Historic streetscape

Practical Preservation Podcast COVID ROUNDTABLE Featuring John O’Brien of West Chester BID and Jim Brown of HPT of Lancaster County

John O’Brien, Director of West Chester, PA’s Business Improvement District, and Jim Brown, Vice-President of Historic Preservation Trust of Lancaster County, in Lancaster, PA, joined the Practical Preservation Podcast to discuss their organization’s respective responses to COVID-19. We covered multiple topics, including: Background information about John and Jim, and on both West Chester PA Business …

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Holidays in Historic Homes

THE HOLIDAYS – A time for religious observance, merriment, revelry, nostalgia, and magic. The customs we see today have their own history and origins, but true to classic “melting pot” traditions, those practices were blended into our current national amalgam of Christmas time. With so many ties to history and deep-rooted heritage, it’s the perfect …

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SYMPATHETIC ADDITIONS: Adding on Harmoniously

ADDING ON TO A HISTORIC HOME – You’ve found your historic or old home. And it’s nearly perfect…..BUT, maybe it does not have enough room for you. Or maybe you need to make adjustments to age in place. Maybe you want to add a room on your first floor, or even expand a tiny historical …

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Practical Preservation Podcast Featuring Dominique Hawkins of Preservation Design Partnership

Dominique Hawkins, founder and managing principal of Preservation Design Partnership based in Philadelphia, PA, joined the Practical Preservation Podcast to discuss flood mitigation in historic areas. We covered multiple topics, including: Dominique’s background in design, architecture, and historic preservation, including her early career transition from architecture for housing developments to the world of historic preservation, …

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Practical Preservation Podcast Featuring Briana Grosicki of PlaceEconomics

Briana Grosicki, associate principal of PlaceEconomics based in Washington, D.C., joined the Practical Preservation Podcast to discuss the economic benefits of preservation. We covered multiple topics, including: Briana’s background, including growing up regularly visiting local battlefields in Virginia, volunteering with her main street district as a teen, to working with Donovan Rypkema  Briana’s additional roles …

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Zoning, Planning, Historic Preservation, and Structural Racism?

A few weeks ago an article was posted to the Preservation Professionals group on Facebook. You can read the article here: https://www.rewire.org/how-discussions-of-neighborhood-character-reinforce-structural-racism/.  The article is an interesting discussion of how redevelopment can impact the the neighborhood qualities and characteristics especially in relation to affordable housing.  The example used in the article is from St. Paul, …

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Historical Facades: More Than Aesthetics

A façade. What is it? Most of us know that its most basic definition is “face.” In the case of architecture, this refers to the exterior side of the building, usually the front. Façades on buildings are often the first defining features we see. As times change, so do architectural design styles, and this is …

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