.
In the beginning, she took time to get to know us and was able to interpret our thoughts and ideas, while providing us insight into what would and would not work. With this being our first time building a home, she listened to our dreams, wants, and desires and translated them into beautiful drawings and plans. As expected during the build, little issues popped up and Nina never hesitated to dive back into our project, applying her expertise to fix the problem. She and her team always offered creative solutions to keep our vision alive.
The entire Catch team (from Natalie to Pablo and Alush) stayed up to date with our builder and were always accessible for questions and design changes. Since we had ideas but not the experience and knowledge in architecture and design, Nina was our translator, making our dreams come to fruition and our forever home come true. We doubt that we will ever build another custom home, but if we do, we will only use Nina and Catch Architecture.”

TH + KRISTIN, CLIENTS
2023 - JOHN, CLIENT
“In July 2021 we experienced a house fire that destroyed most of our home and left it completely uninhabitable. Of all the companies we had to deal with to get our home rebuilt, many were predatory and very few were a real pleasure to work with; and Catch Architecture and Nina were one of them. We had to completely rebuild the interior and roof of our home and throughout the process the Catch team helped us navigate the unfamiliar waters of repairing and rebuilding what survived, to making a few small, but important changes, the team at Catch was fantastic every step of the way. From our initial meeting and design consultation, through to the finished plans, everything went well. When our house burned, we had no idea how to get things going, where to start, and the insurance company was no help at all. Catch Architecture stepped in and brought in a professional attitude that gave us hope we might get back to normal one day. 18 months after the fire, we have our house back, and we could not have done it without Nina and the Catch Team, so from our hearts, a very sincere THANK YOU!”

JOHN - CLIENT
"Our new beach house exemplifies Nina’s ability to marry architectural prowess with a strong design aesthetic and keen eye. We bought a teardown, never having done a full rebuild, let alone in a small-scale neighborhood with a myriad of restrictions. Bringing our ideas to fruition entailed a heavy dose of creativity on Nina’s part; it took numerous iterations to figure out how to integrate the features we wanted within the confines of the square footage parameters, and Nina was both helpful and patient during this process.
She was engaged throughout the entirety of the build, was always available for questions, and worked well with our contractor. Our house being the featured home in the December/January 2023 issue of SLO Life Magazine is a further testament to all of Nina’s skill, talent, and hard work.
Working with Nina was a joy and we would be delighted to collaborate with her on another project! We highly recommend her."
TOM + MARLA - CLIENTS
“When we decided to build an ADU, we wanted to choose a local, woman-owned business. And what we found was Nina and her team and it felt like a jackpot! From the first meeting with her up until the finalization of the project, we felt in good hands. The whole team was very professional, very knowledgeable, and with the same passion for this project as us. We sat together with Nina and her team to talk about our list of needs, wants, and dreams and they translated our list into a fabulous design, way better than what we had wished for. I am an artist, and I like unusual creativity, and thinking outside the box ideas, and one of the three designs that Nina and her team presented fulfilled everything we needed, everything we wanted, and more than we dreamed about! All this came with a few challenges, but this team found solutions, great alternatives, and - together with the construction company Nina recommended - everything and anything was possible! We are so thrilled with the outcome! This ADU is our main residence and after living here for more than one year, we wouldn’t want to change anything about it. We highly recommend Nina and her team!”
EDITH - CLIENT
“Nina is an accomplished architect and designer. She worked on replacing our garage with an ADU. First, she provided us with three different design sketches, pointed out the pros and cons of each, and that helped us figure out what we needed. She made many of the changes we needed to refine the space we wanted to build. Nina had great ideas and perspectives that helped keep our project within our budget. She provided a complete design, worked with a structural engineer, got a permit from the city, and helped us navigate with ordering the door and windows, kitchen, lighting, and other building hardware. She was always available to talk with the contractor when needed. Nina gave us suggestions and provided help in every situation until the project was fully completed. Nina is a true pro and someone I highly recommend.”
ELENA , CLIENT
“Nina is amazing! She helped us with our house remodel - we added another master bedroom, and we couldn’t be happier! Not only did she have a very good vision of the living space, but she was also always on time, very punctual, precise, and easy to work with. Nina is a true professional. She spent the time to understand our needs, proposed a few design options, waited for us to choose the one we liked (it took us a few iterations), and then worked on the details. Her drawings were spotless and easy to understand. She also researched the paperwork processing in our city (San Jose) and guided us in getting the approvals. Needless to say, we got the drawings approved within 2 hours, with no objections from the city. Once the remodeling was completed - we have a decent size bedroom and a beautiful bath! I would definitely recommend Nina for any house remodeling needs.”
IANA, CLIENT
"We had the pleasure of working with Nina on our new home. She was cheerfully helpful throughout, offering a balance of creativity and practicality. The end result exceeded all expectations. Nina gets our full and unreserved recommendation.”
LAWRENCE + RITA - CLIENTS
“Our design firm worked with Nina for approximately a year on a luxury vacation home in Hood River, Oregon. She was a large asset to the team and instrumental in the beautiful finished result. She was thoughtful in her solutions, accurate, and a team player with our shared client, the builder, and our interior design team. She supported our interior design role and complimented us well. The architecture and finish details of the residential home were sometimes extremely detailed and technical, many times outside of the common practice for the builder and his team. Nina provided technical drawings for the build team - working with the manufacturer’s specifications. Some of these products and build practices required her to do a fair amount of research for accurate drawings. I also found Nina able to handle stressful, time-sensitive changes in stride with a can-do attitude. When something was urgent she made herself immediately available. I would be delighted to work with her again and recommend her highly.”
ANGELA, ANGELA TODD STUDIOS
“NINA IS THE BEST!

She came to our rescue as we were spinning with ideas and questions for our long-awaited kitchen addition and remodel. With her creativity and expertise, she created our beautiful space we had dreamed of for many years.

Her ability to listen and hear our vision was appreciated as we shared our ideas on how we would like to use our new space as a place to entertain and gather with friends and family.
She did it!
We love it!
It is perfect!
Thank you, Nina!”
KIRK + RENEE, CLIENTS
“We had a wonderful experience with Nina Nazarov in the design of a new home. Nina is talented and insightful. She is professional, personable, and caring. Her response to issues and questions is immediate. We thoroughly enjoyed her creative and technical skills in bringing expression to our sometimes vague and random ideas. Her ability to listen to ideas and feelings and interpret them architecturally is truly a gift. She is likable and transparent in her demeanor and we found her to be a delightful person with whom to work. We highly recommend her.”
GERRY, CLIENT
“You are in good hands with Nina! We worked together on a large custom home design for a client and she was truly professional, accessible for questions and design changes while also extremely thoughtful about the comprehensive design. I also found her incredibly easy to work with, always ready to lean in as needed when any issues were encountered, offering creative solutions and a beautiful final product. As an interior designer I work with many architects on a daily basis but Nina has earned my respect and I even hope to work with her on the design of my own personal new build.”
KYLA, INTERIOR DESIGNER + CLIENT
“I worked with Nina on a great project last year. Even though she was out of state and only came to the sight a few times, were able to work though this challenging project with a great outcome. She always got back to me when I needed her the most and was willing to work through a lot of difficult design details. I have been in the business for 30 + years and worked with many architects. Nina was very user-friendly and made this difficult project go a lot smoother. I would highly recommend, and hope to work with her again in the future”
TODD, WELLS CONSTRUCTION
“I had the pleasure of working with Nina on a high-end custom home in Sonoma County completed in 2016. As a Project Manager, I value Nina’s timely feedback and detailed drawings of questions that arose during construction. Nina has a great eye for design and her cooperative nature was a great asset to the overall result of this beautiful home. I look forward to working with Nina in the future.”
JOE, TOTAL CONCEPTS

Recognition

Say it Loud - Nina Nazarov Hambly
Special recognition by the California Central Coast AIA for the innovative design of an Accessory Dwelling Unit, and the relation of impressive relation of concept to plan for The Paso Robles ADU.
Awarded Best Rural Residential Project , Best of La Cantina 2022 - for the Orchard Residence
Best of Houzz | Design - 2018, 2021 + 2022
Best of Houzz | Services - 2018, 2021 + 2022
November 20 1 9 - Bennett Valley Pool House
Bennett Valley Residence

Publications

The Cayucos Residence
Page 21 - Bennett Valley Pool House
Pages 131-134 - Bennett Valley Residence

Community Participation

Affiliate Members of NSLOCAOR
Current “Friends of the Grape” of IGGPRA.
Members
Members of the Paso Robles Chapter
Natalie is a volunteer with the Paso Robles Main Street Association - Design Committee
Current members of our local Chamber of Commerce
AIA | Nina Nazarov Hambly
CAB | Nina Nazarov Hambly | License Number C35449
NCARB | Nina Nazarov Hambly
Nina Nazarov Hambly