Isaac Long Terrell and Ann Terrell Baker research on historic Rockingham County houses

Isaac Long Terrell (1918-1993) was born in the Linville-Edom community of Rockingham County, Virginia to Charles H. and Mary Davis Terrell. He attended the Maryland Institute of Art and graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a degree in design architecture. Terrell received his master's degree from Madison College (now James Madison University) and Ecoles-Des Beaus Arts of Fontainebleau, France. Terrell's research into historic Rockingham County houses began with his Madison College master's thesis completed in 1968 and titled "A Century of Creative Domestic Architectural Expression in Rockingham County from 1750 to 1850." From his original thesis, Terrell published Old Houses in Rockingham County, 1750 to 1850 in 1970. Terrell's daughter, Ann Terrell Baker, later republished a revised edition of her father's book titled Old Houses in Rockingham County Revisited: 1750-1850 (2000).

Terrell served in the Army during World War II. He worked as an interior decorator and retired from Davis & Associates, an architecture firm based in Harrisonburg. Terrell married Helen Wine in 1949. Their daughter, Ann Terrell Baker, continued Terrell's research on historic Rockingham County houses after his death in 1993. Baker graduated from Harrisonburg High School and received her Bachelor of Arts from Greensboro College. She earned her Masters of Education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and taught art in the Guilford County Public School System for two decades. She returned to Harrisonburg permanently in 1996 with her husband Robert Baker.