Project Architect
Ford, Farewell, Mills and Gatsch Architects
Princeton, New Jersey

In the midst of a recent project to restore Princeton University's Chapel, Katherine McDowell Frey couldn't help but be amazed by the intricate detail and unique materials used to build the 75 year-old structure that stands as the third largest university chapel in the world.

She says, "I love seeing the detail in the stained glass and stone carving up close. It is gratifying to know that we can help preserve them by using appropriate materials that are sympathetic to their original construction."

As project architect in the preservation studio of Ford, Farewell, Mills and Gatsch, Frey works closely with construction crews out in the field, monitoring and surveying projects. Working with a team of architects and consultants, she must assess old buildings and their materials and then design and implement methods of restoration. At any time, she may have as many as eight ongoing projects.

One of her more interesting jobs at FFMG involved the restoration of a courthouse in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, which was the site of the Lindbergh baby kidnapping trial. "Although the courthouse was built in 1828, we restored it to its appearance in 1935—the time of the trial. It was a significant period in the history of the building, and there was an abundance of photographic documentation."

Frey says she first became interested in historic preservation while taking an urban sociology class at Southwestern. "My academic focus was architectural studies, but the freedom of the liberal arts environment allowed me to take a class that introduced me to the concept of historical preservation from a social and economic perspective."

Architecture had been her dream since working for a San Antonio firm the summer after her freshman year at Alamo Heights High School. That's where she met a Southwestern alumna who spoke highly of her alma mater. A few years later, Frey remembered that when it came time to make her college choice.

"I knew Southwestern was the type of school that could give me the educational experience I wanted. It was a very nurturing environment with so few students in my field. Often my classes had no more than six students."

Soon after graduating, she went to work for Las Casas Foundation, a historic preservation group in San Antonio involved with the restoration of the Majestic and Empire theaters. "The three years I spent there solidified my interest in this type of career." Frey went on to attend the Graduate School of Fine Arts at the University of Pennsylvania where she received a Masters of Science in historic preservation. She concentrated on architectural conservation, which focuses on the historical context, properties and performance of building materials. Upon completing an advanced certificate, she went to work for FFMG.

She and her husband Chris met at the University of Pennsylvania. He works as an architectural consultant. "We get to talk shop a lot," Frey says. "The firm has actually hired him for several projects." Their professional knowledge has come in handy since purchasing a century-old home in Doylestown, Penn., last year. "Restoring our own home certainly has been a learning experience."

Frey says their new hometown reminds her of Georgetown. There, they are active in their church, Trinity Episcopal Buckingham, through which they participate in outreach projects like Habitat for Humanity and a program that distributes food to a Philadelphia soup kitchen.