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Gretchen has a unique and comprehensive understanding of the ins and outs of historic resource review and community planning gained from 20+ years working in the public and private sectors on complex and award-winning projects in California. Gretchen has evaluated historic resources for hundreds of private clients and federal, state, and local agencies. She has worked on some of the largest planning projects in California including: San Francisco’s Better Market Street, California High Speed Rail, the redesign of the California State Capitol, India Basin Shoreline Park, cultural landscape evaluations for Yosemite National Park, and hundreds of local planning and private residential projects. She previously held positions at the National Park Service, San Francisco Planning Department, and private consulting firms before starting her own practice in 2021.

 

Through Groundwork Planning & Preservation, she applies her solutions-oriented approach and extensive project management experience to enable clients to navigate the often-challenging process of adapting historic resources while also protecting their cultural value. Groundwork focuses on community-driven projects that commemorate complex and under-told stories of history and adapt historic resources to meet contemporary needs. 

 

Gretchen received a B.A. in architectural history from the University of Virginia and an M.S. in historic preservation from the University of Pennsylvania. She has taught adult continuing education courses in historic preservation and cultural landscapes. Gretchen served as a past grant panelist for California Cultural and Historical Endowment, has provided cultural resource training to city governments, and is a frequent speaker for regional and national organizations including: the American Planning Association, National Trust for Historic Preservation, California Preservation Foundation, American Institute of Architects, SPUR, and the University of California, Berkeley Extension's landscape architecture program. Gretchen currently serves on the Board of Trustees for the California Preservation Foundation and is the President of the Foothill Fibers Guild, a fiber arts non-profit serving Nevada and Placer Counties.  She is also a beekeeper, fiber artist, and gardener who lives in the Sierra Foothills of Northern California.