Cecilia (Lalla) Searle is a principal in the firm and a
registered landscape architect. She founded Searle and Searle
in 1975 with her husband after aquiring a degree in Landscape
Architecture from Rhode Island School of Design and a B.A.
in architecture and painting from Bennington College.

Cecilia’s strong interest in preserving historical landscapes
has resulted in many restoration projects throughout southern
New England. She has attended seminars at the Radcliffe
Seminars on historic landscape preservation and received a
Certificate in Historic Landscape Maintenance from the National
Parks Service. She has received a grant from the National
Endowment of the Arts and one from the Rhode Island State
Council of the Arts to research the evolution of residential
garden styles in New England.

She is the co-author of The Rural Landuse Primer of
Rhode Island and of a chapter in the book, Landscape for
Living, as well as author of several magazine articles.
She has lectured on garden styles for the Dublin Seminars
on New England Folklife and has taught Plants and Design at
Rhode Island School of Design.