ENSBERG JACOBS DESIGN INC

Ensberg Jacobs Design, Inc. is a full service architectural firm in Santa Barbara, California. EJDI was founded in 1994 by AIA Architects and partners Cassandra Ensberg and Tom Jacobs. The firm provides professional services in planning, architectural and interior design, primarily residential and small scale commercial. The primary focus of the firm is the design of living and working in artful spaces that function logically, integrate and merge with the natural environment. Practicality, responsiveness, optimization of existing conditions, beauty, conservation, and sensitivity to historical building forms and traditions earmark Ensberg Jacobs Design's work. Through careful observation, listening, and working as a team with owner, consultants, and contractor, Ensberg Jacobs Design brings creativity, economy, and practicality to every project. The two principals of this partnership have over forty years of combined professional experience in architecture and interior design and whose projects are as unique as each client. The firm supports the Santa Barbara Community in many ways including an annual scholarship called the Ensberg Jacobs Design Art In Architecture Grant to an exceptional student in the study of architecture.

Thomas Jacobs, AIA Architect

Tom Jacobs is a native Oregonian who has lived in Santa Barbara since 1978. In the 37 years that he has practiced architecture he has worked on a wide variety of projects including a new residence on the bluffs of Malibu and the beach at Padaro Lane to a second story craftsman addition just steps from the Mission in Santa Barbara. His commercial work included renovations to some of the most prestigious Country Clubs in California including Annandale and Los Angeles Country Clubs, Monterrey Peninsula Country Club, Del Paso Country Club, and Hunter Ranch Golf Course Clubhouse, all successful in great part due to the ability to work through complex approval processes and with diverse groups. He is a longstanding board member of the Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara and Santa Barbara Rotary North where he works on the High School Design Competition and the Built Environment Education Program. Through his Rotary Club he works in many ways to support Adams Elementary and La Cumbre Jr Hi Public Schools.

  • 2012-Present/ Founding Board member, Mission Heritage Trail Association

  • 2009-2011/ President, UCSB Affiliates

  • 2005-2011 Chairman - Mission Canyon Architectural Design Review Committee

  • 2001-2003 President, Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara

  • 2000-2011 Board Member Mission Canyon Association

  • 1998-Present Rotary Club of Santa Barbara North: President 2008-2009, Adams Elementary and La Cumbre Jr Hi School Advocate

  • 1995-Present Partner, Ensberg Jacobs Design, Inc.

  • 1995-Present Professional Member American Institute of Architects

  • 1985-Present Board Member Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara; HIgh School Design Competition, Built Environment Education Program

  • 1988-1994 Member Montecito Board of Architectural Review

  • 1986-1995 Project Architect, Warner & Gray Architects

  • 1980-1986 Project Architect, Seaside Union Architects

  • 1984 Licensed Architect, CA Lic. # 18070

  • 1978 Master of Architecture University of Oregon

  • 1972 B.A. Pomona College, History & Modern Languages

Cassandra Ensberg, FAIA Architect, LEED AP

Cassandra was born in Massachusetts and raised as an “Air Force Brat”, attending schools in at least seven states and graduating from Colorado State University with a Bachelor of Fine Art and a concentration in Interior Design. She worked for architectural firms in Denver and in Santa Barbara before becoming a licensed California architect in 1996 and starting her own company. She works to educate about the importance of art, design, and architecture through her community involvement, most notably the Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara and the Kids Draw Architecture program which she founded in 1989. She was inducted into the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects in 2016 and is now working to help other women architects to be come Fellows.

  • 2020 Presented with AIASB Presidents Award: The Lutah Maria Riggs Medal for outstanding dedication to the profession of architecture

  • 2016 Inducted in to the College of Fellows of American Institute of Architects

  • 2014-2015 President, Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara

  • 2012- 2014, 20221 Board Member American Institute of Architects SB Chapter

  • 2005-Present Board Member Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara, Kids Draw Architecture Chair, Scholarship Reception Team

  • 1996-Present Partner & Artist, Ensberg Jacobs Design Inc.

  • 1996-Present Professional Member American Institute of Architects

  • 2004 LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) Accredited

  • 1996 Licensed Architect, CA Lic. #C 26213

  • 1989-1996 Interior Designer, DesignArc Architects, Santa Barbara, CA

  • 1986-1987 Studio Artist, San Francisco, CA

  • 1985 Studio Artist, East Berlin, PA

  • 1981-1983 Interior Designer, Hoover Berg Desmond Architects, Denver, CO

  • 1972-1979 Interior Designer, Associates III, Denver, CO