R. Edwards & Company, PLC

12/18/2025

12/05/2025

We are humbled, grateful, and honored to announce that R. Edwards & Company has been awarded an AIA Vermont (AIAVT) Merit Award for Excellence in Architecture for our North Calais Memorial Hall project at this year’s AIAVT Annual Design Awards.

The AIAVT Excellence in Architecture Design Awards are the highest state-level architecture awards conferred in Vermont and our project was one of seven projects recognized this year.

I personally and professionally owe so much to this project as it has resulted in opportunities and projects I could never have dreamed of after starting this practice in 2018. In fact, I almost never submitted a proposal for this project given that the RFP was specifically seeking architecture firms with proven expertise in historic preservation – something I completely lacked at the time. But after a few days of hemming and hawing and letting the RFP sit in my inbox, I decided to take a flyer and submit a proposal. And the rest, as they say, is history (sorry, I couldn't resist). R. Edwards & Co. now almost exclusively works on rehabilitating historic buildings throughout Vermont and northern New England and has been involved in over two dozen historic building projects and counting.

This project of course would not exist without the North Calais Memorial Hall Association (https://memorialhallcalais.org/) – Debby, Bill, Jan, Mary, Peter, Annie, Bill, Rowan, Curtis, Chris, and Gus. Projects like these require hundreds, if not thousands, of volunteer hours, and we are forever indebted to the efforts of this amazing group in making this project happen – and to their continued stewardship of this wonderful building.

We would also like to recognize Brian Clark who served as the owner's project manager during Phase I of the project.

This project would also not have been possible without the expertise of the great structural engineer, Bob Neeld, of Engineering Ventures – it's safe to say the building won't be going anywhere anytime soon. Working with Bob went so well, in fact, that we've made it a habit to parter up with him on every historic building we work on.

And last, but certainly not least – the team responsible for tangibly bringing this beautiful building back to life: Spates Construction out of Derby – especially Oscar, Amy, Jeremy, Mark, and Dana. The commitment to their work and their craft was evident every single day and we couldn't have asked for a better builder on this project.

As I've said before, historic preservation is a team sport and it takes dozens of amazing people to successfully execute a project like this one. We are incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to work on such a meaningful project for the community of Calais and are excited that the building has already been put back to good use hosting all sorts of celebrations and community events, as it hopefully will for another 140 years. And hopefully the civil war veterans and their families who built this building in 1885 would be proud.

Photography: Curtis B. Johnson

12/20/2024

EAST CALAIS – R. Edwards & Company has been awarded an AIA Vermont (AIAVT) Citation for Excellence in Architecture for its East Calais General Store project at this year’s AIAVT Annual Design Awards, December 5. The AIAVT Excellence in Architecture Design Awards are the highest state-level arc...

12/10/2024

We are humbled, honored, and excited to announce that R. Edwards & Company has been awarded an AIA Vermont (AIAVT) Citation for Excellence in Architecture for our East Calais General Store project at this year’s AIAVT Annual Design Awards. The AIAVT Excellence in Architecture Design Awards are the highest state-level architecture awards conferred in Vermont and our project was one of six projects recognized this year.

This project of course wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for the East Calais Community Trust (ECCT) – specifically Marc Mihaly, Denise Wheeler, Jan Ohlsson, Susan Stitely, and Melissa Brough – for their unwavering commitment to reopening the East Calais General Store following its abrupt closure in 2019.

We’d also like to recognize someone who, on top of their role as Owner’s Representative, was instrumental in tracking, allocating, and administering the project’s extensive funding package which was comprised of twenty-one (21!) local, state, and federal funding sources (not to mention private donations!) – the great development and tax credit syndication consultant, Jeff Kantor.

This project would also not have been possible without all of the fantastic engineering consultants (& Company…) that we were so fortunate to work with on this project, specifically the team from Engineering Ventures: Kevin Worden (Civil), Chris Hill (Structural), and Tyler Barnard (Civil) – and the team from Engineering Services of Vermont: Dan Dupras (Mechanical/Plumbing), Claus Bartenstein (Electrical), Bill Paskevich (Electrical), and Sam Fabian (Mechanical/Plumbing).

On top of this, we also have to give special thanks to Scott Newman (106 Associates), our outstanding historic preservation consultant, for helping us to smoothly navigate the review process with the National Park Service (also greatly aided by Caitlin Corkins and the team at the VT Division for Historic Preservation). And of course – Brian Pine (Pine Consulting) and Liz Curry (CommonLand Solutions) for helping us bring in so many of those 21 funders!

Special recognition is also owed to Steve O’Malley of Efficiency Vermont and Matt Stankiewicz of 3E Thermal for providing much needed technical assistance (with a dose of common sense) on all of the many extensive energy efficiency improvements that were made to the building in order to make it the first all-electric, fossil-fuel free general store in Vermont.

And last, but certainly not least – the team responsible for actually diving into this old building and bringing it back better than ever, our construction manager and contractor, E.F. Wall & Associates: Jerry Dunbar (Project Manager), Bruce Haines (Site Superintendent), and Bob, Greg, and Kevin Lord (Owners), as well as all of their great crew and subcontractors.

We would also be remiss to not give a special shout-out to the East Calais General Store’s new storekeeper, Jess Quinn, for opening and running a new and improved store worthy of the wait and of all the fantastic efforts to reopen this hub of the East Calais community. Thank you.

Historic preservation is a team sport and it takes dozens of amazing people to successfully execute a project like this one. We are incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to work on such a meaningful project with so many talented people and can only hope that our efforts will keep this wonderful building standing for another 174 years…

11/16/2024

At the request of the Preservation Trust of Vermont, this week we had the opportunity to visit the former Reading Grange, a hidden gem of a building in Felchville (Reading) with our favorite and go-to structural engineer, Bob Neeld, of Engineering Ventures, PC (in the blue jacket!). The Reading Community Trust was recently selected one of the first seven communities to be selected for The Preservation Trust of Vermont Village Trust Initiative and is in the process of looking at a couple of different buildings in the village of Felchville to reopen a new general store, something that Reading has been without for several years now. For more information on the PTV Village Trust Initiative, please check out https://ptvermont.org/village-trust-initiative/ to learn more!

07/11/2024

And we have liftoff! So excited to see the Langdon Congregational Church project "get off the ground" and to know that soon this wonderful old building (c. 1842) will get a much-needed, fresh, new foundation along with improved accessibility such that folks will be able to congregate and enjoy the building for another 182 years. Huge shoutout to Griffin Dussault and the crew at Griffin Construction, as well as Payne Building Movers for the lift. And of course, happy to be working with Bob and Ian at Engineering Ventures, PC and for all the support of the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance and the New Hampshire Land and Community Heritage Investment Program (LCHIP) in making this project a reality!

06/13/2024

Although it'll be a couple months before we have the bandwidth to start the project, excited to visit the Corinth Town Hall today on a referral from the Preservation Trust of Vermont to explore updating ADA accessibility into the building. As a bonus, the Crossmolina Cookeville Market across the street makes some outstanding breakfast sandwiches...

06/07/2024

We are extremely humbled to announce that we have been awarded a 2024 Preservation Trust of Vermont Preservation Award at this year's Downtown & Historic Preservation Conference in Bellows Falls for our contributions to the preservation and revitalization of the community of Calais (specifically, the North Calais Memorial Hall and the East Calais General Store).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyIPIuYIyVs

This award would never have been possible without the North Calais Memorial Hall Association taking a flyer and letting a young architect with a freshly hung shingle (and a Calais newcomer to boot) with plenty of professional experience, but without any historic preservation experience to his name, oversee the rehabilitation of the 133-year-old Memorial Hall – one of the most historically significant buildings in Calais. We are forever indebted to this group of wonderful volunteers (Debby, Bill, Mary, Rowan, Jan, Curtis, Annie, Peter, Gus, and Chris!) – who have now transitioned from clients to simply friends and neighbors.

Without Memorial Hall even having been completed at the time, we are equally grateful to the East Calais Community Trust (Marc, Denise, Jan, Melissa, and Susan!) for also putting their trust in the same young architect (who happened to live just down the street) in what would become an almost $3 million recapitalization of the historic East Calais General Store, which up until its abrupt closing in December 2019, had been the longest continuously running general store in Vermont.

Although we're indebted to these two wonderful organizations, historic preservation is a team sport and neither of these two amazing projects would have been possible with the assistance of some of Vermont's best consultants: Engineering Ventures, PC (civil and structural engineering; Bob and Kevin!), Engineering Services of Vermont (MEP engineering; Dan, Claus, Sam, and Bill!), 106 Associates (historic preservation consultant; Scott!), CommonLand Solutions (community development consultant; Liz!)), and J.D. Kantor, Inc. (development and tax credit syndication consultant; Jeff!). In addition, neither of these projects would be possible without the tireless support of the The Preservation Trust of Vermont (Ben, Meg and Jenna!) , the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation (Caitlin!), the National Park Service, and numerous other local, state, and federal agencies who helped make these projects a reality.

Thanks to the trust of the the North Calais Memorial Hall Association and the East Calais Community Trust – and the subsequent trust of the team at the Preservation Trust of Vermont, we have since been involved, in various capacities, on over 20 historic preservation projects (and counting) throughout the state of Vermont and New Hampshire, and look forward to continuing to assist communities and organizations across Vermont and northern New England realize their own special projects.

For more information on the 2024 PTV Preservation Awards and all of the other wonderful projects that were recognized this year, please visit https://ptvermont.org/cat/what/awards/preservation-awards-2024/

North Calais Memorial Hall Association
https://memorialhallcalais.org/

East Calais Community Trust
https://www.eastcalaiscommunitytrust.org/

Photo Credit: Curtis Johnson

05/28/2024

Excited to have the opportunity to visit the historic Underhill Town Hall for a consultation today... Built in 1850 as a Methodist church ("Union Church"), this Greek Revival building originally was adorned with a large bell tower, long removed, and has been used as Underhill's town hall since 1900. In the early 2000s a new addition was constructed (visible on the lefthand side of the exterior photo) and was significantly rehabilitated, making the building fully accessible and functional as the town offices. The large, bright, 2nd floor meeting hall, however, is now in need of some much needed functional and technological upgrades, a common need in post-pandemic rural America with virtual meetings and other events becoming commonplace...

04/30/2024

Not to double post, but it's our office manager Wilson's 4th birthday today!