Carl Carfi
STUDIO DIRECTOR
“I enjoy the entire process of creating a home. It’s very rewarding to see the evolution from the initial design concept to the final product, and have the client walk into the house and experience all of the details you’ve been so passionate about and focused on.”
Carl Carfi has long had passion for residential architecture. While he was a student at Fordham University, he spent summers interning at a prestigious Connecticut architecture firm. Following his graduation from Fordham with his Bachelor of Arts degree in Pre-Architecture, he immediately enrolled in the New Jersey Institute of Technology for his Master of Architecture, where he received a Comprehensive Studio Design Award for his design of a sustainable winery for a local New Jersey farm.
After graduating with his Master’s, Carl joined Mark P. Finlay Architects in Connecticut full time, where he worked on a number of historic renovations and rehabilitations including the Aloha Boathouse in Newport, Rhode Island, which received the 2013 Doris Duke Preservation Award and the 2014 AtHome Magazine A-List Renovation Award.
Carl joined GPSA in the spring of 2015 as a Project Manager and was promoted to Associate in January of 2019. He was named a Studio Director in the summer of 2023. Carl has been involved in a number of the firm’s projects, most recently managing the design and construction of houses in Montecito, California; Seal Harbor, Maine; Nashville, Tennessee; Charlottesville, Virginia; and Southampton on Long Island.
Carl lives with his wife in Hoboken, New Jersey.
Matt Enquist
STUDIO DIRECTOR
“I love seeing how each new project is informed by our clients’ lives and the history of the place we’re building in. It’s through listening and learning that we discover what really makes a place a ‘home.’”
For Studio Director Matt Enquist, one of the most satisfying parts of practicing architecture is working with individual clients and learning about the history of each property and place.
Matt knew at an early age that he wanted to be an architect after being exposed to the field by his uncle, who is an architect and urban planner, and by his father, who studied engineering. He grew up outside of Seattle and attended the University of Notre Dame where he graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Architecture, before moving to New York to start this career. After graduation, Matt spent more than a decade working at Ferguson & Shamamian Architects in New York before joining GPSA as a Project Manager in 2016, eventually being promoted to Associate and Senior Project Manager in 2021. Matt was named a Studio Director in the summer of 2023.
As a senior member of GPSA’s staff, Matt is involved in all aspects of a project — from design through construction — and is responsible for overseeing his individual project teams. And as a member of the firm’s Leadership Team, Matt along with his fellow Studio Directors is also involved in the day-to-day management of the office. He compares his role to being the client’s quarterback. “There is nothing I enjoy more than creative problem solving. The architect is your point person for taking the client’s vision and making it a reality.” His recent projects have taken him to San Francisco and Newport Beach in California; Hobe Sound, Florida; and Prouts Neck, Maine.
Matt is a registered architect in New York, a member of the American Institute of Architects, and he is certified by the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB). He actively participates in the Institute of Classical Architecture and Art where he is a Fellow, serves on the Book Committee, and has taught several classes.
Matt lives with his family in Westchester, and in his free time, he and his wife can be found working on their 1930s home and ever-evolving garden.
Laura A. B. Welsh
STUDIO DIRECTOR
“I love engaging with individual clients at every stage of a project, considering how they will live and be comfortable in a space.”
Studio Director Laura A. B. Welsh’s love of classical design has long been the driving force behind her passion for architecture. Laura joined GPSA in 2011 after working at several prestigious firms in Pennsylvania and New York on projects around the country, including Los Angeles, Southampton, and Louisville. She graduated with her Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Notre Dame where she was also on the Dean’s List. Laura was named a Studio Director in the summer of 2023 and is also the firm’s Human Resources Coordinator.
In addition to her role in leadership at the firm, Laura’s recent projects include a number of New York City apartment and townhouse renovations, as well as restorations and new houses in Kennebunk, Maine; San Francisco, California; and Southampton, New York. In the past few years, her work has appeared in a number of books, including A Pattern Book for Gulf Coast Neighborhoods, A Decade of Art & Architecture 1992–2002, and Building Cities: Toward a Civil Society & Sustainable Environment.
Laura lives in New York City, with her husband, also an architect who works in restoration.
Julian Murphy
Associate
“I love the process of creative problem-solving—of striving to provide thoughtful solutions to the unique challenges that each project presents. Seeing a house completed and feeling like it’s the inevitable result of the client’s aspirations and the demands of the site is infinitely gratifying.”
Although Associate Julian Murphy was always interested in architecture, it was during his undergraduate studies at the University of Notre Dame, where he received his Bachelor of Architecture degree in 2013, that he developed a specific passion for classical and traditional architecture. Following graduation, Julian moved to Washington, D.C. to start his career with David M. Schwarz Architects. He worked on numerous award-winning institutional, multi-family, and urban planning projects, including the new residential colleges at Vanderbilt University, which introduced a new mode of more intimate student living, based on the Oxbridge model, to the campus. He also spent a year working with a notable residential architecture firm in Connecticut.
It was during his work on the residential buildings at Vanderbilt that Julian developed an increasing interest in how people live and began to focus his career on custom residential architecture. He returned to Notre Dame’s Master’s program and was honored with the School’s Leon Battista Alberti Award before earning his Master of Architectural Design and Urbanism in 2020.
After graduation, he immediately took on a leadership role at Buccellato Design, the architectural firm founded by Schafer Buccellato Architects partners Aimee and Kevin Buccellato, where he oversaw many of the firm’s residential projects, ranging from city residences to country estates to a rural building complex. As an Associate at Schafer Bucccellato, he is a crucial part of project design and firm leadership and runs the Midwest office. Julian has had multiple works published in The Classicist and other industry publications over the years.
He lives with his wife and children in South Bend, Indiana.
Chris Taylor
ASSOCIATE
“We are dedicated to running our business in the most efficient and effective way possible so that our clients, our vendors, and anyone we work with, can focus on what really matters — creating a meaningful, beautiful place to live.”
After graduating with his Bachelor of Science in Economics with a minor in Finance from Rutgers-New Brunswick, Associate Chris Taylor began his career at Granet & Associates, a business management consulting agency for architecture and design firms, before joining G. P. Schafer Architect.
More than a decade later, Chris is heavily involved in the day-to-day operations of the firm. He continues to work in the finance department and oversees facilities and logistics for the company’s two offices. And yet for all of the juggling, he reiterates that his first priority, like everyone’s at GPSA, is the client. “If our business runs smoothly internally, it ensures that the clients can get the level of service they deserve, and ultimately that their projects run just as smoothly. That’s our goal.”
An avid golfer, Chris lives in New Jersey, and when he’s not at the office, he loves to travel, attend live concerts, and spend time outdoors with his young daughter.