By tackling design and restoration projects no one else would touch, Zarina Fazaldin brings her love of art and historic preservation to the arts community in Richmond.

Kenyan-born, Ms. Fazaldin wanted to pursue the American Dream while growing up in Tanzania. In 1987, she arrived in Richmond for graduate school at Virginia Commonwealth University after attending college in India in 1986.

With dogged persistence, she worked with resolve to make ends meet—from waitressing at the Jefferson Hotel to teaching Swahili at VCU. Other pursuits included elder care and teaching special education courses. She toiled to remain in America because returning to Tanzania meant few opportunities in her homeland.

“I had to either work or go back home, and I didn’t want to return home,” she explained. “There was nothing for me there. I wanted to do more with my life. Many immigrants work hard to stay in the U.S. because we don’t take the opportunities here for granted.”

Ms. Fazaldin and her team at L&Z Historic LLC have spent the last 20 years successfully preserving and designing historic Richmond properties, which she’s turned into affordable housing.

Her latest project—a three-year restoration of a historic Jackson Ward home—received a Golden Hammer Award for Best Restoration from the Historic Richmond and Storefront for Community Design partnership in 2021.

The 10,000-square-foot project on St. James Street in Jackson Ward is the culmination of her restoration work that started in 2016. Project development was hampered by COVID-related material delays.

She was challenged with labor shortages for highly skilled preservation workers who could preserve every detail of the original structure, which is her highest priority when restoring a structure.

“I wanted to bring it back to life so everyone can appreciate its historical significance, keeping everything intact—the windows, doors, everything,” she said.

Fallen into grave disrepair, the home was designed by Black architect, Charles Thaddeus Russell, in the early 1900s for Dr. William Hughes, a prominent Black Richmond doctor. It is one of Black Richmond’s historical and architectural treasures and a testament to Jackson Ward’s thriving economic success during that time. In 1948, after Dr. Hughes’ death, the house became the Richmond Workshop for the Blind. As such, it was the first African-American workshop and training center for the blind and visually impaired in Richmond.

“I’m so excited that I’ve lived to see this renovation,” said Shirley Hawkins, former assistant supervisor and secretary at the Richmond Workshop for the Blind. Ms. Hawkins recently published a book that chronicles the history of the workshop.

“There was never a dull moment at the workshop and I’m so happy to see the transformation.”

At a young age, Ms. Fazaldin had ideas about being a designer but didn’t want to tell her family about those desires. Her father was in construction in Tanzania.

Although she wouldn’t have been able to work in construction in her home country as a woman, she believes her experiences with him — watching him work — gave her the confidence to pursue a career renovating historic structures in Richmond.

She now lives in the former Hughes home, along with tenants who occupy four units in the building. Her apartment is a three-bedroom unit with an office. The large, open-concept living, dining, and kitchen area serves as a hub for arts and culture — her vision for the space she meticulously renovated and designed.

“I want this to be a welcoming space for everyone. I want to open my home to artists and musicians who come to Richmond,” adds Ms. Fazaldin, a champion for the Richmond arts scene. “I want them to have a nice place to stay while they’re here.”

In March, she hosted a farewell dinner and fundraiser for Chief Joseph Ole Tipanko, Cicilia Seleyian and Kilenyi John Parsitau, who came to Richmond from Maasailand in Kenya. Money raised that evening from the sale of handmade beaded jewelry and colorful indigenous textiles will help a Maasai school for girls in Kenya. She’s also hosted musicians from Mexico and Ethiopia.

The open-concept living, dining, and kitchen where Ms. Fazaldin hosts events is in the extension of the property that served as the subcontract department for the Richmond Workshop for the Blind, according to Ms. Hawkins.

“I love that the space is now used for weddings, book signings, and all types of events,” Ms. Hawkins said. “The workers did assembly-type work in that room for many local companies like R.J. Reynolds, Phillip Morris and A.H. Robbins. They enjoyed the work and were able to support themselves with their earnings.”

Ms. Falzaldin mentors other women interested in historic renovation but warns that the work requires an interest and a passion for a historic preservation project to be successful.

“Historic credits help, but it all starts with your relationship with bankers,” she said. “Providing bankers with knowledge of historic renovation and preservation will give them the confidence that you know what you’re doing.”

The renovation of the Hughes home marks the end of Ms. Fazaldin’s restoration work. She’s now focused on new construction in historic Carver and Jackson Ward, which will begin later this year.

Yet her passion for historic renovation is everlasting.

“It’s a labor of love,” she said. “You never know what you’ll find when restoring a property. For the Hughes house, we had to deal with major waterproofing in the basement. The joists were rotted from termites and water damage. Finding skilled workers to do the restoration of the brick or windows can be extremely challenging and costly.”