Implementing Preventive Architectural Conservation: Do Historic Property Stewards in the United States Possess the Tools to Meet the Challenge?

This study examines the role in the United States of a preventive approach—termed "preventive conservation" for the purposes of this thesis - towards the care for cultural heritage, specifically cultural heritage as represented by historic buildings interpreted as historic house museums. Sixty professionals, including executive directors, curators, and conservators from across the country, responded to a survey in which they were asked to consider conservation terminology, approaches, and implementation as applied to their organization's approach towards the care for its historic buildings. Through the analysis of these responses, the research questions that this thesis seeks to answer are: Do historic house museum stewards in the United States embrace and implement a preventive approach, and how might they be better equipped to do so? To enrich the study with a broader context for comparison, "best practices" of the international community in preventive conservation of historic buildings have been identified.