Charles Covell
Principal, Architect
Charles Van Orden Covell, III has over thirty years of experience in residential, winery, hospitality, and commercial architecture. He has practiced professionally in Napa Valley since 2002. He has been registered as an architect in California since 1994.
Prior to starting Covell Architects in 2009, he was a project architect and project manager for Backen Gillam Architects, Brandenburger Taylor Lombardo Architecture, and interned with Brandenburger Associates in San Francisco.
He received a Bachelors of Architecture with High Distinction from University of Kentucky and a Masters of Architecture from University of Pennsylvania.
He also apprenticed in stonemasonry over several years with the Dry Stone Conservancy and for Drystone, Inc. in central Kentucky.
He and Michelle are married and have a son who was born in 2019.
Michelle Liu Covell
Partner, Architect, Director of Operations
Michelle is a licensed architect in the state of California. She is a hardworking and dedicated individual who believes in providing quality service to her clients and delivering successful projects across the finish line. She has excellent skills in project management, scheduling, balancing design with the budget, as well as architectural design, space planning, and interior design.
Her previous experience includes over four years as Project Manager and Architect at William Duff Architects (WDA), and over five years as an Associate Designer and Project Coordinator at Hornberger + Worstell (HWI). At WDA, Michelle primarily worked on ground-up high-end single family residences as well as remodels. At HWI, she developed a broad portfolio of projects from master planning, hospitality, higher education, to the renovation of one of San Francisco’s historic landmarks into luxury condominiums. She has managed complex projects and teams on tight schedules and always delivers quality drawings.
Michelle graduated with high honors from UC Berkeley with her Bachelor degree in Architecture and received her Masters in Architecture from California College of the Arts. Her Masters thesis focused on the future of the sprawling city, redefining the public transportation system to lessen the reliance on automobiles, thereby reclaiming the street for green open space.
Michelle believes strongly in professional development and growing the profession. Over the years she has become a licensed architect and a LEED accredited professional. She has been an active member in the AIA SF Mentorship program, and has mentored emerging professionals on their licensing exams. Between her undergraduate and graduate studies, she taught an architecture studio at a local juvenile hall through the Cornerstone for Education Foundation.
She has participated in the Architects, Engineers, and Contractors Softball League in San Francisco for ten years of which she was captain of the last three. She participates in community activities including gardening at Garden for the Environment, fundraisers for high school architecture programs, Canstruction food-drives, and Petchitecture. In her free time, she loves to travel, hike, garden, play softball and tennis, practice photography, and create delicious recipes.
Karrin Branson
Associate, Designer, B.S. in Interior Design
Karrin was born in the small town of Beaumont, Texas, but did not stay there for long. Throughout much of her life, she moved from state to state in a military family. She spent ten years in Kansas; enough time that she considers herself a Kansan.
After high school she was sponsored for a long-term exchange program by the Rotary Club. She spent a year in Italy where the experiences, sights, and people she met changed her perspective on the world. It was from this launching point that she became interested in design, architecture, and the study of languages.
While at Kansas State University, she spent a summer in Sicily assisting in the design of a friend’s residence. It was simple and she knew she had much to learn, but she did not want to stop. That fall she declared her major in Interior Design.
In this program, she studied space planning, sustainability, the history of architecture and interiors, textiles and materials, and the construction of buildings from the inside out.
After graduating, she aided with language acquisition in Italy for the summer, and then began working at 518 Design Studio in Kansas City, KS. There she collaborated on both residential and retail development projects, and continued to become more interested in building design and construction.
Her life brought her to Napa Valley where we feel fortunate that she found us. She saw “a great opportunity to learn and grow,” and pursue her developing interest in retail commercial, residential, and winery and tasting room design.
Karrin is passionate about connecting with others, building community, and understanding deeper the process of design. She is fluent in Italian, and her favorite things to do outside of work include reading, going on walks, traveling, playing the piano, discovering and cooking new foods, and drawing just for fun.
Natalia Mattingly
Project Manager, Designer
Natalia has over 25 years of experience in the architectural industry, beginning at a young age with a high-end custom home builder, where she gained vital construction knowledge, as well as several architectural firms, and even ran her own residential design company in Scottsdale, Arizona for 6 years. She has extensive experience in project management, as well as all aspects of a project, from Programming to Construction Administration. She has been in the North Bay since 2010, and has designed and managed projects from Palo Alto to Napa.
Natalia graduated Magna Cum Laude from ASU with a degree in Bachelor of Science in Design, in Architectural Studies. She is passionate about the entire process, and believes a project starts with the site. To truly understand the natural component, and what that offers, helps guide the narrative for the architecture as a whole. She loves working out the minute details, but is always focused on the big picture.
In her free time, she loves to travel, scuba dive, cook, hike with her dog, and work on projects around the house, both inside and out.