HOMER C. OATMAN, AIA
PRINCIPAL
Homer Oatman has been involved in the design and construction of custom residential projects for over 35 years. His work has been featured in Veranda, Architectural Digest, California Homes Magazine, and the Huffington Post. In 2009 he founded Oatman Architects, Inc, specializing in the design of distinctive residential and hospitality projects around the world.
Prior to establishing Oatman Architects, Inc., Homer Oatman was a principal designer and partner at KTGY Group in charge of designing luxury custom homes and resort villas with projects in California, Arizona, Hawaii, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Dubai. Prior to joining KTGY, Homer was the Director of Design for Custom Homes for the Irvine Company, overseeing the design review of its most prestigious custom home communities, including Shady Canyon, Crystal Cove, Pelican Crest, Pelican Hill and Pelican Point.
Homer received his undergraduate education at Stanford University and the University of California at San Diego with a Bachelors degree in Fine Arts. He received his Master of Architecture degree from the Graduate School of Architecture and Urban Planning at UCLA. While at UCLA he traveled extensively in France and Italy studying both contemporary and historical architecture. His design internship was with WATG, the renowned international resort design firm with projects around the world.
Passionate about historically accurate design and detailing, Homer has traveled extensively throughout the Mediterranean and Europe, compiling an extensive photographic archive of architectural imagery which provides the basis for the authentic traditional design and detailing of many of his projects.
Homer Oatman is a registered architect in the State of California, as well as a member of the American Institute of Architects, and the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art.
LAURA OATMAN, AIA, LEED AP
PRINCIPAL
Laura Oatman, AIA, LEED AP is a principal at Oatman Architects, Inc. She and her husband, Homer, established Oatman Architects in 2009. Her career combines almost 40 years of experience in architectural design and development of high-end hospitality projects, including resort and urban hotels and spas. Her focus is architectural design for the hospitality industry, with particular emphasis on boutique hotels, wellness resorts and spas that desire a unique combination of both high-end luxury and sustainable green design. She stepped away from Oatman Architects from 2017 to 2020 while she ran for Congress, then worked as the District Director in the local Newport Beach Office of Congressman Harley Rouda for 2 years. Now she has returned to assist Homer once again at Oatman Architects, primarily with Sales & Marketing.
Prior to establishing Oatman Architects with Homer, Laura was Director of Design for Viceroy Hotel Group, a boutique hotel development group in Los Angeles. She was involved in most of their hotel and spa projects, both international and domestic, and was instrumental in developing their signature Viceroy and Tides hotel brands, alongside interior designer, Kelly Wearstler. She spearheaded Viceroy’s green initiatives program (“Second Nature”), and was the author of the Viceroy and Tides Hotel Design Guidelines. Most of her professional career prior to working for Viceroy, however, was spent purely practicing architecture, specifically hotel design with WATG Architects, a world-renowned hotel design firm.
Laura received her bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences at UC Irvine, and her Master of Architecture from UCLA. She is a registered architect in the State of California, and a LEED AP accredited professional.
She grew up in Los Angeles, and moved to Newport Beach in 1976, where she currently resides with Homer. They have 5 adult children who have “left the nest”, and 4 dogs, including a pair of English mastiffs, Magnus and Lady.
BEHTASH AZAR, ASSOC. AIA
PROJECT DESIGNER
Behtash Azar joined Oatman Architects as Project Designer in 2015, and he has propelled our design department to new heights with his innate sense of design and natural artistic ability, combined with excellent 2D and 3D graphic presentation skills.
Behtash Azar is a long time Southern California resident who graduated with a degree in architecture from the University of Southern California in 2005. For more than 10 years, Behtash has developed design and construction documents for numerous award-winning projects across the United States and internationally, including Asia, South America and the Middle East. His experience includes master-planned communities; hospitality and resorts; multifamily, luxury single family, custom residences; and golf course communities. When he's not at work, Behtash enjoys hiking the back-bay in Newport Beach with his wife, dog and young son.
ALLIE SCHIEBLE, AIA
PROJECT ARCHITECT
Allie joined Oatman Architects in the Fall of 2020. As a licensed architect and project manager, not only does she guide clients through a detailed and organized process, build trust, and provide support from design through construction, but she also manages a team, sets schedules and assures that projects stay on budget all while creating an innovative and sustainable design.
Prior to her employment at Oatman Architects, she crafted beautiful homes in Long Beach, California, and brings with her 10 years of experience in residential architecture. Additionally, she has background in Commercial and Government design working as an architectural designer and assisting the Department of Defense Studio for a Firm in her home state of Virginia.
Preceding her architecture career, she gained her Master’s Degree from Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA (2012). She also attended the University of Virginia where she received her Bachelor of Science in Architecture (2008).
She’s currently on the executive committee, serving as Secretary, for the AIA Long Beach/South Bay Chapter and a member of NCARB.
CYNTHY HARRIS
PROJECT DESIGNER
Cynthy Harris has worked on the design side of Architecture and Interior Design for custom residential and commercial projects for over 15 years. Her past projects are predominantly in California, spanning the coast from San Francisco to San Diego.
Her international education includes a Bachelor’s degree from San Diego State University and Université Sorbonne Nouvelle in Paris, France where she studied fine arts and engineering. She has a Professional Master’s degree from Cal Poly Pomona and spent time in Taipei, Taiwan; Vienna, Austria; and Paris, France for her thesis research.
Prior to focusing on residential architecture, she worked on award winning projects in San Francisco including the SFMOMA expansion and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital on Stanford’s Campus. She started focusing on single family homes once she joined Oatman Architects in 2012 and has enjoyed this niche of Architecture and design ever since.
She is currently planning her own home renovation where she resides with her one year old son and husband.
DANIELLE ZUNZUNEGUI
PROJECT MANAGER
Danielle Zunzunegui joined Oatman Architects in 2022 as a project manager. She brings with her 11 years of experience designing and developing plans for custom single-family residences in Long Beach and the Bay Area. In San Francisco, she worked for a structural engineering firm on countless seismic retrofits of the city’s iconic multifamily buildings as well as remodels, additions, and new homes in Berkeley, Oakland, and the surrounding neighborhoods.
Danielle earned her Bachelor of Architecture from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (2009) and has known since she was 8 that she wanted to spend her life in the field of architecture. She relishes the diverse challenges that come with custom home design and is always eager to work toward making a client’s dream home a reality.
When she is not in the office, Danielle cannot resist a crossword puzzle, playing with her (or anyone else’s) puppy, and travels whenever she can. Though Southern California has always been home base, some favorite spots have been Rotorua in New Zealand, Mendoza and Tigre in Argentina, and Istanbul, Turkey.
CATHY MALY
OFFICE MANAGER
Cathy joined Oatman Architects as an Accounting & Office Manager in June 2014. In addition to managing all financial aspects of the business and keeping the office running smoothly, she has created customized project cost tracking systems with task level detail to increase productivity and determine job profitability.
Cathy studied business administration, accounting, and finance at California State University, Fullerton. When she is not working, Cathy contributes her time energy and expertise as Treasurer for the Southern California Region 85 of the American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO).