A leading expert in architectural history and historic preservation, Dr. Margarita C. Jerabek (formerly Wuellner), president of Jerabek Historic Resources Corporation (JHRC), has distinguished herself across a career spanning more than three decades. She spent the first 15 years of her career working in Virginia and throughout the Mid-Atlantic Region before returning home to California. She served the last 20 years as director of historic resources at Environmental Science Associates (ESA) (formerly PCR), a west-coast environmental planning firm she initially joined in 2006.
Dr. Jerabek’s extensive experience and technical expertise has been instrumental in advancing architectural history and historic preservation in California and throughout the nation. For over two decades, her expertise in architectural history, preservation and planning has strengthened the preservation movement in the Southern California region. As a consultant to both agencies and private clients, she has prepared hundreds of cultural resource studies and maintains a large library on regional history and preservation projects.
Building upon her experience, Dr. Jerabek is now excited to launch her own consulting firm, Jerabek Historic Resources Corporation (JHRC) which specializes in cultural resources management, historic preservation and architectural history. Her desired mission is to support a sustainable future through melding decarbonization and cultural heritage by adaptive reuse and historic preservation of historic resources.
Among Dr. Jerabek’s most significant accomplishments is preservation of the Cunard Line’s retired Royal Mail Ship (RMS) Queen Mary, for which she prepared a Survey of Fine and Decorative Arts and the Conservation Management Plan in 2010, and a Historic Structure Report in 2018. She conducted a comprehensive survey of more than 4,000 significant pieces of art, decorative arts, and artifacts aboard the ship. She is a board member of QMI Restore the Queen, a non-profit 501(c)(3) established in 2012, dedicated to the preservation, restoration, and protection of the RMS Queen Mary, as well as the promotion of her history, legacy, and technology through fundraising and outreach. The recently completed conservation of the Art Deco mural, “Unicorns in Battle”, a 1936 gesso, gold & silver leaf panel created by Alfed J. Oakley and Gilbert Bayes, won a preservation award from Long Beach Heritage this year.
Dr. Jerabek’s notable award-winning regional projects include preservation of The Culver Studios, a 14.3-acre motion-picture studio as part of the studio’s Innovation Plan. She is currently working on restoration of The Earl Carroll Theatre on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, which features reconstruction of the largest historic neon sign in the nation. Her other notable works include the building and art conservation of the mid-century modern landmark Home Savings and Loan Association, Montebello Branch building, designed by nationally prominent artist Millard Sheets and the Millard Sheets Studio; rehabilitation of the National Register-listed Dunbar Hotel on Central Avenue in Los Angeles; reconstruction of the locally designated Pierce Brothers Mortuary, 720 W. Washington Boulevard in Los Angeles designed in 1923 by Meyer & Holler (HCM #565) and rehabilitation of the nationally significant Tudor Revival style Commissary, Administration Building, Superintendent’s Residence and Assistant Superintendent’s Residence at the Fred C. Nelles School for Boys in Whittier, California (fredcnelles.com).
These efforts reflect Dr. Jerabek’s passion for working hands-on with significant cultural heritage resources in the service of historic preservation, a trait that she directly credits for the success of her career. She has demonstrated a strong commitment to service as a member of the California Preservation Foundation (CPF) for over 20 years, on the Conference and Education Committees. She has served as a member of the Advocacy and Preservation Design Awards Committees of the Santa Monica Conservancy for over 20 years and is a now a board member. She is also a member of the Los Angeles Conservancy, an allied individual member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), and a life member of SAH. In her mission to support community preservation, she continues to give back to aspiring preservation students and young professionals through mentorship programs sponsored by the American Institute of Architects and the Society of Architectural Historians, by guest-lecturing at universities and other organizations, and publishing articles on historic preservation.
Dr. Jerabek’s early professional career began in 1988 as an architectural historian with Land and Community Associates in Charlotteville, Virginia, where she worked on notable projects such as the survey of state-owned properties for the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (VDHR) and the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) Reports and Preservation Plan for the Portsmouth Naval Hospital’s officer’s quarters and support buildings in Portsmouth, Virginia. In 1991, she also served as a volunteer curatorial intern at the National Building Museum, in Washington, D.C.
Prior to joining ESA, Dr. Jerabek held the position of senior architectural historian and technical lead for several years at EDAW (now AECOM) in Los Angeles, where she contributed her insight into complex preservation initiatives and environmental impact studies, such as the exterior finishes and paint analysis report for three historic buildings at Marine Corps Recruit Depot (MCRD), in San Diego, California, and the historical resources technical studies for the environmental impact report for the Laurel Place Senior Housing Project in West Hollywood, California, for which she received a letter of commendation from the California Office of Historic Preservation. For nearly a decade, beginning in 1995 in Fairfax, Virginia, she was senior architectural historian at Parsons Engineering Science, solidifying her reputation for excellence in historic resource evaluation and preservation planning in the Mid-Atlantic Region and throughout the nation, including several important projects for the Department of Defense such as the Historic Buildings Maintenance Plan for the U.S. Army Garrison in Selfridge, Macomb County, Michigan, and the Integrated Cultural Resource Management Plan (ICRMP) for cultural and historic resources on National Guard facilities throughout Arkansas. This was preceded by key years from 1991 to 1995 as an architectural historian with John Milner Associates, now known as MTFA Design + Preservation in Alexandria, Virginia, one of the nation’s premier historic preservation firms, where she completed notable projects such as Documentary Research for the Rehabilitation of the Thurmond Depot and the Installation of a Visitors Center at the New River Gorge National River in West Virginia, architectural history and material culture research for Tudor Hall at the Pamplin Historical Park Civil War Site in Petersburg, Virginia, and Phase II Archaeological Testing of the Loretto Branch Site (18S0147) in Maryland.
Well-regarded for contributions to the field, Dr. Jerabek has been recognized with numerous accolades. She has received Preservation Design Awards from the California Preservation Foundation in 2012, 2016, 2023, 2024, and 2026 in the categories of Historic Resource Report, Interpretive Exhibit, Reconstruction, and Rehabilitation. She received a Preservation Award in 2014 from the Los Angeles Conservancy for Rehabilitation of the Dunbar Hotel; the 2014 Westside Prize in Rehabilitation from the Westside Urban Forum; a 2018 Merit Award for Environmental Analysis from the California Association of Environmental Professionals (AEP); a 2020 Award of Excellence in Environmental Analysis from the American Planning Association (APA) for The Culver Studios; and the 2020 Gold Nugget Award of Merit for Best Rehabilitation Project for the Commissary at the Groves at Whittier from the Pacific Coast Builders Conference.
Dr. Jerabek’s professional experience is complemented by her academic career, pursued in tandem. She gained valuable experience as a doctoral candidate and graduate teaching assistant in the Art History Department at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where she specialized in modern architecture, urbanism, and critical theory, and graduated in 2005 with a dissertation entitled “Adolf Loos in Central European Culture.” Her early foundational roles included tenure as a library assistant in the Ibero-American Bibliography Department at the University of Virginia’s Alderman Library under Dr. Jared Loewenstein, and as a graduate teaching assistant in Architectural History at the University of Virginia’s School of Architecture, where she graduated in 1991 with an MA in architectural history and Certificate of Historic Preservation.
As a college student, Dr. Jerabek assisted the Art Library’s slide librarian, and was guest curator for sesquicentennial exhibits on historic costumes and architecture in the Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College, in Oberlin, Ohio, where she graduated with a BA in 1983. She is proficient in several languages including German, French, and Czech, and speaks conversational Spanish. She has received several fellowships in recognition of her academic achievements including the Travel Fellowship in the History of Art from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation in 1999 and 2000, the Advancement to Candidacy Fund Fellowship from the Department of Art History at UCLA in 1999 and 2000, a Dissertation Year Fellowship from the Graduate Fellowship Division of UCLA in 1998 and 1999, and an Edward A. Dickson History of Art Fellowship from the Department of Art History at UCLA in 1997 and 1998.
Likewise, Dr. Jerabek was bestowed with a Pre-Dissertation Fellowship from the Center for European and Russian Studies at UCLA in 1997, a Pre-Dissertation Fellowship in East European Studies from the American Council of Learned Societies in 1996, a Grant-in-Aid from the Center for European and Russian Studies at UCLA in 1996, an Entering Graduate Fellowship from the Department of Art History at UCLA in 1995 and 1996, and the Architecture Summer School Scholarship at The Victorian Society in America in Philadelphia in 1985. She was further distinguished with a Graduate Fellowship, a Dupont Fellowship, and a Thomas Jefferson Fellowship from the School of Architecture at the University of Virginia between 1983 and 1985, a Governor’s State Graduate Fellowship from the University of Virginia between 1983 and 1985, and Oberlin College Scholarship from 1980 to 1983.
Known for her generosity, accessibility, supportiveness, diligence and discipline, Dr. Jerabek is widely regarded by colleagues as a dependable and dedicated leader. In the years ahead, she is committed to giving back by supporting aspiring professionals entering careers in architectural history and preservation. Dr. Jerabek hopes to ensure that future generations benefit from her depth of experience and unwavering devotion to excellence. Her daughter, Helen C. Wuellner, Esq., holds a bachelor’s degree in language and linguistics from UC Santa Cruz, and a law degree with a specialization in environmental law from UC Davis, and currently serves as an attorney for the California State Water Resources Control Board.