🔒Two Portland design firms join forces to create historic preservation studio

Barba + Wheelock Architects joined architecture, interior design, construction and millwork firm Woodhull to form a studio dedicated to historic preservation.

The studio will add depth to Barba + Wheelock’s work in historic preservation across northern New England, while adding historic preservation experience to Woodhull’s design and construction specialties.

“This partnership ensures that the expertise, client relationships and legacy of Barba + Wheelock continue to thrive,” said Caleb Johnson, Woodhull’s CEO and founding principal. “By integrating their preservation expertise into Woodhull’s design-build practice, we are strengthening our ability to steward historic structures while supporting their continued use and vitality.”

Woodhull background

Woodhull was established in 2003 initially called Johnson Bell, then Caleb Johnson Studio. It rebranded as Woodhull in 2022 as a shift in focus from the founder to the entire team and today has a staff of 98 people, including architects, designers, cabinetmakers, support staff, construction project managers, project superintendents, estimators and carpenters.

Woodhull is ranked No. 2 among Maine's largest architecture firms, according to the 2026 Mainebiz Book of Lists, which cites 16 licensed architects and 2024 revenue of $33.4 million.

In 2023, Woodhull moved into its current headquarters, an 1858 Italianate mansion called Safford House, at 93 High St. in Portland, that was a Woodhull award-winning rehabilitation project.

Other projects include the restoration of the historic Gehring House in Bethel and 50 Exchange St. in Portland.

Barba + Wheelock

Established in 2004, Barba + Wheelock is a small firm at 456 Capisic St. in Portland led by Cynthia Wheelock and Nancy Barba and including Tim Morrison as a project architect. The firm has won numerous awards, mainly for preservation.

Clients have included the Portland Museum of Art, Bowdoin College, University of Maine, Maine Historical Society and the National Park Service and many towns, churches, libraries, municipalities and private residential clients throughout the Northeast.

Both firms have been named among the best residential architecture firms in Maine by Forbes and recently received 2026 Maine Preservation Honor awards: Woodhull for the redevelopment of Gehring House in Bethel and Barba + Wheelock, partnering with Kaplan Thompson Architects in Portland on Dr. Milton Wedgewood House in Lewiston, an Avesta Housing and Lewiston Housing project.

Full-service platform

The new preservation studio, led by Barba, combines decades of preservation expertise with Woodhull’s full-service platform, supporting adaptive reuse, restoration and community-centered design.

As part of the transition, Barba joined Woodhull as a principal architect leading preservation initiatives. She will be supported by Morrison, who brings more than 14 years of experience with Barba + Wheelock. Barba and Morrison have moved into Woodhull's office at 93 High St.

Wheelock will remain involved as a consultant and advisor and will continue to do architectural consulting in Barba + Wheelock’s existing office, which has rebranded as Studio B5W, a Woodhull spokesperson told Mainebiz.

The preservation studio will focus on historic preservation, rehabilitation and adaptive reuse projects throughout New England. Projects underway are St. Andrews Episcopal Church in Newcastle, the Limerick Town House and a dozen buildings for the Old Orchard Beach nonprofit Ocean Park Association, including a building called the Temple, built in 1881.