Phil Thomason - Principal

Phil Thomason is principal of one of the oldest preservation firms in the country. His breadth of experience, passion for livable spaces and mediation skills all come into play as he helps clients identify and articulate the value of their historic resources and communicate that value to the community.

A native of Georgia and Kentucky, he grew up in historic neighborhoods and experienced their intrinsic value. Upon completion of his B.A., he pursued a career in public radio before returning to school in 1978 to earn an M.A. in historic preservation. After graduation, Phil worked as a preservation planner with Building Conservation Technology, Inc. until 1982, when he founded Thomason and Associates.

Phil’s work has reflected the evolution of the historic preservation movement in America. Focusing first on National Register nominations and cultural resource surveys, he soon expanded his practice to include  preservation plans, Section 106 environmental review, battlefield plans, and historic tax certification projects. Initially focused on the Southeast, Phil has now completed over 800 projects in thirty-six states across the country.

Phil has produced over 80 design guideline manuals for communities as diverse as Salt Lake City, Madison, Indiana, Montclair, New Jersey and Beaufort, North Carolina. In recent years, Phil’s design guidelines have included recommendations for resilience to climate change such as the elevation of historic houses and “hardening” of commercial structures.

Phil’s projects include award winning preservation plans for Little Rock, Arkansas and Cary, North Carolina. He is a frequent speaker on historic preservation issues and serves as an Advisor to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Phil resides in a Tudor Revival style home built in 1926 located in the Kenner Manor National Register Historic District and Conservation Overlay Zone in Nashville.

• Advisor, National Trust for Historic Preservation
• Tennessee Preservation Trust Board
• Historic Nashville, Inc.
• Society for Commercial Archaeology
• Trail of Tears Association

• M.A., Historic Preservation, University of Middle Tennessee, 1981
• B.A., Knox College, 1975

The Walker Collaborative is the planning practice of Philip Walker of Nashville. Phil has over 30 years’ experience in urban planning projects including downtown and neighborhood revitalization, battlefield preservation, comprehensive planning, implementation tools and community visioning. He has outstanding experience in land-use planning including zoning issues, conservation easements and “smart growth” techniques. Thomason and Associates and The Walker Collaborative have worked together on numerous projects including the award winning Little Rock, Arkansas Citywide Historic Preservation Plan, the Garden City, Kansas Historic Preservation Plan and the Georgetown, South Carolina Design Review Guidelines.

Encore Interpretive Design is the planning and interpretive company led by Principal David Currey. David received his Master’s in Public History from Middle Tennessee State University and entered the museum field in 1996 as an independent consultant. After a term as Executive Director at Travellers Rest Plantation and Museum in Nashville, he moved back into full-time consulting in 2008 for museums, historic sites, and preservation organizations. Thomason and Associates and Encore Interpretive Design have teamed together on projects such as the Wood Lake Battlefield Preservation Plan in Granite Falls, Minnesota, an African American Heritage Interpretation project in New Bern, North Carolina and and various research and marketing projects for the Civil War Trust in Washington, D.C.

Jim Thompson has more than 40 years’ experience as an Historic Architect, designing projects in accordance with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation. He has worked with Thomason and Associates on a variety of projects including assessments of dams and powerhouses of the Tennessee Valley Authority, historic structure reports, and tax certification projects. Jim is a partner with Centric Architecture Inc. which is based in Nashville.