Fellowship Recipient
Heather Goers is an architectural and landscape historian with over a decade of experience in the field of historic preservation. Goers was educated at the University of Chicago, where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Humanities, and at the University of Southern California, where she received a master’s degree in historic preservation. At Chicago, she was a recipient of the Jeff Metcalf Fellowship for Summer Study, supporting her research at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie House. At USC, she developed her master’s thesis on Howard Oshiyama, a Japanese American landscape contractor known for his collaboration with architects Buff and Hensman.
In 2013, Goers joined a Southern California-based preservation consulting firm, where she spent a decade developing cultural landscape reports, historic context statements, historic designation nominations, historic structure reports, and environmental master plans. Her contributions extended to some of Southern California’s most significant historic properties, including the Ennis House, the Freeman House, the Gamble House, and Hollyhock House. During her tenure, Goers cultivated a mastery of archival research, specializing in synthesizing and interpreting complex development histories and historic contexts for various properties and landscapes. She also successfully authored historic designation nominations for a diverse array of properties, including one of the finest examples of Japanese-style gardens in the United States, the earliest extant example of the work of Arthur and Nina Zwebell, the first corporate high-rise to be designated in Los Angeles, pivotal entertainment venues in the history of popular music, and Hollywood Forever Cemetery.
Goers launched her own preservation consulting practice in 2023. Her latest project involved the designation of Marilyn Monroe’s Los Angeles residence as a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument. In January 2024, she also joined the staff of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hollyhock House as the Preservation Manager.