We are new to Boston area (Newton) and have no idea where to find a
good contractor to do major overhaul of our master bathroom. It will
be doubled in size, expanded into adjacent room, all new fixtures,
tile, lighting, etc. We have a rough idea for the vision of what it
will look like but need specific design and contracting help.

Two questions:

1. Should we start with an architect, or a contractor? This will be a
relatively high-end bathroom, but I am still hoping that a good
contractor can provide the design know-how to avoid involving an
architect. House is 1890, we do not have the architectural plans.

2. Any recommendations for how to find a terrific contractor to do the
work?
specific names, or even a process we could use to find good contractor
names, would be helpful.
We are trying to avoid "throwing darts at names in the yellow pages".

Thank you.