Welcome Brittany!
Restore Oregon is delighted to welcome our new intern, Brittany Hobbs, to the RO team! Midway through her coursework for a Master’s Degree in Historic Preservation from the University of Oregon, Brittany is relatively new to the preservation field. While she has been working to restore and preserve a 1893 Queen Anne Victorian home in Portland for the past four years, she only recently discovered the preservation community.
Brittany’s introduction to the preservation field hinged on a chat with a local tradesperson. During the first year of her home renovation, Brittany engaged an electrician to help install lighting along her winding fir staircase. The electrician commented on the age of her house, then casually mentioned that his partner was studying Historic Preservation at the University of Oregon. Thus, a conversation an electrician probably has no recollection of was life-changing for Brittany. She completed her degree in Interior Design at Portland Community College and immediately applied for admission to the Historic Preservation program at UO.
A DIY and preservation enthusiast, Brittany has decided that the number of buildings she can save with her own two hands is not enough. Yet she knows many hands make light work, so she has become passionate about preservation education. She has joined a growing army of individuals working to learn and pass on the preservation trades, and she recently participated in the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s H.O.P.E. (Hands On Preservation Experience) Crew to help restore transom windows in the 1923 IOOF Building in Astoria. She also loves traveling to Astoria to participate in hands-on preservation workshops offered by Clatsop Community College.
Brittany joins us for a few months this summer before returning to school in the fall. Along with deepening her understanding of our efforts here at Restore Oregon, Brittany hopes to learn more about preservation education and community engagement. She will be helping us with a variety of tasks, from updating the Restore Oregon website, to researching and writing articles, to planning events that will help our community learn about historic places and landscapes across Oregon.
We are so lucky to have her working with us this Summer!