A woman with curly brown hair smiling and leaning on a white director's chair

Meet the Founder

Hi! I’m Heather.

For 10+ years I have worked in the commercial interior design and construction industry, where accessibility and ADA principles aren’t optional—they’re expected, coordinated, and built into the DNA of a project. After years working in healthcare, education, and other commercial environments, I began to notice a troubling disconnect: those same standards were rarely carried into residential design, even when homes were marketed as “aging-in-place” or “future-ready.”

That gap became personal through my own experience living with an autoimmune condition, and through clients and friends who invested in homes they believed would support them long-term—only to discover that critical, life-impacting details had been overlooked.

GOAT Homes was created to bridge that gap. I focus on making universal design, accessibility, and aging-in-place principles practical, intentional, and available for everyday homes—not just commercial projects or specialty builds. That includes not only how a home is laid out, but how it’s finished. Flooring, lighting, hardware, surfaces, and material transitions all affect how safely, comfortably, and independently a home can be lived in over time—yet these details are often treated as purely aesthetic.

GOAT Homes exists because accidents happen. Bodies change. Care needs shift. Good design should be ready for all of it—without feeling clinical, institutional, or temporary.

I believe accessibility doesn’t mean clinical. It means thoughtful. It means supportive. And it means creating homes that feel good to live in, function intuitively, and adapt with you through every stage of life—down to the materials you touch every day.

I hold a Master’s degree in Construction Management and a Bachelor’s degree in Interior Design. I am NCIDQ Certified, a North Carolina Registered Interior Designer, a LEED Green Associate, and a Licensed General Contractor. I also teach both interior design and construction management at North Carolina universities and technical colleges, which keeps my work grounded in current research, codes, and real-world practice.

At GOAT Homes, my mission is simple: to make universal design and aging-in-place principles approachable, practical, and timeless—so your home doesn’t just look good today, but truly takes care of you for life.