About CPF and the Awards

Held in conjunction with CPF’s 2026 Annual Conference in Riverside, the 2026 Mission Inn Preservation Design Awards Ceremony and Reception will spotlight excellence in historic preservation in a setting that reflects the very spirit of the work being honored. This special evening brings together award recipients, conference participants, preservation leaders, and supporters from across California to celebrate outstanding preservation projects and leadership through the Preservation Design Awards and President’s Awards.

Founded in 1978, the California Preservation Foundation (CPF) is California’s statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection of historic places and cultural heritage. Through education, advocacy, and community-centered programs, CPF supports the people, projects, and policies that keep California’s historic resources vital and valued. We now support a national network of more than 36,000 members and supporters. Click here to learn how you can become a member.

Project Team

Project Lead or Principal
Russell Brown – Friends Of Residential Treasures: LA

FORT:LA Trails Committee Chair
Siddhartha Majumdar – Friends Of Residential Treasures: LA

FORT: LA Vice-chair
Dody Dorn – Friends Of Residential Treasures: LA

FORT: LA Board Member
Kelly Garrison – Friends Of Residential Treasures: LA

FORT: LA Treasurer
Linda Kandel – Friends Of Residential Treasures: LA

FORT: LA Board Member
Priscilla Fraser – Friends Of Residential Treasures: LA

FORT: LA Secretary
Christopher Munch – Friends Of Residential Treasures: LA

FORT: LA – Trails

FORT: LA – Trails is a winner for the 2021 Preservation Design Award for Cultural Resource Studies, Reports. Award recipients are selected by a jury of top professionals in the fields of architecture, engineering, planning, and history, as well as renowned architecture critics and journalists. Tickets and sponsorship options are available at californiapreservation.org/awards.

Read more about the Preservation Design Awards

About FORT: LA – Trails

Much as the late Pulitzer Prize-winning food critic Jonathan Gold inspired residents to venture beyond their own urban village to experience other parts of the city, the FORT Trails program leverages our region’s distinctive residential architecture to encourage Angelenos to learn about and appreciate their neighboring communities. As our organization’s flagship program, FORT Trails releases a themed trail route every month, featuring the locations and stories behind architecturally significant residences. All trails are available for free to the public. Launched in June 2020, FORT Trails now offers sixteen trails (and counting) curated by world-renowned writers, journalists, architects, scholars, and more. Uniquely suited to both the initial isolation of the pandemic and our evolving reconnection, these trails provide a variety of overlaid routes and subject-specific categories (architect, style, period, multi-unit, etc.). Users can learn and explore by region or interest, on their own or with others, at their own pace.

A map of Los Angeles shows a trail connecting eight marked sites, each labeled with a house name and page number. The image highlights FORT: LA - TRAILS, a 2021 Preservation Design Award winner.
A two-story white stucco house with a red-tiled roof and arched entrance is surrounded by greenery. Text overlay describes the Adamson House, highlighting its architecture and vivid California setting.
A yellow map of Los Angeles displays a trail of house locations, each marked with labeled circles and house photos. The bottom left reads: The Trail: Tims Twentieth Century: A House for Each Decade.
A portrait of Tim Street-Porter is centered in a yellow hexagonal frame. Below, text highlights his achievements as a renowned photographer in design and travel magazines, calling him a trailblazer and one of LAs coolest people.
A photo of a white, cubic modernist building with rounded corners and green window frames sits beside a yellow text box describing Horatio Court by Irving Gill, highlighting its stripped-back architecture and modernist influence.
A yellow map titled THE TRAIL: LOST and FOUND shows a highlighted route in Los Angeles, marked with stops like Dodge House, Stahl House, and others, connected by a blue path. The Fort LA logo is at the top.
A professional headshot of Cindy Olnick, labeled Trailblazer. The image is framed by a yellow hexagon, with a brief biography describing her work in historic places communications and preservation.
A Victorian-style house with a pointed turret and ornate trim is shown behind a circular yellow overlay containing text about the Haskins House, a restored historic home in Los Angeles Angelino Heights neighborhood.
A yellow map highlights locations of notable buildings in Los Angeles, each labeled with names and page numbers. Below, text reads: “The Trail: Postwar Japanese American Architects.”.
A black background features a hexagonal frame with a grayscale portrait of a woman. Below, text reads: Sian Winship, TRAILBLAZER, with a brief biography about her achievements in architectural history and historic preservation.
A modern, two-story house with a balcony and lush plants in front. Beside the image, yellow and black text describes the Sakaida Residence, a 1970s Mid-Century Modern home by Franklin Sata, AIA.
A yellow and black map with black text.
A portrait of Amber Benson is centered in a hexagonal yellow frame above the text: Amber Benson, TRAILBLAZER. Below is a short bio about her work as a novelist, actor, and her role in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
A Hobbit-style house with a round door and stone roof is partly visible behind a yellow text overlay describing “The Hobbit Houses” sample entry from a book, with whimsical commentary on their lore and design.
A yellow map of Los Angeles with five labeled points connected by a route. The title reads: The Trail: In the City Was a Garden: South LA Garden Apartments. A black and yellow graphic is at the bottom left.
A smiling woman with pulled-back hair stands outdoors in front of greenery and flowers, framed by a yellow hexagon. Below are her name, credentials, and a summary of her work in architecture and housing development.
A beige two-story apartment building with green trim and a balcony, surrounded by trees, is partially overlaid by a yellow and black graphic with text describing Baldwin Hills Village’s layout and architectural significance.
An orange map highlights locations of architectural sites on a route, with labeled stops. To the left, bold black text reads: “The Trail: Hess Highlights The Unheralded.” The Fort L.A. logo appears at the top right.
A smiling man with gray hair is pictured in a circular frame above a biography that highlights Alan Hess as an architect, historian, author, and contributor in modern architecture and urbanism.
A modern, single-story house with large windows and a flat roof is surrounded by lush landscaping. Text beside it describes the Harold Zook House as an example of uniquely Southern Californian Modern architecture.
A map of Los Angeles highlights the trail of small Neutra houses, with labeled points for specific locations: Lovell House, Tremaine House, Strathmore Apartments, VDL Studio/Residences, and Taylor House.
A woman holding a cat poses inside a hexagonal frame. Below, text introduces Barbara Lamprecht as an architectural historian, consultant, and author, highlighting her work on Richard Neutra and her academic background.
A modern white house with flat roofs and large windows is partly hidden by trees and shrubs. Text beside the image describes Richard Neutra’s design for the Beard House and its innovative use of materials.
A stylized map titled FORT Los Angeles shows a route along the coast with stops at various houses: Matson, Gardiner, Freeman, and Annenberg, labeled with page numbers. Text reads THE TRAIL: 1920’s NIGHTS.
A headshot of Russell Brown is centered above his name, the word Trailblazer, and a biography detailing his filmmaking and preservation work, against a black background.
Featured Image Courtesy FORT Trails is an endlessly accessible, remarkably curated, and deeply researched architectural discovery project that tells the story of "home" in Los Angeles through our city's renowned residential architecture. It provides monthly self-guided architectural tours for free to the public.