Nancy Florence Architectural Collection

Born in Los Angeles, Nancy Florence (1935-2015) was an architectural designer based in northern California. Although Florence studied botany as an undergraduate at the University of California - Los Angeles, she became interested in architecture while abroad. She taught in Japan and used her air travel privileges - a result of her husband, Jon’s, career as a pilot - to visit India and Africa. She incorporated her interest in botany into her architectural career by using landscape settings to complement buildings. After relocating to Portola Valley, CA, her first project became remodeling the family house. Florence enlisted Morgan Stedman, a prominent Palo Alto architect, as her advisor before he retired.

She was among the earliest members of the Organization of Women Architects (founded in 1973) and joined the 1975 cohort of the Women’s School of Planning and Architecture at St. Joseph’s College in Biddeford, Maine. She graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1982 with a professional degree in architecture. he was involved with the California Women in Environmental Design, an umbrella organization of the Organization of Women Architects and Design Professionals. She also served on the California Architects Board for three years after being appointed by Governor Jerry Brown in 1976, advocating for gender equity in architectural licensing. She was one of the first public members to serve on the commission. She interned at the San Luis Obispo Solar Group before opening an independent practice named “The Design Collaborative” in the 1980s. Her work included residential designs and studios throughout California and the Northwest.