A seventh-generation Tennessean, I have a passion for architecture, especially Tennessee’s. My ancestors settled in East Tennessee in 1794, eventually settling in Roane and Morgan counties, where I spent my childhood. My father and uncles were builders, so growing up I spent a lot of time at construction sites. As a kid, I even “helped” my dad build our 1975 Split-Level house. I spent a few years in Burlington, North Carolina, for high school before returning to Knoxville to earn an degree in architecture from the University of Tennessee. I also earned a master’s in public history and historic preservation from Middle Tennessee State University.
After graduation from UT in 1992, I documented over 2,000 historic buildings for comprehensive surveys of Sevier County, Tennessee, and Lenoir County, North Carolina. I moved to Nashville in 1994, where I’ve lived since. I’ve worked for the government agencies, private consultanting firms, and Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage. I’m currently a principal senior architectural historian and Tennessee branch office manager for a cultural resources management firm based in New Jersey. Over the past 30 years, I’ve documented over 7,500 buildings across the U.S.
My publications include The Historic Architecture of Sevier County, Tennessee, book reviews, articles, encyclopedia entries, interpretive exhibits, and scores of technical reports. I’m a contributing author for Coastal Plain and Fancy: The Historic Architecture of Lenoir County and Kinston, North Carolina and Looking Beyond the Highway: Dixie Roads and Culture. I’ve authored or coauthored several National Register of Historic Places nominations for places like Loretta Lynn’s Ranch at Hurricane Mills, Historic American Engineering Record documentation for NASA’s White Sands Space Habor in New Mexico, a National Historic Landmark nomination for the Birmingham Civil Rights Historic District, and historic context studies such as Tennessee’s Toll Bridges and the African American Historic Context for Frankfort, Kentucky. My master’s thesis was about Tennessee’s Carnegie libraries. I co-authored the MTSU study of Tennessee’s Green Book sites. I also published 33 entries in the SAH Archipedia for Tennessee.
As part of my public service, I served on the boards of directors for Historic Nashville, Inc., the Nashville chapter of the UT Alumni Association, and the Southeast Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians. I’m also involved with my community by serving on a preservation committee for Madison and Neely’s Bend, where I’m restoring a 1954 Ranch house.
In my spare time, you can find me hiking in the mountains, visiting national parks around the U.S., rooting on the UT Volunteers, or spending time with my three young godchildren.
