In 1962, when Southwest Florida was still a patchwork of budding communities, Wiley Parker partnered with Fort Myers architect Bolton McBryde. When Bolton retired, Wiley brought on partners Bill Mudgett—a skilled designer, eager to escape cold Illinois winters—and Roger Smith, a human encyclopedia of construction knowledge. The trio established Parker Mudgett Smith Architects.
Now led by Bill’s son, Jeff Mudgett, the firm continues to shape the region. Here, Gulfshore Life board members Ellin Goetz and Sandy Stilwell Youngquist, and our editor in chief, Stephanie Granada, reflect on the firm’s impact.
History’s Architects
Ellin Goetz on the firm’s dedication to preserving the past
When Parker Mudgett Smith Architects joined the Edison and Ford Winter Estates restoration project in the early 2000s, the building’s wooden structure had been ravaged by termites. While most firms would pass on such a difficult project, PMSA saw the story behind the facade. “The project was a labor of love—it wasn’t going to make them rich,” says Ellin, who collaborated with the team to restore the property’s Mina Edison’s Moonlight Garden. “They loved Fort Myers, and they felt deeply that this project was an important part of its history.”
The team worked with Fort Myers’ Chris-Tel Construction, a firm backed by institutional knowledge of historic buildings. They took apart the home board by board, numbering and evaluating each piece, reusing what could be saved and recycling the odd pieces for use in later projects.
Courtesy Chris-Tel Construction
fort myers firm parker mudgett smith eeison and ford winter estate
From the Edison and Ford Winter Estates and Mina’s Moonlight Garden (pictured here) to Cypress Lake Middle School’s campus, the firm’s work spans historic restoration and new civic builds.
Their reputation has led to preservation projects throughout the region, from Punta Gorda’s A.C. Freeman House to Fort Myers projects like the Burroughs Home and Gardens and the prairie-style 1919 Langford-Kingston residence. “We learned the importance of community early,” says Bill, reflecting on how projects like these kept the spirit of the past alive, grounding the region in something greater.
“You have to understand the bones of old homes to understand how to build down here,” Jeff says. With each renovation, the firm approaches historic projects with curiosity, looking to the past to inform the present. In 2018, the firm completed work on the Collaboratory, rehabilitating Downtown Fort Myers’ old Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Depot and adding a LEED-certified, modern conference center. The depot’s repeating broad archways stand in purposeful contrast to the contemporary glass-walled addition—a physical manifestation of how the firm marries the railroad’s innovative history with the future-forward thinking happening within the present-day collective’s walls.
Courtesy Chris-Tel Construction
fort myers firm parker mudgett smith edison house stairs
Rooted in Place
Stephanie Granada on the firm’s connection to the land
Southwest Florida’s wild beauty serves as a sweeping backdrop for many Gulf Coast builds. For PMSA, the land is the foundation for projects.
In the early days, the trio fell in love with the landscape, squeezing sunset sails and swamp walks into 60-hour work weeks. Wiley, who was a fervent conservationist, drew on personal friendships to push projects forward. In the ’70s, he and his friend and longtime environmental educator Bill Hammond joined a group that canoed the Six Mile Cypress Slough, portaging and paddling through the grass- and cypress-lined wetland to prove that the waterway was navigable and worth protecting. Decades later, the firm built the preserve’s Interpretive Center, Lee County’s first LEED-certified building.
Environmental leaders recognize the firm’s dedication. The slough project caught the attention of Conservancy of Southwest Florida’s president and CEO, Rob Moher, who tapped the firm in 2020 to expand the nonprofit’s onsite discovery center and design the environmental studies dormitories. PMSA is spearheading the organization’s next chapter as lead architects on the John and Carol Walter Nature Experience—a 7,000-square-foot welcome center with a new amphitheater, elevated boardwalks, and a half-acre stormwater lake and enhanced filter marsh system to improve water quality. “I loved seeing that the Conservancy chose a local firm for the project,” Stephanie says.
Courtesy Jeff Mudgett/Conservancy of Southwest Florida
fort myers firm parker mudgett smith conservancy rendering
They are currently working on the Conservancy of Southwest Florida’s new discovery center.
In the sketches for the new center, branching green pillars emanate from the water like mangroves. Deep overhangs follow Florida Cracker vernacular, and long, clean lines echo the region’s flat terrain. “Florida itself is a major design inspiration,” Bill says. “It never failed me.”
A Lasting Foundation
Sandy Stilwell Youngquist on the firm’s generational legacy
“They’ve stood the test of time,” says Sanibel and Captiva-based entrepreneur Sandy, who met Wiley through competitive sailing in the late ’70s and hired the firm to redesign the docks of her Mariner’s Lodge on Fort Myers Beach.
Courtesy Parker Mudgett Smith Architects
fort myers firm parker mudgett smith cypress lake middle
Like Sandy, who comes from a multi-generational hospitality family, Jeff represents the firm’s next chapter. But following in his father’s footsteps didn’t happen automatically. While he planned on studying marine biology in college, Jeff felt the gravitational pull of his hometown and family’s roots and switched gears the summer before classes started. Flipping through the University of Florida’s academic catalogs, architectural courses held his attention longer than science classes—a subconscious pull, he muses, toward his father’s practice. He went on to earn a master’s degree in architecture from the University of California, Berkeley, and after graduating, spent the next two years working in Italy.
Courtesy Parker Mudgett Smith Architects
fort myers firm parker mudgett smith collaboratory entrance
Their work bridges the gap between Southwest Florida’s past and present. When the group remodeled the Collaboratory in 2018, they repurposed the archways of the site’s old Atlantic Coast Line Railroad depot and added a metal track-framed walkway where the old tracks sat.
When he returned to Fort Myers in 1992, the firm was working on three high schools at once—Naples, Immokalee and Lely. Jeff took over Lely. Drawing on his worldly training, he carved an Italian-style atrium into the windowless box, filling the space with natural light for the first time. Jeff threw himself into the work, leaning on his father, Wiley and Roger’s teachings as a foundation. As he developed his style, he kept those pre-established principles and collaborative relationships at the core, while carrying the firm forward.
Today, Jeff and his team, including longtime Southwest Florida architects Sean Gilmore and Jamie Crofoot, prioritize projects with impact, such as the Community Center of Boca Grande and Florida Gulf Coast University’s Lucas Hall—hubs for cultural and educational growth. “I grew up in Fort Myers. I am part of this community,” he says. “I chose it.”
Top photo: Over the years, PMSA has spearheaded dozens of restoration and preservation projects. Established in the late 1800s, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church remains one of Fort Myers’ oldest religious institutions. In 1969, the firm worked on the design and construction plan for updating the building.