Founder Bio:

Marcos Santa Ana was born into a family of artists, builders and craftspeople in the upstate community of Woodstock, New York. He studied architecture across the world and attributes the Scandinavian influence from studying in Aarhus, Denmark, Spanish modernism from his study in Barcelona, Spain and his American experimentalism from several influential professors at the University at Buffalo in the State of New York who earned their degrees from the Harvard Graduate School of design and Cornell University.  Marcos’ culturally-diverse education and travel influences projects at Alloi often incorporating strong Feng Shui principles.  

Early in his career he worked in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut with several design build companies. In 2005 he moved to Los Angeles to further develop his design build philosophy.  In 2008 he earned his general contractor license and founded Alloi a year later.  Then went on to earned his architecture license in the state of California in 2011.  In 2018 Marcos earned his certification in high-performance design from the International Passive Haus institute in Germany to develop technical practices that enhance human comfort and reduce wasteful energy loss in the buildings he designs.

Marcos is also an experienced mountaineer who thrives on the mental and physical challenges of scaling high-altitude peaks. His passion for mountaineering fuels his desire to continue exploring and pushing his limits in pursuit of adventure and personal growth.  A few noteworthy climbs include Cotopaxi in Ecuador, Middle Palisade in California and Mount Eolus in Colorado.