PTN Board & Staff

PTN Staff and Board of Directors

Rudy R. Christian, Executive Director - Burbank, Ohio
Rudy Christian was selected to be Executive Director of the Preservation Trades Network at the annual PTN leadership retreat in Amherst, New Hampshire in January 2008. Rudy is a founding member and immediate past president of the Timber Framers Guild, founding member and immediate past President of Friends of Ohio Barns, founding member and past Vice-President of the Preservation Trades Network and founding member of the Traditional Timberframe Research and Advisory Group. His experience includes participation in the Quingue Forum, numerous speaking engagements and instructing educational workshops as well as publication of various articles about historic conservation. A recent article entitled “Conservation of Historic Building Trades; A Timber Framer’s View” was published in the APT Bulletin, vol. XXXIII, No1 and his collaborative work with author Allen Noble entitled The Barn; A Symbol of Ohio has been published on the internet. In November 2000 the Preservation Trades Network named Rudy the recipient of the Askins Achievement Award for excellence in the field of historic preservation. Rudy’s educational background includes the study of structural engineering at both General Motor’s Institute in Flint Michigan and Akron University in Ohio. He has also studied historic compound roof layout and computer modeling at the Gewerbe Akademie in Rotweil, Germany. He is an active adjunct professor at Palomar College in San Marcos, California and an approved workshop instructor for the Timber Framers Guild. Rudy’s professional experience as President of Christian & Son, Inc. includes reconstruction of the historic “Big Barn” at Malabar Farm State Park near Mansfield, Ohio and relocation of the 19th century Crawford Horse Barn in Newark, Ohio. These projects featured “hand raisings” which were open to the public and attracted a total of 130,000 interested spectators. He also led a crew of timber framers at the Smithsonian Folk Life Festival, Masters of the Building Arts program in the re-creation and raising of an 18th century carriage house frame on the Mall in Washington DC. Roy Underhill’s “Woodright’s Shop” filmed the event for PBS and Roy participated in the raising. Christian & Son’s recent work includes working with a team of specialists to relocate Thomas Edison’s #11 laboratory building from the Henry Ford Museum to West Orange New Jersey where it original was built. In 2006 Rudy led a field school sponsored by the World Monuments Fund, the University of Florida and the Preservation Trades Network at Mt. Lebanon Shaker Village during which the 1838 granary was restored.

Laura Saeger, Office Manager - Burbank, Ohio
Laura Saeger is a founding member of the Timber Framers Guild and was a practicing timber framer from 1982–2009. She is also a founding board member and current Treasurer and conference planner for Friends of Ohio Barns, a statewide non profit founded in 2000. She has been an organizer and hands on presenter at dozens of timber frame, historic barn and preservation conference workshops including Masters of the Building Arts in Washington, DC and Charleston, SC. The last 27 years were spent rotating between raising a son, shop work, frame raisings, office management for the family business, gardening and countless enjoyable hours preparing for and helping plan PTN conferences, field schools and the annual benefit auction. PTN has been an inspiring and fulfilling experience and since 1997 has played a prominent role in shaping her future by building a broad spectrum of admirable friends and associates. She is looking forward to the continuing success of PTN and is extremely grateful for all the excellent service by others that has enabled the organization to become what it is today.

2010 Board of Directors

	Jeremy Ballard, Director - Falmouth, MA Jeremy Ballard graduated from the Roger Williams University School of Architecture and Historic Preservation in 1998 with a Bachelor of Arts in Historic Preservation. In December, 2000 he began his own preservation carpentry company, J. Ballard Carpentry, in Bristol, RI. In March 2008, J. Ballard Carpentry incorporated and became Ballard Preservation, Inc. The change in name reflects a more focused mission to provide preservation carpentry and custom millwork services to owners of historic homes and structures throughout Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Jeremy has 13 years of hands on experience as a Preservation Carpenter and 9 years experience as a business owner. Jeremy lives with his wife and three boys in Falmouth, MA.
	Camille Bowman, Assistant Secretary (nonvoting appointed Board Member) -Newport News, VA Camille Bowman received her Master of Science in Historic Preservation from Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Historic Preservation. Because she is trained as an architectural conservator, her work in the field of historic preservation most often involves the understanding of building materials and how they deteriorate, solutions for their preservation, and maintenance as a prescribed prevention technique. She is the author of Handbook for Owners of Alabama's Historic Houses (Montgomery: Alabama Historical Commission) and will soon issue a similar handbook for owners of Virginia's historic houses. Camille is the Certified Local Governments Manager and Tidewater Regional Historian for the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.
	Rob Cagnetta, President and Director - Providence, Rhode Island Rob Cagnetta studied Architecture and Historic Preservation at Roger Williams University. In 1990 he obtained an internship with the Preservation Cooperative where he began refining his preservation skills. After graduation in 1991, Rob spent five weeks in England, studying the architecture, restoration techniques, and professional organizations of Great Britain. Upon his return he was employed by the Preservation Cooperative, enabling him to obtain and learn various preservation skills and techniques throughout New England. In 1994 Rob began his own practice, providing services for such National Register buildings as the Newport Tennis Hall of Fame and the Newport Art Museum. Then in 1995, Rob partnered with John Canham to create the Institute for Preservation Training. Under their parent organization, Vocational resources, Inc., their mission was to provide fee for service historic preservation services, and historic preservation training and education. IPT began the first Department of Labor, Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training certified Carpenter (Preservation) apprenticeship program. In 1997, Rob became the lead project manager of IPT. With this new program, IPT was able to complete projects for the National Parks Service, The Massachusetts's State Historical Commission, The Bristol Historical Society (Bristol, RI), as well as dozens of private homes and businesses. In January of 2001 Rob started Heritage Restoration, Inc.
	Adrienne DeRan, Secretary and Director - Bel Air, Maryland Adrienne DeRan has a B.A. from Tulane University, where she learned to weld and blow glass. After completing her undergraduate degree, she attended the Harford Community College Building Preservation and Restoration Program headed by Rhonda Deeg. Within her community, she is on the Board of Directors of the Steppingstone Museum in Harford County Maryland (www.steppingstonemuseum.org), and serves on the Town of Bel Air's Cultural Arts Commission. She is a Project Engineer with Structural Preservation Systems and has worked on a wide variety of structures with varied treatments; from lighthouse to log cabin, and cathodic protection to chinking and daubing. Adrienne and her husband are working with an architect to design and build a strawbale house that incorporates found and salvaged stuff.
	Jamie Duggan, Treasurer and Director - Montpelier, Vermont Jamie Duggan is a preservation contractor, consultant and educator based in Montpelier, VT where he serves as Historic Preservation Commissioner and Vice Chair of the Design Review Committee in our nation’s smallest capital city. He has nearly 25 years experience in the building trades, training with a wide variety of preservation craftspeople over the years. His educational background includes a BA focusing on archeology and architecture from Syracuse University; a Master of Science in Historic Preservation from the University of Vermont; and a Certificate in Preservation Skills and Technology from the Preservation Education Institute in Windsor, VT. In 1998, he launched his own firm, Preservation Unlimited, and continues to implement many, diverse, hands-on treatments to landmark buildings throughout Vermont and the Northeast. He is a founding director and President of the New England Preservation Collaborative and today serves as their Historic Building Specialist. For the past few summers, Jamie has been an integral part of the masonry preservation team working a number of projects throughout the former Webb-Vanderbilt estate at Shelburne Farms, VT. As Staff Instructor for the NPS/UVM Field Schools at Las Flores Adobe NHL in Oceanside, CA and Fort Davis NHS in West Texas, Jamie has trained graduate student interns in traditional building trades through hands-on restoration projects. He is a faculty member at the Yestermorrow Design/Build School in Warren, VT, and most recently Lecturer for the University of Vermont’s Graduate Program in Historic Preservation.
	Bill Hole, Director - Eureka, California Bill Hole has been working with his hands in various trades for thirty years. House painting, boat building, custom carpentry, concrete, structural steel, machine tool, cabinet and millwork, and stained glass all developed his craft skills for teaching new home construction at College of the Redwoods in Eureka, California since 1991. He started a Historic Preservation and Restoration Technology certificate program (HPRT) in 1996 and in 2002 developed a hands-on Associate of Science Historic Preservation and Restoration Technology program (still unique on the West Coast). He thrives on teaching people the successful use of tools, preservation techniques/craft, sustainable building practices, and critical thinking skills that are fundamental to building conservation and recycling our historic resources. "Preservation is about community working together to sustain pride of ownership".
	Jim Houston, Director - Reading, Pennsylvania I was an art major in college. After two years, I began working to pay the bills. The first ten years of my career included working in a tugboat bumper factory on Staten Island; as a messenger for a music industry magazine in Manhattan with occasional light editorial duties; as a tree climber for an arborist; working in a print shop, and pouring iron in a foundry in Boyertown, Pa. (Stanley plane bodies in the AM, Craftsman plane bodies in the PM.) So much for the dream of being a sculptor and working in an illegal loft on the Lower East Side. . . Thirty one years ago I began working in the building trades. I have always loved the special quality of old buildings, especially those made in the age of hand craft, so I sought opportunities to work on them. It drove me crazy to watch someone rehab a historic building and totally lose the features that made it beautiful. I set about learning traditional ways of building, and steered my occupation toward restoration and preservation at every opportunity. In 1995, I began my career with the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission with the stated aim of raising the standard of trades practice. In 1984, Marcia and I bought an old stone house in Berks County, Pa. In 1989 we rescued an older log house and added it to our house, after storing the pieces in the barn for five years. In short, I found artistic expression in the trades. Our children grew up in a restoration project and here we jolly well are.
	Gerard Lynch, Director - Milton Keynes, Buckinghampshire, England Gerard CJ Lynch is an internationally acclaimed and highly respected historic brickwork consultant, master bricklayer, educator and author. He followed an apprenticeship as a bricklayer, and over the years through his natural ability within his craft he gained many awards, including the Silver and Gold Trowels from the Brick Development Association and is a Licentiate of the City and Guilds of London Institute (LCG). He is a former Head lecturer in Trowel Trades at Bedford College, where he pioneered a revival of interest in gauged brickwork, in which he is considered one of the world's leading authority, and other almost forgotten traditional craft skills. He set up a private consultancy practice in 1992. He is the author of Gauged Brickwork: A Technical Handbook (Gower 1990, revised 2006 Donhead), Brickwork: History: Technology and Practice (volumes 1 and 2) (Donhead 1994). Also various peer-reviewed papers and articles on aspects of his craft, which have received wide praise for their content and have led in the revival of interest for traditional historic building practices and their re-interpretation. His expert opinion is now regularly sought for proposed repairs and restoration for many domestic buildings, some of immense national importance, such as Hampton Court Palace, The Old Admiralty, The Royal Albert Hall and Windsor Castle. This has also extended to internationally important brick buildings. In this consultative capacity he undertakes condition reports, detailing causes of failure, making recommendations for appropriate remedial actions, writing specifications, delivering bespoke training, or acting in a Clerk of Works role. Gerard has also been called up on to act as an Expert Witness within his field of expertise. He is the 2007 recipient of the Askins Achievement Award.
	Brian Robinson, Director - Pretoria, South Africa Brian Scott Robinson has had a life-long interest in history and cultural heritage. In 1994, after completing his master degree studies at the University of Georgia, he enrolled in the Atlanta Carpenters Union Local 225 apprenticeship program where he specialized in commercial interior construction. In 1996, he founded Yesteryear Restorations, Inc. a firm specializing in architectural conservation and the structural repair of historic buildings. From 2001-2004, he was the Superintendent of Historic Preservation of the Jekyll Island Club National Historic Landmark District, located on Jekyll Island, Georgia. In 2004, Brian was invited to become a full time professor in the Historic Preservation Department at the Savannah College of Art and Design where he remained until departing for the University of Florida in 2007. At the University of Florida, he began full time work toward a Ph.D. in Historic Preservation from the College of Design, Construction and Planning. In 2007, Brian was elected President of the Association for Preservation Technology International, the world's premier membership association for specialists in preservation technology. In addition to his work at the University of Florida, Brian also works for the U.S. Department of State GSO supervising the maintenance of the American diplomatic communities housing in Pretoria, South Africa. Brian is a native of Carrollton, Georgia and currently resides with his family in Pretoria, South Africa.
	Simeon Warren, Vice-President and Director - Charleston, South Carolina Simeon Warren is the Dean of the American College of the Building Arts, and Chair of the Stone Carving Department. As a stone carver he learned his trade at Weymouth College, gaining an Advanced Craft Certificate in Masonry from the City and Guilds of London Institute. His first professional position was as an apprentice at Lincoln Cathedral, later becoming Deputy Yard Foreman at Wells Cathedral, where he worked on the central tower. He has also produced stone for a number of historic buildings including Buckingham Palace and The Houses of Parliament. At Glasgow School of Art he received a Fine Arts Degree in Environmental Art, which allows him to create more contemporary conceptual work. Simeon also serves on the Board of Directors of the Association for Preservation Technology.

Board Liaison Positions

	Carson Christian, Web and Technical Support - Burbank, Ohio Carson is VP of Christian & Son Inc, with over 10 years applied experience in Timber Framing, Timber Frame design, and Timber Frame restoration. Carson has taught Timber Frame layout and cutting techniques at Palomar College near San Diego CA, Timber Frame restoration techniques at Mount Lebanon Shaker Village in NY, and numerous other venues.
	Ken Follett, Past President - Mastic Beach, New York Ken Follett is an historic conservation specialist in Mastic Beach, New York with 30 years trade background specific to masonry, wood technology and exterior building envelopes with emphasis on the New York built environment. He is a partner in the firm of PreCon LogStrat, LLC which specializes in assisting structural engineers, architects and conservators in pre-construction support services, logistics and strategy pertaining to in-field evaluation of heritage structures. Ken is a founding member of PTN, former board member and first President. He is a member of the Timber Framers Guild, a member of the International Log Builders Association, a Board member of Preservation Volunteers and a member of the Stone Foundation.
	Carole Briggs, PTN Attorney - Columbia, Connecticut Carole Briggs has over nineteen years experience in commercial, real estate, construction, environmental and OSHA legal matters. She has represented private and public-sector owners and contractors in both transactions and litigation, in administrative, state and federal courts. Carole became involved with PTN as a demonstrator in 1999, at the IPTW in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Following Carole's involvement at IPTW, she became a legal representative for PTN. In 2001 her law firm handled the incorporation of PTN and became an Agent for Service. Since 2001 she has been PTN's corporate counsel.

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