Firm History

Although Rich Childress began his college education in engineering, he ultimately discovered his need for art and creative expression in his life and work. A shift to architecture was both inevitable and instinctive. After earning his B.A. at Lehigh University in 1990, he worked for firms in Telluride, Colorado and Missoula, Montana. Later, his professional aspirations carried him back to academia to obtain a B.A. in Environmental Design and a Master of Architecture from Montana State in 1999. Rich and his wife then relocated to Boise. He gained his Idaho registration in 2000, enabling him to acquire independent projects while he worked full-time designing luxury homes for a firm in Ketchum. Along the way, he established key relationships with the high-end building community in Sun Valley and other resort markets. The City of Trees was a great fit for his family, and Rich fully launched Point Architects in2004 with friend and partner, Kane Morris. For nearly two decades, the team garnered recognition for developing sophisticated plans with an artistic touch.

After narrowly surviving the 2008 recession, Point Architects expanded into Yellowstone country. From a new office in Cody, it secured an elite clientele and delivered many treasured projects across northern Wyoming. For quite some time, work was balanced across both states. However, in 2024, the firm made a mountainous pivot, returning its sole focus to its Idaho roots. It closed the Cody office and made Garden City its home base. 

In this new era, Point Architects is now a thoughtfully restructured solo practice with Rich Childress at the helm. He is currently registered in Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, and Washington. For him, high-end architectural design is a chance to solve problems and make people happy from the first sketch. He leverages a process-based approach to achieve distinctive results, all tailored to the site, client, and budget. He looks forward to infusing Southern Idaho with more of his unique touch.