He holds degrees from Harvard College and Boston University and is currently first vice president of the Vernacular Architecture Forum, the premier national scholarly organization for the study of ordinary buildings and landscapes. He is the author of Masonic Temples: Freemasonry, Ritual Architecture and Masculine Archetypes. An American Studies scholar with fields of research including public history, American folk art, and the history of surfing, he is currently working on a manuscript examining the national fascination with the Shakers in the years between 1925 and 1965.