Cristiana Peña
Cristiana Peña is the Director of Social Media for CIRCA Old Houses. CIRCA has the core mission of connecting real estate professionals and homeowners, selling architecturally distinguished and historically-rich old houses to people specifically looking to buy a property with character and craftsmanship. Cristiana has been with CIRCA since its founding in 2013. She brings to her role a rich background in historic preservation, community advocacy and communications. Cristiana is a graduate of Columbia University’s Masters program in Historic Preservation (2008), where she focused on architectural history with an emphasis on documentation and community narrative through oral history. She then worked in community advocacy on New York’s Upper West Side, collaborating with community members to evaluate proposals for work on landmark-designated buildings — from stoop restorations to rooftop additions to ground-up new buildings within historic districts — and advocating for the designation of new properties. This nonprofit work introduced Cristiana to the power of digital media to rally the public around a cause, and she subsequently led the charge on numerous campaigns. She has since worked with numerous other preservation nonprofits, arts and cultural sites, and others to build and foster community. Cristiana recently purchased her first new (old) house, built c. 1782 in New York’s Washington County. CIRCA stands out from so many other real estate-focused social media because all key leaderships have advanced degrees in historic preservation and/or architectural history. The CIRCA website has 2 million monthly pageviews and ensures that its listings speak to the old house lover’s sensibilities which excite them to reach out to agents and learn more.
