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Bero Architecture Crafting a legacy of excellence in design, rehabilitation & historic preservation projects since 1976

Zareen Rafa Diya, our 2026 Bero-Howk Summer Intern, is nearing the end of her internship with Bero Architecture and spen...
07/31/2026

Zareen Rafa Diya, our 2026 Bero-Howk Summer Intern, is nearing the end of her internship with Bero Architecture and spending the remainder of the summer at the Landmark Society. Together, these experiences have provided her with a comprehensive understanding of how a preservation firm and a heritage advocacy organization operate and collaborate to protect and preserve historic places.
Zareen is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Historic Preservation at the University of Notre Dame. Her thesis research focuses on the revival of Trinity Church in Geneva, New York, exploring adaptive reuse as a strategy to balance heritage conservation, community needs, and economic viability.
At Bero, she contributed to documentation for historic structures throughout the Rochester area, including the Stone-Tolan House, Susan B. Anthony Museum Visitor Center, and the Morgan-Manning House. Other site visits to projects such as the Struble Arcade in Penn Yan provided hands-on experience with documentation, field measurements, and insight into how preservation projects progress through review and approval processes.
During the second half of her internship with the Landmark Society of Western New York, Zareen is preparing building descriptions for National Register nominations, conducting condition assessment site visits for the Preservation Awards program, and assisting with historic resource surveys by photographing historic properties to evaluate their potential eligibility for National Register historic districts and individual listings. She is also helping document historic sites associated with Rochester’s Polish community as part of ongoing cultural heritage research.

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All of us at Bero Architecture were saddened to learn of the death of our great friend, colleague, and mentor Cynthia Ho...
07/20/2026

All of us at Bero Architecture were saddened to learn of the death of our great friend, colleague, and mentor Cynthia Howk on July 18th.

Cynthia was a passionate advocate for the architectural legacy of Rochester and Western New York, who possessed an encyclopedic and seemingly inexhaustible knowledge of the historic buildings, communities, and individuals throughout our region. She was a talented speaker and peerless educator, able to turn any occasion into an impromptu history lesson, complete with hand-drawn maps and promises (which she always fulfilled) to follow up with more information.

Our annual Bero-Howk Historic Preservation Internship, a partnership with the The Landmark Society established in 2010, was named in Cynthia’s honor. The highlight of the summer for each intern was the opportunity to accompany Cynthia on one or more of her famous driving tours to little-known historic places in the Rochester area. Even during her difficult illness, she was eager to spend time with us, sharing her opinions and wisdom in her inimitable style.

Cynthia’s passing is an immeasurable loss to Rochester and to us personally. We are grateful to have known her throughout her fifty years of dedication to our shared community, and we will miss her terribly.

We have been busy visiting a variety of historic buildings across the region to assess potential future projects. Two of...
06/18/2026

We have been busy visiting a variety of historic buildings across the region to assess potential future projects. Two of these have been remarkable early nineteenth century structures including a Greek Revival style house of worship and a 1820s former Erie Canal hotel that has remained largely untouched for a century.
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We are seeking qualified candidates for an Architectural Associate position with our firm. This job is for an unlicensed...
06/02/2026

We are seeking qualified candidates for an Architectural Associate position with our firm. This job is for an unlicensed architecture school graduate or recent graduate with 0-3 years of previous professional experience.

Please visit our website or the link below for more information and how to apply:

https://beroarchitecture.com/s/22906Architectural-Associate-Notice14626.pdf

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This week for we are showcasing a small sampling of Bero projects that have been made possible by the grant programs o...
05/22/2026

This week for we are showcasing a small sampling of Bero projects that have been made possible by the grant programs of the Preservation League of New York State in partnership with the New York State Council on the Arts. These projects over the past 25 years have provided us the opportunity to assist scores of local municipalities and cultural non-profit organizations with the evaluation and documentation of their historic buildings and sites.

Image 1: Sodus Point Lighthouse in Sodus Point, NY / Condition Report
Image 2: Stone-Tolan House in Brighton, NY / Condition Report
Image 3: HOLC “Redline” Map of Buffalo, NY / East Side Historic Context Study
Image 4: St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in Jamestown, NY / Citywide Historic Resource Survey Update
Image 5: Five Arch Bridge in Avon, NY / Historic Structure Report
Image 6: Alameda Street in Rochester, NY / Maplewood Neighborhood National Register District Boundary Expansion
Image 7: H.G. Hotchkiss Essential Oil Company Building in Lyons, NY / Historic Structure Report
Image 8: The Evergreens Court and Cottages in Canandaigua, NY / Townwide Historic Resource Survey Phase I
Image 9: Seymour Place in Batavia, NY / Condition Report and Accessibility Study

Over the course of our 50-year history we have partnered with over 40 historical societies on over 150 projects, ranging...
05/15/2026

Over the course of our 50-year history we have partnered with over 40 historical societies on over 150 projects, ranging from writing condition reports and historic resource surveys, to sympathetic rehabilitation and repair projects. We have worked on several historic buildings with our local Rochester Historical Society () and have longstanding relationships with historical societies across New York State. Here’s a small selection of the broad diversity of rewarding projects we have completed with our community history partners.

Image 1: Charlotte-Genessee Lighthouse with Charlotte-Genesee Historical Society
Image 2: Hinchey Homestead with Gates Historical Society
Image 3: Waterloo Library and Historical Society
Image 4: James Johnson Survey with Greece Historical Society
Image 5: Thomas Boyde Jr. Survey with Greece Historical Society
Image 6: Yates County Genealogical and Historical Society
Image 7: Ontario County Historical Society Museum
Image 8: LeRoy’s Statue of Liberty with LeRoy Historical Society
Image 9: LeRoy House with LeRoy Historical Society
Image 10: Bain-Hoffman House with Gorham Historical Society
Image 11: Cleveland House with Naples Historical Society
Image 12: Rose Hill Mansion with Geneva Historical Society
Image 13: Historic Valentown Museum with Victor Historical Society
Image 14: Livingston County Historical Society Museum
Image 15: Morgan-Manning House Museum with Western Monroe Historical Society

Over the past half century of our firm’s history, The Landmark Society of Western New York has been one of our most endu...
05/08/2026

Over the past half century of our firm’s history, The Landmark Society of Western New York has been one of our most enduring clients focused on preservation advocacy. We have had the opportunity to collaborate on numerous rewarding and professionally-fulfilling projects throughout the greater Rochester region. Here are just a few of them.

Images 1-3: Hoyt-Potter House - This unique 1840 Greek Revival mansion faced severe neglect for many years when a new owner sued the city to demolish it. The Rochester Preservation Board saved the house from demolition, and The Landmark Society stepped in to purchase it in 1991 and engaged Bero to complete a series of rehabilitation and repair projects from 1989 to 2007.

Image 4-5: Boynton House - Rochester’s only Frank Lloyd Wright-designed building, has been a treasured landmark of our city for decades. The Landmark Society became directly involved in its preservation through enactment of protective covenants on the property and its original Wright-designed furniture in the 1970s. Starting in 2009 Bero and our clients worked in collaboration with Landmark to oversee a multi-year comprehensive restoration and rehabilitation of the property.

Images 6-7: Clarendon Stone Store - This 1836 Federal style general store, built of Medina sandstone, fell into disrepair and was at risk of demolition. The Landmark Society engaged Bero to evaluate the building to market it to potential restorers. A local advocacy group, The Old Stone Store Preservation Committee, successfully got the building listed on the National Register in 2012. The building has seen a variety of uses since its rehabilitation and remains standing at its original location today.

Image 8: One of our most treasured collaborations with The Landmark Society is our annual Bero-Howk Historic Preservation Internship. Established in 2010, the internship provides an opportunity for young professionals to work in preservation architecture and planning work at Bero and preservation advocacy and educational programming at Landmark. Previous interns have gone on to become preservation architects, designers, conservators, and employees at our firm.

Historic buildings, structures, sites, and places have been the heart of our work over the past 50 years. To kick off 20...
05/01/2026

Historic buildings, structures, sites, and places have been the heart of our work over the past 50 years. To kick off 2026 we’d like to share a project from our archives that exemplifies the firm’s history of preservation advocacy.

Starting in 1985, founder John Bero collaborated with the Landmark Society of Western New York and the grassroots community organization “Friends of Holy Redeemer” to champion the cause for saving Holy Redeemer Church from its proposed demolition by the Catholic Diocese of Rochester. Designed by local architect Oscar Knebel, the church incorporated late 19th century Lombard Romanesque Revival elements with Bavarian Baroque towers. The copper “onion-shaped” domes atop the towers quickly became a defining feature of Rochester’s skyline. Following its dedication in 1877, the church served successive communities of German, Lithuanian, Ukrainian, and Hispanic Catholics. When the Catholic Diocese of Rochester announced plans to demolish the complex in 1987, the Landmark Society of Western New York mounted a campaign to seek an adaptive reuse of the church. The LSWNY commissioned a feasibility study from the former Bergmann Associates (now Colliers Engineering & Design) and worked with the Friends of Holy Redeemer to campaign to save the church, with the LSWNY offering to assume ownership of the building, if necessary. John Bero participated on a panel of experts featured on WXXI radio discussing the feasibility and necessity of preserving Holy Redeemer Church. As a result of the efforts of this broad coalition, the church was designated a landmark by the City of Rochester in late 1988. Soon after, it was purchased and rehabilitated by Northside Church of Christ. The church still stands today as testament to the power of community preservation advocacy.

Historic photo courtesy of Democrat & Chronicle.

Our senior architectural historian Katie Eggers Comeau is making connections! Katie was recently featured on WXXI’s Conn...
04/02/2026

Our senior architectural historian Katie Eggers Comeau is making connections! Katie was recently featured on WXXI’s Connections with Evan Dawson to discuss the 2026 Landmark Society Five to Revive. The group covered hot topics including the Cutler Mail Chute building, the LGBTQ+ statewide thematic listing study, and the ongoing restoration of Brockport’s Morgan-Manning House. You can listen to their conversation on the WXXI website or wherever you stream your podcasts.

2026 BERO-HOWK HISTORIC PRESERVATION INTERNSHIPAttention all architecture students with a passion for historic preservat...
01/19/2026

2026 BERO-HOWK HISTORIC PRESERVATION INTERNSHIP

Attention all architecture students with a passion for historic preservation! We are now accepting applications for this year's internship!

Established in 2010, this internship provides a unique specialized and holistic historic preservation experience. During their time in Rochester, the Bero-Howk Intern will participate in preservation architecture and planning work at Bero Architecture and preservation advocacy and educational programming at The Landmark Society of Western New York, Inc.

Applications will be accepted until February 13th, with a decision provided by March 20th.

Click the link below for more information:
https://beroarchitecture.com/s/26906Bero-Howk-Summer-Internship-Notice.pdf
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