Tom Spoja is a Partner with Backen & Backen and one of the firms longest serving employees since joining the company as an intern in 1999. He has worked in every design role in the firm successfully supporting projects and clients at each step along the way.

He enjoys deeply understanding the needs of his clients and crafting a shared vision for a project that will support them and their legacies in the future. Thoughtfully considering each site and clients unique conditions while integrating beauty, sustainability, lifestyle, and wellbeing into the design with a grounded respect for the land.

During his time with Backen & Backen Tom has managed the development of some of the firm’s largest residential projects for select private clients across the country.

More recently, Tom has been guiding the progress of The Kenwood Ranch Resort and Winery development in Kenwood, California through a complicated entitlement journey to successfully start construction after 20 years in process.

Looking forward, Tom is leading a collaborations with our partners in the design and building community melding lifestyle, wellness, family, place and design into the client experience at ranches and estates in the Mountain West, New York, and California.

Outside of the office, Tom and his wife Sarah juggle keeping up with their young twin boys, traveling, and coming together around good food and wine.