First of all, do no damage

For their first eight years, the Barada- Fuetsch Architects firm operated out of the ninth floor of a downtown Reno office building.

Many of its projects were in the downtown area, so its location was convenient.

"But it also took 20 minutes to get from our office to the street, what with the elevators and everything!" remembers Ted Fuetsch.

In their search for property, he and partner John Barada stumbled upon a home on Lander Street that was built in 1910.

It was in complete disrepair, but the architects saw value in it.

They bought it, completely restored it, and have now spent 10 years in it.

"We're caretakers of this building," says Fuetsch."The operative concept when taking care of historic buildings is not to do damage to it, and any changes you make need to be reversible, so that someone coming along in another 100 years can understand what this building was like in 1910, and 2010."

It's that approach that guides Barada- Fuetsch through all their projects, historic or not.

In its 18 years, the firm has had quite an effect on the look of the Truckee Meadows.

The firm's portfolio includes the Eldorado Hotel/Casino tower; the Douglas County and Northwest Reno libraries; Promenade on the River; a number of historic buildings at the University of Nevada, including Lincoln Hall; and the Kal Kan Dog Food Plant, among others.

Historic restoration projects include the Fourth Ward School in Virginia City, and the Eureka Opera House in Eureka,Nevada, which earned Barada-Fuetsch a 1994 award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Each restoration project is unique, but all projects typically go through the same general phases.

First comes stabilizing the building to save it from deteriorating, by fixing damaged roofs or crumbling foundations.

Second, return it to a useful condition.

This may include enabling the floor to be walked upon, replacing windows, or clearing asbestos.

Finally comes planning for its new use; unfortunately, many historic buildings are at the mercy of budgets and funding from large private donations, and don't make it to this phase.

Such was the case with the Fourth Ward School improvements, which took almost 10 years to complete.

In the case of the Eureka Opera House, the mining industry left Eureka County with a large budget in the early 1990s.

That large budget made the full $2.5 million restoration possible in two years.HVAC and electrical systems were replaced; a new kitchen facility capable of serving 300 was added, as were elevators, contemporary restrooms and handrails on the stairs.

The National Guide for Historic Preservation dictates that if it's not possible to identify natural components from a historic building's time period, the components should be clearly recognizable as new, as opposed to a weak match.

"When the Eureka Opera House was built, the concept of a handrail was unheard of," explains Barada."We're responsible for following code; we have to put handrails in, but they're spray-painted steel handrails, and it's quite clear it wouldn't have been designed that way."

During the restoration process, crews found candy wrappers from the 1930s - remnants of its time as a movie theater.

Even the garbage offered clues to its history.

Stories like this are part of what makes historic preservation special, says Barada, who especially enjoys the research process that each project invariably entails.

While historic restoration isn't his only focus, and the additional research and code restrictions certainly don't make it easy, Barada says it's still very rewarding in many ways."Everyone loves to see an old building come back into use, and be viable again.

I mean, have you ever heard anybody say,'Why did they restore that crap?' On the other hand, you might see a brand new building where they say,'My God, why'd they build that?' So it's emotionally satisfying." Plus, the land remains untouched, which is also very rewarding.

"The planet has finite resources.

Ultimately,we have to stop using them," Barada says."So the better and smarter we can become about not expending additional energy to build a new brick, but just leave the brick that's there, the better off you'll be in sustaining our cities and our land.