Gov. Brown Honors Firm for Restoration Work on Huntington Japanese House

By City News Service

Jerry Brown recognized the Long Beach architectural firm Kelly Sutherlin McLeod on Thursday for its restoration work on the Huntington Japanese House.

The firm received the 2013 Governor's Historic Preservation Award in a Sacramento ceremony.

The Japanese House, which is more than 100 years old, is the original structure at the heart of the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens in San Marino.

"It was an honor to serve as the project architect for this exceptional team of preservationists," architect Sutherlin McLeod said. "I look forward to the cultural insight and understanding that the Huntington Japanese house will continue to reveal in the future."

The project also has been recognized this year with the California Preservation Foundation Design Award, the Los Angeles Business Council Architectural Preservation Award and the Los Angeles Conservancy Preservation Award.

"As a Japanese architectural historian, I am grateful for the effort of numerous people to preserve the Huntington Japanese House at the centennial," Atsuko Tanaka of the Nippon Institute of Technology said. "The impact of this work in architectural preservation reaches far beyond the United States. It is important ... as a symbol of cultural exchange between Japan and the United States."