Humboldt County has a rich and varied collection of historically significant buildings and districts that deserve special consideration from the design community. In her work, Joyce Plath has had the pleasure of working with Alex Stillman, a major force in the preservation movement, to restore several historic homes and to design and build the Stillman buildings on the Plaza. All of Alex’s buildings have benefited from the fine detail work of master craftsman Kelly Carlin whose sense of scale and pattern is beautiful and meticulous.

In working with older buildings, Joyce tries to choose solutions from the palette that would have been available to the designer at the time the building was built. Of course, we use modern materials such as steel beams and reinforcing rods, but the idea is to keep the exterior looking as much as possible like a solution that would have been done in the original construction. This should not be taken to mean that contemporary kitchens, baths, closets, and larger sitting rooms are not possibilities, as are elements to make a building much more energy efficient. The goal is to integrate the old and new in ways that are as seamless as possible.

Historic Parsonage, reconstruction and remodel, Arcata, CA

Lyngel Home, Indianola, CA