ELEVEN SIX WOMEN | MARICA MCKEEL
Photography by Kate Sears | @ksears
Architect. Designer. Foodie. Entrepreneur. Marica McKeel wears every hat with heart. After years at Santiago Calatrava's architecture office working on landmark projects like the World Trade Center Oculus, a renovation of Calatrava's own home sparked a new passion: designing homes around how people truly live. In 2010 she founded Studio MM, a Hudson Valley firm known for modern homes that blur the line between indoors and out. The studio was just named one of Forbes' Top 200 Residential Architects and Best-in-State Residential Architects in New York. Beyond architecture, Marica champions her creative community through Valley MMag, a free magazine celebrating Upstate makers and small businesses. We captured her at her Upstate home wearing her favorite Fall '26 pieces, and talked about leading with heart, cooking with Catskill views, and what home really means.
You founded Studio MM in 2010 after working at Santiago Calatrava's office on prestigious projects like the World Trade Center Oculus Transportation Hub. What made you take the leap into starting your own residential practice?
While I was working there I actually got to work with Santiago and his wife Tina on the renovation of their home in Upstate Connecticut. That's when I realized I really loved the idea of designing someone's home - talking with Santiago about how they were going to live in the house, how they were going to use their outdoor space for cooking and entertaining - I loved it. Certainly quite different from the Oculus, but still very exciting to me. I also realized that if I wanted to pursue residential architecture Calatrava's office wasn't the place to do that. So I left and went out on my own....
Marica wears the Ada Tank & Pia Skirt in Merlot
Your website describes you as 'architect. designer. foodie. entrepreneur.' You trained as an architect — what has wearing the 'entrepreneur' hat taught you that architecture school never could?
Oh where do I begin?? The easy answer is "how to run a business". But of course, way more than that. Luckily architecture school does teach you about problem solving, and critiques, and iterating until you find a better solution, and all-nighters to meet deadlines, and presentations after those all-nighters, and clients (professors) who may not see things the way you do, and taking feedback as feedback and using that positively to find another better solution.... But that's just doing the work. The entrepreneur hat means I also needed to learn how to grow and manage a team, how to find new business while doing all of the above, and that profit is critical and not a bad word (creatives are really bad at this concept.)
Studio MM is deeply rooted in the Hudson Valley. What is it about this landscape that keeps pulling you — and your clients — to put down roots and build a life here?
Well, obviously, it's beautiful here! The Hudson Valley landscape offers so much through every season - I love it more and more each year. But even more than the outdoors, I'd say the community and culture is what really draws so many people to the area. It is what I've fallen most in love with. The artists' culture, the creative vibe, the food, the farms... and the best part is there is so much interconnected among all of those things - it draws a very broad type of people to the area.
Marica wears the Ali Sweater in Cobolt Blue styled with her own pant
You've said your homes are designed to "blur the boundaries between interior and exterior. How does that philosophy show up in your own home?
Rather than me telling you we have a lot of windows in our home that extend the living space onto the decks and out into the courtyard, perhaps a better way for me to answer this is to give you an example of how we flow around the space where we spend the most time - the kitchen and around food. The two kitchen islands keep the space open, with sightlines extending out towards the Catskill Mountains. A large sliding glass door to the side of the kitchen provided a direct connection to the built-in fireplace and grill. While I finish meal prep in the kitchen, my husband is outside, building a fire and heating the grill. This flow between indoor and outdoor "kitchens" is designed so that we are able to cook together.
A lot of your process is about listening before designing. What's the most surprising thing you've learned about someone through that process?
Ha, we had one client who sounded like he was straight out of a Jack Carr novel. He wanted a trap door under his (elevated) studio so he and his family could escape if there was ever a reason, and he wanted a secret space beneath the floor that no one would know existed - designed so you couldn't tell from the outside the space was there. Sadly, we never got to build his studio, but it was a fun project to design.
Running a mid-size firm means leading a team as much as designing buildings. What does your leadership style look like day to day?
For one of our studio off-sites I designed a t-shirt that said, Design with heart, Build with heart, Lead with heart. I try to remember to bring that philosophy into my leadership every day. But honestly, these days my team is more leading me. I'm there to support, encourage, and hopefully inspire them!
What does home mean to you, beyond the work you do designing them for others?
Home for me is memories of my favorite people or moments - whether it's the sculptural bulldog of my grandmother's who guards our entry, or the blanket my mom sewed together for me from my old t-shirts, or the perfect painting that my husband and I searched for together for our new home and now we're friends with the artist, or the rainbow drawing my niece painted for me that sits on my dresser....
Marica wears the Mara Sweater Tunic Dress styled with her own pant
You created MMAG, a free Upstate magazine spotlighting small entrepreneurial businesses and creators in the region. What was the catalyst for starting it, and what have been some of the highlights along the way?
The main reason for creating the magazine was to offer small businesses like us in the Hudson Valley a way to market their work in a beautiful and sophisticated way to our community. It costs so much to get your images out into the world, and there are so many of us who really can't afford that. But it shouldn't be that hard. (We are realizing it's a lot more work that you might think.... But we love it! And we love that our community loves it!)
There are a lot of highlights for us in creating this magazine..... one big one is that we've been able to share stories about some of our amazing clients and friends, and to learn so much more about each contributor along the way.
Another fun highlight was to run into a complete stranger who said she had been collecting the magazine since the first issue and had every one. It seems to be a big hit with the local community - which makes us extremely happy and proud.
What projects or collaborations are you currently excited about or looking forward to sharing?
We are excited to be a part of Field + Supply again this fall! This year we're doing something totally different... we're collaborating with a fellow female architect on a gallery exhibition highlighting custom contemporary homes in the Hudson Valley. We will present plans and models for 6 single family houses, and we're very excited that we'll get to talk live with Brad Ford on Saturday about what it's like designing and building a home in the Hudson Valley.
Marica wears the Burdett Sweater Artist Collaboration
When you're not busy working, designing, and liaising with clients, what do you enjoy doing Upstate to unwind and take some time out?
Well, this is where the foodie part comes in.... I love to cook, I love to eat, and I love to entertain! When we're not grilling and outside or I'm not trying to concoct some new creation out of the current season's produce from many of the local farms, we are exploring all of the amazing new (and not so new) restaurants in the Hudson Valley. We are very lucky to live in such a culinarily creative mecca as well!
How would you describe your personal style — at home, on-site, or in the studio, and which Fall 26 ELEVEN SIX pieces are you loving incorporating into your wardrobe?
My styles .... At home: cozy. On-site: professional, but remember I'm on dirty job sites talking to contractors most of the site days. In the studio: I try to elevate my (still upstate) casual style a bit for the office, especially since my office is in my home. My favorite "outfit" is probably a nice pair of jeans and an elegant but very warm and fuzzy, slightly oversized sweater. I have collected many ELEVEN SIX sweaters over the years. So, as you can imagine, I'm super excited about my new gorgeous cobalt blue Ali sweater and so many others pieces from the new Fall Collection! 💙