The professional partnership of Crawford & Stearns, Architects and Preservation Planners, was established in 1979 and currently consists of ten persons: two principals, four associates, two architectural interns, one technical and administrative assistant, and one office manager. Since its inception Crawford & Stearns has focused its efforts on the preservation of architecturally, historically, and culturally significant resources. Based on extensive experience the firm offers a wide range of professional services including:

  • Preservation Planning and Feasibility Studies
  • Documentation and Restoration of Historic Properties
  • Historic Structure Reports and Building Conditions Assessment Reports
  • Documentation, Restoration and Design of Adirondack and Log Structures
  • Outdoor Monument Conservation
  • Planning for Museums and Historic Sites
  • Main Street and Downtown Revitalization Programs
  • Design of Architecturally Compatible Infill Housing
  • Architecturally Sympathetic Additions and New Buildings
  • Historically Compatible Handicapped Accessibility
  • Adaptive Reuse of Existing Buildings Building
  • Code Compliance and Code Variances
  • Local, State and Federal Historic Preservation Compliance Requirements
  • Historic Preservation Investment Tax Credits
  • Local Landmark Preservation Board Training and Design Guidelines

The principals and senior staff of the firm have actively pursued advanced studies in both academic and practical applications, and are associated with a number of professional and private organizations committed to these principles. As a consequence of this experience members of the firm are frequently solicited as public speakers and technical consultants for a variety of preservation programs extending from Michigan to New Hampshire and south to North Carolina.

Successful projects require the sensitive accommodation of applicable building codes and life safety standards, specific program needs established by those using the building as well as by various funding sources or licensing agencies, handicapped accessibility requirements, the physical limitations inherent with any existing structure, as well as relevant historically or architecturally significant features. In pursuit of these objectives Crawford & Stearns is well accustomed to providing flexible services best suited to a particular project's needs and funding.

"He who alters an old House is ty'd as a Translator to the Original, and
is confin'd to the Fancy of the first Builder. Such a Man would be unwise
to pull down a good old Building, perhaps to erect a worse new one."
Builder's Dictionary, 1734

"No society can call itself civilized if every succeeding
generation demolishes the heritage of its predecessors."
Richard Hughes, Governor of New Jersey, 1967

"It is a common thread in all these studies that first the nature of materials and systems
must be understood as must the nature of the processes of their deterioration. This complex
understanding then leads to the development and application of conservation technology."
Martin E. Weaver, Conserving Buildings, 1993