Historic Preservation:
The County Architect has been involved in historic preservation issues for over 20 years. His interest lead to an effort to preserve the George C. Stewart House (a Frank Lloyd Wright house) in Montecito, efforts to restore the Baxter House in Santa Barbara and has him currently in an effort to create a preservation/conservation plan for the historic Santa Barbara County Courthouse.

Santa Barbara County Courthouse:
Since becoming the County Architect in 2001, Robert has taken the Historic County Courthouse under his wing...beginning the long and detailed process of preservation and conservation. The Courthouse became a National Registered Historic Place in 1982. Efforts to gain National Landmark status are underway...a tough distinction to gain, by the way. In early 2002, Robert joined the Courthouse Docent Council. Efforts to document the details of the courthouse have begun through the drawing efforts of a local architect.

Santa Barbara County Courthouse--Flagpole Restoration:
Early last year the flagpole began a restoration with work beginning of the weathervane eagle. In November 2003, the 86 foot tall double masted wood flagpole was taken down for a full restoration. The "crow nest", wrought iron cap and hounds ring, rigging and footing. The effort of restoring the flagpole has seen a pulling together of community resources at no cost to the taxpayers as area businesses lead their efforts to restore the flagpole. You can read more about this project on the Courthouse WebSite.

Frank Lloyd Wright:
Robert has written a book about the George C. Stewart house, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1909 and constructed in Santa Barbara. He is working on getting the book published.

Casa Nuevo Office Building:
This is the first new office building being construction by the Office of the County Architect in ten years for the the County of Santa Barbara. It will house three departments, Air Pollution Control District, Santa Barbara County Association of Governments and a section of the Social Services Department. The building was designed by Blackbird Architects, located in Santa Barbara. As I visit the site, I take construction photos...you can see them on this site.

Clerk-Recorder-Assessor Office Building:
This is the first of two new office buildings being construction by the Office of the County Architect in downtown Santa Barbara. The Clerk-Recorder-Assessor will house functions of that department that have outgrown the Historic County Courthouse. Once construction gets underway, you can watch the progress via the projects web site.

District Attorney Office Building and its Geothermal Test Bore:
In an effort to understand and use energy technologies that reduce the long-term life-cycle cost of public buildings, the County Architect is exploring the use of geothermal technology on a number of projects. The first ever test bore in Santa Barbara for geothermal occurred on March 9th, 2002. See More

Juvenile Hall and Court Expansion:
This project is about the expansion of the Santa Maria Juvenile Hall and Court. There is no active web site, feel free to contact the project staff at 805.734.6228.

Calle Real Master Planning:
Counties rarely do facilities master planning because of the great amount of work involved. The County Architect has taken on this task in an effort to provide guidelines and direction for future building campaigns. The County Architect held two town hall meetings in January with the neighborhoods around the Calle Real Campus to discuss the direction and focus of the Campus Master Plan. Supervisor Susan Rose and her staff were in attendance as well. A first draft of concept master planning maps are available for review regarding the County's largest campus---the Calle Real Campus. Feel free to comment after you have reviewed these maps---

Santa Barbara County Courthouse--Hall of Records Rehabilitation:
In October of 2003, Robert, assisted by a team of engineers and preservation architects, began a year long rehabilitation of the Hall of Records. The Hall of Records is one or four buildings on the Historic County Courthouse site. The project includes the installation of a Geothermal system in the front lawn, the restoration of the 45 foot diameter skylight, interior period furniture and restoration of the interior Mudejar painting.