Flor Diaz Smith grew up in Guatemala City, where she learned from her parents to love the arts, appreciate culture, and give back to her community. She studied architecture in Guatemala and spent summers abroad to continue her studies at Texas A&M and the Chicago Institute of Art. In 1996 she traveled to Potsdam, Germany on scholarship with the Prince of Wales Urban Design Task Force. After becoming a licensed architect in her home country, in 1998 Flor accepted an architectural internship that brought her back to the U.S., this time to Vermont where she fell in love both with the state and her future husband.
After remaining 13 years at Black River Design Architects, the firm where she had first come as an intern, Flor started her own design firm, Diaz Smith Studio, where she focuses on residential, interior, retail, and school design. Flor has been partnering on projects with Harry Hunt Architects for the past 10 years, including the award-winning Shaw Hill, the original “Right House.” She says working with Harry is one of the highlights of her career. Flor is particularly careful to create kitchens that match clients’ lifestyles, incorporate lighting design early on, and ensure that every material selected for a house has a story and a purpose.
Growing up in Guatemala, home to vibrant textiles, rainforests, and a multitude of deeply-hued tropical plants and birds, gave Flor a strong appreciation for color, nature and culture, which she applies to projects, as appropriate, to clients’ own tastes. Flor lives in a farmhouse in East Montpelier with her husband, Dan Smith, and their two teenagers, Mia Isabella and Lincoln.
