Kevin and Laine Berry Historic House Advocates and Creators of Our Restoration Nation Conway, Arkansas
Kevin and Laine Berry are self-proclaimed historic house enthusiasts. When they are not restoring houses, Laine works as an international bridal designer and Kevin operates an advertising agency. Outside of their respective businesses, this husband and wife duo is passionate about restoring historic houses. Learn more about them on their Instagram: @ourrestorationnation
What led you to your field? We both have a passion for history and architecture and feel an onus to save historical structures, but we don’t restore homes full time. In fact, we each have different careers. Laine is a bridal designer and also runs our bridal salon Inverness Bridal. Kevin owns an advertising agency, AdWorks. But being self-employed, we can spend a great deal of time on our passion projects, restoring old homes. We started restoring homes for our family home and slowly started adding outside projects over the years.
How does what you do relate to historic preservation? We feel like we owe it to the great craftsmen who built these homes and the families who lived in them to preserve them in historically accurate and sympathetic ways.
Why do you think historic preservation matters? In America there is a real lack of understanding and pride in the craftsmanship and structures that were built years ago. It’s important to have a proper respect for history and the individual stories of our forefathers.
What courses do you recommend for students interested in this field? We recommend starting your undergraduate with a business degree and getting your Masters in Historic Preservation. A business background will open many possibilities for you inside both the public and private sectors.
Do you have a favorite preservation project? What about it made it special? A favorite house rehabilitation that we have tackled is a home on Amelia Island, Florida. The original owner and builder was a ship navigational captain. He would board ships and guide them into port. The home was built with the same care and craftsmanship that you would see in a ship. He and his family were buried in a nearby cemetery, and we could visit his grave and share with him the progress we were making.
Can you tell us what you are working on right now? We currently have three large projects in the works. We are moving a house that we’ve purchased from the city in Louisville, Georgia. This stick-style Victorian is in amazing condition but will require a great deal of work to move and make livable. We also have our first antebellum home in Helena, Arkansas, with great history. It’s an 1858 Greek Revival that was occupied by Union soldiers during the Civil War. General Sherman actually stayed there as they made plans for the Battle of Little Rock. And last but not least we purchased a Victorian, a bungalow and a shotgun house on three acres in Monticello, Arkansas. We plan to turn this property into an organic farm and help provide for the community.
How do you think the national historic preservation programs help your community? A community will always benefit from learning the local history. And with today’s throwaway society, we hope to teach reduce, reuse and recycle with homes.
Do you have advice for novice preservationists? We always tell people to start small. Find a smaller home that needs more cosmetic work. After you get your feet wet on smaller projects, you’ll be ready to tackle the harder work.
The ACHP’s mission is “preserving America’s heritage;” can you give us an example of how your community is preserving its heritage? Our personal community is not, and that is one of the things that has made us so passionate about seeing our heritage preserved. We have lost countless historic structures to highway development and encroachment by institutions which can claim eminent domain. It has only been in the last five years that our community, once rich with historic structures, has started any sort of protection for these irreplaceable places. We don’t want to see this happening in other communities in our state and region and are working hard to preserve and protect our heritage.
What has been the most rewarding part of showcasing/celebrating restoration work online? Growing an online community has been unbelievably inspiring. It’s just exciting to see that there are so many out there who really care about our cause.
What are your experiences with revolving funds as part of historic preservation advocacy groups? We were so fortunate to be able to work with the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation last year, purchasing a home from their revolving fund. It was an utterly marvelous experience, giving us a built-in team of cheerleaders, support staff, and mentors. Even after that project came to an end, we stayed close to the staff, and encourage anyone interested in buying a historic home to check out these advocacy groups first. When buyers hear terms like “historic easement” they can be intimidated and overwhelmed, but the reality is that we all have the same goals for these homes, and the advocacy groups are there to help.
Read more Q&A stories about the Preservationists in Your Neighborhood!