Kelly Gove

Architect

Kelly’s childhood was spent on the east coast where the built environment is steeped in history and architecture means proportion, scale and craftsmanship - where time richly patines the edges of materials and fine detailing. Her passion for architecture was ultimately lit at the footsteps of La Sagrada Familia on a family trip to Barcelona at the age of 13.

She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies with Honors at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign which included a year studying at the Ecole d’Architecture in Versailles, France which further entrenched her passion and widened her lens of the field.

Her passion for travel initially drew her into the hospitality sector, but her devotion to preserving the architecture of the past wooed her to historic preservation. Ultimately, it was the deep relationships formed through residential work that inspired her the most and the experience of coming to know each family’s unique story, their vision for how they want to experience their property; appreciating how the site can engage and enhance their experience; and ultimately translating that into architecture that has been the most rewarding.

After 10 years with Martis Camp (a luxury development in the North Tahoe region) where her role, ultimately as Director, was to usher luxury single family homes through the rigorous design review process and overseeing their construction, she decided to launch Dovetail Architecture where she could synthesize her passions and create refined, bespoke, retreats that will leave a legacy.