ERT Architects Marks Its 25^th Year in Business

With the beginning of 2025, ERT Architects entered its 25^th year in business. The milestone is making us feel quite reflective. It is also making us feel exceptionally grateful: for being able to forge a business in the very town where Principal Erik Robert Tolley was raised and later served as a selectperson; for developing respectful relationships with others in our industry and community; and for being entrusted by so many with what is quite often the most precious thing they own, their home.

After earning his bachelor’s degree in architecture from Norwich University in 1996, Erik worked as a draftsman at several area architecture firms while he pursued his architectural license, and his master’s degree from Norwich University, both of which he achieved in 2001.

The start of the new millennium brought about significant changes in Erik’s personal life, which culminated with his founding ERTA.

In the spring of 2000, Erik married his wife Deanne. Two months later, he and Deanne moved into their newly constructed home. Soon after they welcomed their first child, Erik left his job and started the firm in 2001.

With a new child and a new mortgage, Erik understood that his decision to leave his position came with a substantial amount of risk, but rather than working solely as a draftsman, Erik wanted to pursue his passion for the creative aspects of architecture and interact directly with the people for whom he was designing homes.

Business came almost immediately — through the referrals of friends and contractors, and Erik’s community service, and local and regional networking efforts.

One of Erik’s most memorable early projects was in 2004, a home in a waterfront neighborhood within a historic district in Dennis. The project provided Erik with an opportunity to understand the complexities of designing a home within an environmentally sensitive area and liaising with a historic commission, skills that have since become hallmarks of ERT Architecture’s service.

Commissions continued to come in, almost always by referral from previous clients, and the firm grew. It would eventually include commercial architecture as well, with Freestyle Living, the newly opened 17,000-s.f. independent-living community in Yarmouth, one of ERT Architecture’s most recent commercial projects.

Over the years, Erik furthered his formal education, becoming a LEED AP professional and continuing to educate himself on the region’s ever-changing building codes.

As the boutique firm has grown, Erik has taken steps to ensure that he remains personally involved with each project, ensuring that each client receives his personal attention. An ERTA-designed home might be described as one that displays a respectful interpretation of the New England vernacular, and will often include what have become ERTA signature elements.

In 2023, an expansive family compound designed by ERT Architects was recognized by the Home Builders & Remodelers Association of Cape Cod with a Gold BRICC Award for excellence in new home construction. An ERTA-designed home addition and renovation received a Silver BRICC Award the same year. Additionally, Ocean Home, a nationally distributed magazine, named ERT Architects to its Top Coastal Architects list in both 2023 and 2024.

After a quarter of a century, Erik Tolley and the team at ERTA continue to thoughtfully design stunning new homes, as well as large-scale renovations, each of which Erik considers an opportunity to make an ordinary house extraordinary.