A small studio with a long bench.

Margot founded Halford Lane in 2014, after a decade at Bay Area firms — first as a junior designer at Sutro Architects in San Francisco, then as a senior associate at Jay Jeffers, where she led residential projects in Pacific Heights, Napa, and Healdsburg. The studio took its name from the lane she grew up on outside Boston.

She trained at the Rhode Island School of Design, is NCIDQ certified, and is an Allied member of ASID. Before design, she studied art history at Wellesley.

"I don't believe in hero rooms. The kitchen should sit comfortably next to the den, the den next to the primary suite. Every space earns its place in the rhythm of the day. A house that announces itself in the entry and disappoints in the back hall is a house that hasn't been finished."

Margot lives in Los Altos with her husband, two kids, and a Wheaten terrier named Booker.

Press

Selected Features

Domino — "California Quiet"Spring 2025
Luxe Interiors + Design — Atherton Estate coverMar 2025
House Beautiful — "Designers to Watch"Jan 2025
Rue Magazine — Old Palo Alto Cottage featureNov 2024
California Home + Design — Studio profileSep 2024
Architectural Digest — "AD Pro Directory"2023
Dwell — Mountain View Mid-CenturyJun 2023
San Francisco Chronicle — At HomeApr 2022

Recognition

Awards

ASID Design Excellence — Gold

Bath, Stanford Faculty Home · 2023
Luxe RED Award

Kitchen, Atherton Estate · 2024

The Studio

A team of three.

Halford Lane is intentionally small. Margot is supported by senior designer Anna Liu and project manager Daniela Reyes. The studio takes on four to five full projects a year, plus a small number of single-room engagements.

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