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Wise Preservation Planning LLC is a full-service historic preservation planning firm. We research, document, analyze and ultimately help protect historic resources and our cultural landscape. Our firm serves a variety of clients, including municipalities, engineers, architects, historical societies, and owners of historic resources. The firm was founded in 1997 by Robert J. Wise Jr., who has 20 years of experience in the historic preservation field. He is assisted by Seth Hinshaw, Senior Planner, who has been with the firm since 2001. Both planners have M.S. degrees in historic preservation from the University of Pennsylvania and exceed the 36 CFR 61 Professional Qualification Standards established by the National Park Service for architectural historians. |
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Our Chester County Residential Architecture presentation is an extremely
detailed PowerPoint presentation on nearly 300 years of architecture. We have
presented it to the Chester County Historic Preservation Network, the Tredyffrin
Historic Preservation Trust, and other historical organizations. It is an excellent
presentation for training purposes or simply to acquire a general knowledge of
architecture. The presentation begins with the earliest, small houses built in the
County in colonial times. The Georgian style was introduced in the 1730s, and about
that same time the Penn Plan was introduced. 
Beginning with the Federal style in the 1790s, a procession of architectural
styles was used in new residential construction. The presentation covers
developments in technology that impacted house design, such as the introduction
of efficient cooking stoves and plate glass in the 1830s and changes in brick
making in the 1850s. Following the complicated designs of the Queen Anne and
Second Empire styles, simpler lines were re-introduced in the early 20th
century with the Colonial Revival style. Understanding the succession of
architectural styles is important to historical commissions, HARBs, and other
planning entities which often
review applications for alterations to historic buildings and require
a general background on the defining and salient features of the styles.