Images of Lebanon Valley, PA
By Kari K. Ridge

The House That Kip Built
Architect Designs for Celebrities and Lebanon County Businesses

    It was while walking the mission revival style campus of Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, Calif., as a freshman that architect Kip Kelly saw his calling.
     That campus is so inspiring; it just made you feel like you were someplace important, Kelly says. I was taken by the effect architecture could have and the kind of influence it could make on people.
     Kelly studied architecture in college, then went to work for four different firms before starting his own business, Nest Architecture, in 1995.
     It's all about making people feel comfortable and want to spend time in your building, Kelly says. If a building doesn't work for the user, it's not a good building no matter how good it looks.
     The list of celebrities living in Kelly's designs includes Courteney Cox Arquette and Stephen Bochco. He also designed a new buildings for his former high school. These days, Kelly divides his times between California and Lebanon, where he now resides with his wife Cyja, and their three children, in the old Kreider Homestead, which Kelly is renovating.
     Kelly also designed the Marty's Music Store building in Lebanon and redesigned Allwein's Carpet One. Cyja says she is happy to return to her childhood community, and Kelly says he enjoys exploring local historic architecture.
     Lebanon County is full of beautiful, old buildings, and we're hoping to help preserve as much of the historic architecture as we can, Kelly says. This is a wonderful community and a great part of America.