When Barbara Warnell drives around Lewes, she takes notice of the homes in the historic district. After all, Warnell spent 15 years trying to protect them.

Warnell is the former chair of the city's historic preservation architectural review commission.

HPARC is the group tasked to preserve the look and character of the oldest parts of the First Town in the First State.

"It was challenging," Warnell said, while looking out at the view from her bayfront home in Port Lewes.

Warnell admits the commission has been a lightning rod for controversy.

She and her colleagues had to make decisions on contentious issues like the net reel relocation and Daisey house demolition.

But, Warnell said, it was all about being fair.

"There's no obvious right or wrong," she said. "If it were black-and-white, you wouldn't need HPARC. It requires judgment. Because something might be appropriate in one case, but not in another."

HPARC only has jurisdiction over the exterior of historic homes, a real contrast to Warnell's background as an interior designer.

Warnell was born in Passaic, N.J. Her family moved to Bucks County, Pa., when she was 12.

Her love of art and architecture began when she was a child.

"My father was an artist; he painted. It was his passion," she said. "He also made furniture. I used to rearrange the furniture in the basement in our house in New Jersey, our first house after my father got back from World War II."

Warnell attended Pratt University in Brooklyn, N.Y., where she majored in interior design. After graduation, she went to work for architectural firms in Wilmington.

"I took a lot of classes at the Delaware Art Museum, such as batik, silversmithing and pottery," Warnell said.

In 1973, Warnell relocated to Milford with her husband after he was hired as a chemist at DuPont.

After a divorce, she moved her office to Lewes in 1990.

"I subletted space above King's Ice Cream from architect and friend Jennifer Thompson McCann, and I had a few employees, but I preferred working alone," she said.

Warnell specialized in interior design and completed many projects for the state of Delaware and for Chesapeake Utilities.

She also did some design work for the late Tom Draper, owner of Draper Media. 

"I love space planning," she said. "It's like a puzzle, and I've become good at it. When you're good at something, you just enjoy it."

Warnell was asked to serve on a long list of boards, including the Milford Museum, Sussex County Arts Council, Rehoboth Art League and the Lewes Yacht Club.

"Lou Braithwaite, who owned the puzzle store at the time, asked me to join the Lewes Chamber of Commerce as vice president," she said.

Warnell spent two years as vice president, two years as president and two years as past president of the organization in the late 1990s. She worked closely with Betsy Reamer, the chamber's longtime executive director.

"Betsy was great. As other people have said, if Betsy's there, I'll go on the board, I'll be president, it doesn't matter, because Betsy does it right," Warnell said.

One of Warnell's first initiatives was to try and convince Realtors in the business district not to display photos of properties in their windows.

"People said we couldn't do anything about it, but Ted [Becker] paid attention," she said. "When one of his rental properties became available, he turned down an offer of higher rent from a real estate office and he said, 'Barbara, you're right, we have to be careful that Second Street doesn't become a lot of real estate offices."

As a member of the Lewes Historical Society board of directors, Warnell chaired the annual holiday house tour for 12 years.

Warnell was part of an artist group that included Rachel Grier-Reynolds, Jennifer Thompson McCann, Ilona Holland and Jane Ellan Golde.

"All of us came with some kind of design or art expertise, like pottery, batiking, writing or photography," she said.

Even though Warnell said she likes to be at home in Lewes, she has traveled a lot. Italy is one of her favorite destinations.

She has been there several times, with and without her partner, Michael Taylor.

"Prior to Michael, my friend Barbara Lloyd had a small travel group with people from Lewes that she would somewhat handpick. They were also friends, so it was a very agreeable group," Warnell said. "Barbara Vaughan and I did several of her trips together and one was Italy. We even rented a car. That was a lot of fun."

Warnell said she also enjoyed touring Frank Lloyd Wright houses in New York and Pennsylvania.

She said she and Taylor are planning a New England trip this fall.

"We don't travel as much as we'd like to; aging and other people's schedules get in the way," she said.

Warnell circled the conversation back to historic architecture here at home.

She was on committees that helped form HPARC from its predecessor, the historic preservation commission.

Warnell said she remembers trying to convince one councilman about the importance of historic preservation.

"Jud Bennett, who has since passed away, said he didn't understand why we even needed this. He thought it was a waste of time," she said. "I said, 'Well, right now, if there's an empty lot next to a house, or if there's a house there, I can tear it down and build a big glass and concrete building. I can build whatever I want as long as it meets code. And it finally computed. It finally got to him that there's a reason you want a review process."

Warnell retired from HPARC in 2025. She said the commission has gotten too political, but that Mike DiPaolo, the newly elected chair, should be able to bring the temperature down, if the city keeps its hands off. 

 "It is very unfortunate that in spite of all the national, supporting documentation that historic districts add so much value, there are still people in the Lewes city government that continue to sabotage the work of HPARC, which begs the question, why?" she asked. "HPARC is not there to make life difficult; it's there to make things better, to protect what's of value to you, such as the historic district."