Features
The 25 – Steve Jordan
During his nearly half-century career in historic preservation, Steve Jordan has repaired and restored old houses, focusing on windows in the last couple of decades.
A graduate of Cornell University’s Historic Preservation Program, he has also made a lasting impact on scholarship in the field as a contributing editor for Old-House Journal and as the author of a number of award-winning books, including “Rehab Rochester: A Sensible Guide for Old-House Maintenance, Repair and Rehabilitation” and “The Window Sash Bible.”
Although most of his projects are private houses, he has worked on a number of significant historic properties, including the Susan B. Anthony Museum & House in Rochester, New York; Quarry Farm, the Elmira, New York, estate where Mark Twain wrote during the summers; Mark Twain’s Study in Elmira; Frank Lloyd Wright’s Graycliff in Derby, New York; and the George Eastman Museum in Rochester, New York.
The winner of the Landmark Society of Western New York Craftsman Award, the Landmark Society of Western New York Director’s Award, and the Preservation League of New York State Excellence in Historic Preservation Award, Jordan grew up loving old buildings.
A native of West Tennessee, he worked his way through Memphis State University by making repairs on houses in the city’s historic Central Garden District. After college, he spent a decade in the construction industry.
“I’ve always tried to learn as much as possible about the technical aspects and history of the skills I practiced or was interested in,” he says. “My work in historic preservation also made it necessary to learn as much as possible about trade skills that I knew little about but encountered in my work.”
He laments the fact that the preservation trades are not attracting a new generation of craftspeople. “The lack of specialists is at a crisis level, but fortunately there are successful efforts across the nation to train and entice people to consider skilled-trade work,” he says. “We need more government support at the regional, state, and federal levels.”
Jordan’s “mostly retired,” but every once in a while, he comes across a project he can’t resist.
