John Elgin Woolf: Marrakesh Country Club (Palm Desert, Calif.)
The community of Palm Desert was the desert retreat for many Hollywood celebrities, and the Marrakesh Country Club was one of many golf resorts that catered to that clientele. John Woolf was commissioned by John Dawson, an amateur golfer and real estate developer, to design 364 Hollywood Regency style condominiums, grouped into 14 separate communities within the club, each community had its own pool and pavilion, all designed by Woolf. Each villa and pool house was painted pink and white, with a mansard roof, tall Pullman door, symmetrical designs, and airy, spacious rooms.
John Elgin Woolf, architect and designer
John E. Woolf papers, Architecture and Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara.
Architecture and Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara.
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John Elgin Woolf: Office (Los Angeles, Calif.)
The personal office and studio of John Elgin Woolf on Melrose Place in Los Angeles, was a multi-building compound with an imposing entrance door, secluded courtyards, and light-filled rooms. The office allowed Woolf to bring his specific design aesthetic for his clients' homes into view in his office space. Designing in an image-conscious city for celebrity clientele allowed Woolf to bring many of those details to life in this space to show clients his ideas.
John Woolf, designer Robert C. Cleveland, photographer
George Washington Smith: Lobero Theater (Santa Barbara, Calif.)
The Lobero Theater on Canon Perdido and Anacapa Streets in downtown Santa Barbara, got its start in the 1870s as a vaudeville house. By the early 1920s, it had fallen into disrepair and Smith was asked to design and build a new theater in the Spanish Colonial style he was best known for. With it's white stucco walls and red tile roof, the theater was a pre-cursor to the architectural style that has dominated downtown Santa Barbara since the earthquake of 1925. Smith's associate, Lutah Maria Riggs, was one of the first women to receive her architectural license in the state of California, and she worked for Smith until his death in 1930. She was a skilled renderer, and many of Smiths' works were rendered by Riggs.
George Washington Smith, architect Lutah Maria Riggs, renderer
George Washington Smith papers, Architecture and Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara.
George Washington Smith: Steedman house (Montecito, Calif.)
George Fox Steedman was a manufacturing executive from St. Louis who commissioned Smith to work with him on designing and constructing Casa del Herrero (House of the Blacksmith) on East Valley Road in Montecito. They created a house and gardens (designed by Ralph Stevens) on eleven acres, along with associated servants quarters, garages, and gardeners cottages. The estate was designed in the Andalusian style of Spanish Colonial Revial, with white stucco walls, small windows with wrought iron grilles and red tile roofs.
George Washington Smith, architect Lutah Maria Riggs, renderer and architect
George Washington Smith: Gavit addition (Montecito, Calif.)
The E. Palmer Gavit residence was originally built in 1919 by Reginald Johnson; Smith designed an addition to the main house, as well as outbuildings. The property was originally named "Cuesta Linda," then "Tanglewood," and eventually Madame Ganna Waleska gave it the name "Lotusland." The gardens, originally designed by Ralph Stevens, with alterations and additions by Lockwood de Forest, have made the property an internationally famous garden site.
George Washington Smith, architect Reginald Johnson, architect Ralph Stevens, landscape architect
Rudolph Schindler: Barnsdall Director's House elevations (Los Angeles, Calif.)
The blueprints for the elevations of the Director's House (House A) show the Prairie influence on Wright's design. With a long row of clearstory windows, concrete walls, and horizontal lines, the house clearly shows the Wright design. Wright brought Rudolph Schindler out to Los Angeles from his home in Chicago to manage the construction of the Hollyhock House and the rest of the buildings on Olive Hill. The Director's house is currently undergoing renovations.
Rudolph M. Schindler, architect Frank Lloyd Wright, architect
R. M. Schindler papers, Architecture & Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara.
Architecture & Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara.
Rudolph Schindler: Barnsdall pool and pergola (Los Angeles, Calif.)
This Schindler drawing of a wading pool and pergola on the Olive Hill grounds dates from 1925. Schindler continued to work for Barnsdall after she fired Wright, and the pool and pergola are examples of the ongoing work on the property.
Rudolph Schindler: Barnsdall bedroom and bathroom alterations (Los Angeles, Calif.)
In 1925, Schindler altered Aline Barnsdall's bedroom and ensuite bathroom in the Hollyhock House. He altered the layout of the bathroom and paneled the walls and ceiling in oak. Schindler also altered the bedroom for Aline's daughter. These interior photographs are from the Schindler collection.
Rudolph Schindler: Barnsdall Director's House floor plans (Los Angeles, Calif.)
The original idea for the Barnsdall site was that it was to have an on-site theater, housing for actors and staff, as well as the main house. The Director's House, also referred to as House A was designed by Wright and built with Schindler as the on-site project manager, along with FLW's son, Lloyd Wright. The Director's House is located on a corner of the property and is currently undergoing renovations.
Rudolph Schindler, architect Frank Lloyd Wright, architect
John Elgin Woolf: Vance house (Beverly Hills, Calif.)
The house for James Vance on Hillcrest Road in Beverly Hills is considered another residence with significant Hollywood Regency style and attributes. With a tall brick privacy wall, leading to an oversize entry door, topped with an octagonal standing seam copper roof, along with the single-story layout surrounding a pool, the house has all of the classic Woolf hallmarks. Vance was a dentist, who had a successful practice in Beverly Hills. With it's classic pool and cabana, the exterior of the house was used for celebrity photo shoots in the 1950s.
Rudolph Schindler: Barnsall house interiors (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Some of the hallmarks of Schindler's later works can be seen in these interior photographs. The built-in furniture, focus on natural light, and the use of wood on the walls and ceiling are architectural details seen throughout his career in various residences.
Rudolph Schindler: Barnsdall house exterior (Los Angeles, Calif.)
This photograph of the exterior of the house shows the growth of landscaping along the front and patio areas.
George Washington Smith: Bryce house (Hope Ranch, Santa Barbara, Calif.)
The unincorporated community of Hope Ranch was developed in the early 1920s by the Santa Barbara Estates Inc. company, which was owned by Harold Chase, and Peter Bryce was one of the main stakeholders. Bryce was also one of the early residents, with this house designed by GW Smith in 1925, and built in 1926-1927. The property, a 12000 square foot house on 52 acres of oceanfront land, was also known as "Florestal" due to the Bryce's being avid horticulturalists.
George Washington Smith: Douglas house (Montecito, Calif.)
The Malcolm Douglas house on Sycamore Canyon Road in Montecito was completed in 1929, and is also known as Los Suenos ("The Dreams"). Douglas, a New York doctor, and his wife, Rachel Peabody Douglas, had Smith design a house to showcase the view of the Pacific Ocean and Channel Islands, with a long curving driveway and many landscape features including a pool and lily pond.
George Washington Smith, architect Lutah Maria Riggs, architect and renderer
Montecito, Calif.; Santa Barbara, Calif.
This photograph of the front of the house with trees and landscaping was altered (possibly by Davidson himself) to add vines and leaves to the exterior walls and balconies of the house. In this view, the first floor terrace is not yet enclosed, and the second floor sun deck is on the upper right, prior to an addition by the Lappen family in the 1970s.
Julius Ralph Davidson papers, Architecture and Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara.
In this 1968 version of the long range development plan, the campus footprint expanded to include the Storke Campus area along El Colegio and Los Carneros Road, and the West Campus area around Coal Oil Point and the Devereux Slough.
Charles Luckman Associates, executive architects
University of California, Santa Barbara Campus Building records, Architecture and Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara.
Location Map of the New Santa Barbara Campus
This early map shows the existing county roads and the roads on the former Marine Air Base. Hand-drawn arrows indicate traffic flow from Goleta and Santa Barbara towards the new campus. This map shows many of the roads that are still in use today, as well as a few which no longer exist (especially the roads on airport property).
Master Plan- Progressive Development, Stage 1, 1952
This is a copy of an image which shows the layout of Marine Air Base Santa Barbara buildings (in yellow), with the addition of the first two University of California, Santa Barbara College buildings (in red). Roads and parking lots are shown in brown, and the rows of eucalyptus trees are shown in long rows along the roads and boundary with Isla Vista. The two new university buildings, Webb Hall and the original library, would have been under construction at the time this map was made in 1952.
Santa Barbara, Calif.; Goleta, Calif.; Isla Vista, Calif.
This early plan from Charles Luckman Associates shows a greater density of buildings in the central campus core, with multiple buildings surrounding the central and north quadrangles. Physical and Biological Science buildings are grouped on the east side of campus, along with the Social Sciences. The Humanities, Arts, and Music are in the center of the area, with "Professional Schools" near the western edge, closer to Isla Vista. Large parking lots are scattered throughout campus, though the central area is free from roads and vehicles.
Soule & Murphy: bird's eye view of campus
In 1950, Santa Barbara architecture firm Soule and Murphy developed a master plan for the campus. Initially, the college was to be a small liberal-arts college (with a maximum enrollment of 3500 students), not a large research university. The Soule and Murphy master plan shows a large semi-circle of buildings facing an amphitheater near the lagoon, with another wide plaza surrounded by buildings also facing south. In addition to these structures, there were recreational fields on the northern end of the mesa overlooking the airport, following an existing running track and adjacent road. Soule and Murphy took advantage of the oceanfront site by orienting the campus toward the ocean in a series of Beaux Arts-style quadrangles and plazas, which were to be surrounded by academic buildings.
Curlett & Beelman: Eastern Columbia, Broadway elevation
This exterior elevation of the Broadway side of the building displays the detailed calculations involved in designing and constructing a building of this size and complexity of exterior details. The exterior stonework is not specified for each window bay, but shown once or twice, then noted to repeat.
Curlett & Beelman records, Architecture and Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara.
Curlett & Beelman: Eastern Columbia, Ninth Street elevation
This view of the Ninth Street side of the building shows the second entrance to the lobby, just to the right of the Delivery entrance ramp. This ramp was a motorized vehicle entrance to the two-level basement, which was a delivery access point and parking for the building's tenants. The horizontal lines of the street-level shop windows indicate movement, while the vertical lines and patterns of the upper floors highlight the size and volume of the building.
Curlett & Beelman: Eastern Columbia, western elevation
With other tall buildings flanking the Eastern Columbia building along the west and north sides, the detailed exterior elevations were not needed along the entire face of the side. In this western elevation, only the first three bays are noted as needing to be finished with terra cotta tiles and gold accents, whereas the rest of the side was a plain wall.
Curlett & Beelman: Eastern Columbia, north elevation
The north elevation of the building also abutted another tall building at the time of construction, so the detailed terra cotta workmanship along the north side only extends for two window bays before a plain blank wall is indicated on the plans. However, on this view, the set-backs on the floors just below the clock tower are indicated with additional gold details. Lines along the side of the drawing denote the height in feet and inches for each of the floors and the clock tower. The total height of the building is 235 feet, well above the 150-foot limit imposed on buildings by the City of Los Angeles.
Curlett & Beelman: Eastern Columbia, clock tower
This sheet of drawings shows the clock tower face, section view of the tower, as well as the structural supports. The top of the building, with the word EASTERN emblazoned on all four sides along with the clock and its' distinctive blue and gold colors, have showcased the building as a landmark on the downtown Los Angeles skyline. The clock had been inoperative for many years prior to the renovation of the building into loft apartments. In 2005, the clock was ceremonially re-started to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the building. As part of the condominium conversion, a pool and spa were added to the roof-- with views of the famous clock and sign.
Curlett & Beelman: Eastern Columbia, details
This sheet of very specific upper-floor terra cotta details highlights the specific measurements and design decorations used on both the tenth floor specifically, and on the upper floors in general. The sheet contains details, sections, and elevations for specific corners, spandrels, and window details.
Curlett & Beelman: Eastern Columbia, floor plans
The first floor plan and basement plans shown on this sheet are the basic construction plans. The owner, Eastern Columbia Outfitting Company used their own designers to complete the interiors beyond what was outlined here. The first floor plan shows the delivery entrance on 9th Street, with a turn-table for delivery vehicles to be turned around and face forward to return to the street. The basement plan shows the build-out for men's and women's restrooms and locker rooms, as well as stariwells, elevators, and other mechanical and electrical equipment.
Irving J. Gill: Gill office (San Diego, Calif.)
The photograph in the reception area of the office depicts the Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcalá, the first Franciscan mission in New Spain. William Hebbard and Irving Gill (Hebbard and Gill partnership, 1896-1907) stabilized the building in 1899-1900 for the California Landmarks Club. According to his nephew Louis Gill, Irving studied the building closely to understand its simple dignity. The second image shows brushes, paints, and smocks, as well as photographs of Hebbard and Gill designs on the wall, including the Ellen Mason house (1903) and the First Methodist Episcopal Church (1905-07), and a 1914 issue of House and Garden, which includes an article about Gill’s work. Gill’s fascination with concrete as an inexpensive, fireproof building material prompted his intensive experiments with concrete formulations, using the bags of sand, water jug, scales, and other instruments for testing concrete mixtures.
Irving John Gill papers, Architecture and Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum, University of California, Santa Barbara
Architecture and Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum, University of California, Santa Barbara
Irving J. Gill: Cositt house elevations (Coronado, Calif.)
The designs from the Hebbard and Gill partnership were eclectic, leaning toward English cottages with Arts and Crafts influence, but included Neo-classical, Gothic, Queen Anne, Mission Revival, and Prairie School styles. In this drawing of a house for Mrs. F.B. Cossitt, the exterior elevations are annotated to include faint red lines indicating the level of each floor and stairwells. Small drawings of specific details and sections are squeezed in between the elevations, to add clarification to certain portions of the drawing.
Irving J. Gill: Alice Lee and Katherine Teats houses (San Diego, Calif.)
Alice Lee (a San Diego socialite and second cousin of Theodore Roosevelt’s first wife) and Katherine Teats commissioned two distinct house groups from Gill. In 1905 Gill designed a house for Lee and Teats on Seventh Avenue, with adjacent rental houses, all in the Prairie style, on land purchased from George Marston, another client who built a significant house nearby, currently a museum and historic landmark. Hazel Waterman, then working in Gill’s office, did the drawings. The landscape was by Kate Sessions. In the period photographs, the streets are unpaved and the upper stories of the houses contain sleeping porches-- open air rooms with ample cross-ventilation in a time before air conditioning.
Irving J. Gill: Wangenheim house (San Diego, Calif.)
Hebbard and Gill designed an English cottage for Wangenheim, a civic leader, owner of a grocery store business, and the father-in-law of Melville Klauber, another Gill client. San Diego was a small town and Hebbard and Gill worked with most of its prominent citizens, reflecting the significance of the firm in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Irving J. Gill: Bailey house (La Jolla, Calif.)
Frank Mead worked in the Hebbard and Gill office beginning about 1904. He and Gill formed a seven-month partnership in 1907, when the H & G partnership ended. Before joining the office, Mead, though trained as an architect, worked actively, and successfully, for the repatriation of lands to the Mohave-Apache (Yavapai) Indians in 1904. He was helped in his efforts by his friends: Charles Fletcher Lummis, the founder of the Landmarks Club and editor of Out West magazine; Natalie Curtis, ethnomusicologist of Indian songs and friend of Alice Klauber, Charles Douglas and Wheeler Bailey. Douglas and Bailey were sympathetic to the plight of displaced Native Americans and collected their art and crafts. While this house had gas lighting, there is a note on the plan regarding telephone service near the kitchen.
Irving J. Gill: Klauber house (San Diego, Cailf.)
This house had a simplified exterior form, with a slight Japanese flavor in the tilt of the roof, and a warm Arts and Crafts interior. Melville Klauber was from San Diego’s growing merchant class, and married to the sister of Julius Wangenheim. Klauber made room in his house for a studio for his own sister, Alice Klauber, a painter who had studied with American artist, Robert Henri. Alice was friends with Natalie Curtis, the ethnomusicologist and collector of Native American songs; Frank Mead; and Charles Douglas and Wheeler Bailey. Alice was later the chairperson for the Panama Californian Exposition’s Art Exhibition section.
Irving J. Gill: Laughlin house (Los Angeles, Calif.)
This is the first Los Angeles building that Gill designed on his own. The house has a classic center hall plan and an enclosed outdoor court. He typically oriented his plans so that one was drawn toward the light and landscape at the back of the house. Abstract Doric columns supported unfinished logs to create vine-covered pergolas. Modern conveniences included a garbage disposal, vacuum cleaner outlets in each room, and a car wash in the garage. Laughlin also commissioned the Laughlin Theater (Long Beach) and planning for Casa Grandes (the Laughlin Park development, Los Angeles) from Gill.
Irving J. Gill: Miltmore house (South Pasadena, Calif.)
The austere Miltmore house is generously “ornamented by nature.” Gill sited the house to preserve the many trees on the sprawling lot and placed long loggias alongside the front and rear elevations. The interior is gracious though simple, designed to be easy to keep clean. Gill raised the floors of the closets to keep out dust, and eliminated all moldings. The roof holds a solar hot water heater and skylights. The master bathroom includes a newly popular feature: a shower.
Irving J. Gill: Dodge house (Los Angeles, Calif.)
The Dodge house was located on Kings Road, just north of the future site of Schindler’s own 1921 house. Considered Gill’s masterpiece, the design was widely praised for, as historian Leland Roth wrote," revealing a functional asymmetry whose ornament was derived solely from the studied geometry of the sharp openings in plain walls." The house was bulldozed, after a long preservation effort, on February 9, 1970. The shock of that loss helped launch the Los Angeles Conservancy, founded in 1978. Gill assembled his own crew to build this and other houses in the L.A. area, in order to get exactly what he wanted. The house was built of reinforced concrete, with metal windows and had many modern conveniences. The layering and piling of cubes and rectangular forms in the Dodge and Clarke houses resembles Native American pueblo buildings. Schindler and Wright consciously borrowed from these native structures, but it’s not clear what Gill’s immediate sources were.
Irving J. Gill: Timken house (San Diego, Calif.)
This 18-room house built for the steel manufacturer, Henry Timken, was Gill’s largest to date. Gill placed the house close to the street, leaving room for enclosed courts and a large garden. Eloise Roorbach’s contemporary article noted that the “court is the center of the home life,” and praised the design for, “not a single ornament mars the pure symmetry of [the house].”
Irving J. Gill: Clarke house (Santa Fe Springs, Calif.)
Built on 60 acres of orange groves, the Clarke estate was Gill’s last major residential project. Constructed of poured in place reinforced concrete, the house measures 8,000 square feet. Gill’s drawings note that Gill and Pearson built the house using the “Gill System.” The Clarkes called their “ranch house,” Krankhaven (in German, a healthy haven). The Clarke house plan bears a remarkable similarity to that of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hollyhock house (1917-1921) in Los Angeles for Aline Barnsdall, on which Lloyd Wright and Rudolf Schindler worked. When oil was discovered on their land shortly after they moved in, the Clarkes moved elsewhere, including to land in the Coachella Valley where they established a date farm. Marie Rankin was a patron of the arts in Los Angeles and, among other efforts, donated the land for the Hollywood Bowl, for which Lloyd designed two shells, in 1927 and 1928.
Irving J. Gill: Ellen Scripps house (La Jolla, Calif.)
A book could be written about Gill’s women clients, and Ellen Scripps would be a significant chapter. She helped her brothers build a successful newspaper business and moved to La Jolla in 1897, when the town had “cow paths in lieu of streets.” The success of the Scripps newspaper syndicate allowed her to live independently and to make significant contributions to La Jolla. When her first house burned down, she asked Gill to design a fireproof house for the site. In a 1915 diary entry, Scripps described visiting Gill in his LA office to see the plans for her new house. He took her to his Banning, Dodge and Laughlin houses to see things, “Mr. Gill wants to introduce into my building.” Later, in a 1916 letter to her sister, she wrote: “The two Gills have been busy all day…in shirtsleeves and overalls down on their knees ‘surfacing’ the cement floors. I don’t know if you will like the effect, but to me it is ‘a thing of beauty and a joy forever.’”
Irving J. Gill: La Jolla Women's Club (La Jolla, Calif.)
Gill’s notes about the concrete work for the Club and the sequential construction photographs provide unusual detail for one of Gill’s significant civic designs. Robert H. Aiken is usually credited as the tilt-up pioneer in the U.S; he constructed several building in the Midwest between 1905 and 1910. When Aiken went bankrupt, Gill purchased the jacks and tilt-slab table in 1912 and used them to construct the Sarah Clark house (1913), Mary Banning house (1913-14), the Woman’s Club, and the La Jolla Playground Community House. Gill put great faith in concrete and this system and founded the Concrete Building and Investment Company. Although he kept the equipment at least until 1923, his venture lost heavily. It was in the end an expensive way to build.
Irving J. Gill: Holly Sefton Memorial Hospital (San Diego, Calif.)
Gill’s intention was to make his buildings as efficient as possible, and that is certainly true for this hospital, funded by Joseph Sefton and built on the grounds of the Children’s Home. The hospital was built of concrete to make it easy to keep clean and free of infestation. The operating area was well lit by natural light through the use of large skylights in the roof and a wall of windows. The accompanying photographic image from the period remind us how modern Gill’s buildings looked in comparison to what existed, and how much land close to cities was still undeveloped. At far left is the Sefton Hospital, with the Gill-designed Children's Home Association boys dormitory in the middle, and a typical building for the time, on the right.
Irving J. Gill: Scripps Biological Station (La Jolla, Calif.)
Gill’s austere clarity was especially suited to pragmatic building programs, such as the concrete Biological Station. Ellen Scripps funded the building, now part of the University of California, in honor of her brother George.
Irving J. Gill: Bishop's Day School (San Diego, Calif.)
Bishop Johnson lived in Pasadena and the Episcopal Church originally planned to build a preparatory school in Sierra Madre. When Ellen Scripps and her sister Elizabeth Virginia Scripps offered to be benefactors, the decision was made to build a day school in San Diego and a boarding school in La Jolla. Ellen recommended Irving Gill for both projects, pleased with his work on the Scripps Biological Station, 1908.
Irving J. Gill: Bishop's School for Girls (La Jolla, Calif.)
In the Woman’s Club, the La Jolla Playground Community House, and here in the Bishop’s School, Gill used an arcaded screen wall as a unifying element, and to articulate his austere geometry with rhythmic voids. Scripps Hall was built in 1910, Bentham Hall in 1912, and Gilman Hall in 1916-17. Louis Gill continued to add to the school’s building program, and Carleton Winslow, who was brought to California by Goodhue to work on the 1915 San Diego exposition, replaced Gill’s tower, put a dome on Bentham Hall, and added St. Mary’s Chapel and the Wheeler Bailey Library in the 1920s.
Irving J. Gill: Darst flats (San Diego, Calif.)
Gill designed two identical buildings bisected by a walkway from the street to the rear of the property. The floor plan for both buildings shows the mirror image of the first and second floors. Each building contained two two-bedroom apartments, with large living room (with fireplace), dining room, bathroom, kitchen with screened porch, and balconies on the first floor (with a lightwell above on the second floor).
Irving J. Gill: Lewis- Bella Vista Terrace court (Sierra Madre, Calif.)
Gill’s site planning was especially successful in this project. He pushed the cottages to the outside edge of the plot to leave a large public area for shared gardens and a loggia. He also placed each L-shaped cottage so that its arcaded porch and small garden had privacy from its neighbors. Though the cottages appear to be made of concrete, the walls are plastered hollow clay blocks. Fred B. Lewis was a jeweler from Cleveland. On a 1910 trip to California, he spent a vacation at the Cypress Court in Sierra Madre (owned by Frank Fraiburg, also a jeweler from Cleveland), located just north of where Lewis would decide to build his own house court for tourists such as himself. Gill planned 12 cottages for Lewis but only eight were built. In 1913 the Sierra Madre News announced that Lewis had purchased three acres, adjacent to Bella Vista Terrace, for a hotel being designed by Gill. The hotel was not built; Lewis sold Bella Vista Terrace in 1914 and moved to Long Beach, Calif.
Irving J. Gill: Laughlin Park Casa Grandes development (Los Angeles, Calif.)
The Los Angeles Herald published several articles announcing the luxury housing development at Laughlin Park. A 1912 article announced that Gill was in charge of all planning for this Hollywood Hills development on a site of three acres. Another article, attributed to Gill, describes the planned development. By 1913, Laughlin had sold the land and Gill was no longer involved. Laughlin Park remains an exclusive neighborhood but none of the homes were designed by Gill.
Irving J. Gill, architect Lloyd Wright, landscape architect
Irving J. Gill: Rancho Barona Resettlement project (near Lakeside, Calif.)
The architect and planner Frederick Gutheim worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the 1930s. His letters to architectural critic Esther McCoy and to Louis Gill describe his friendship with Irving Gill and the Barona Resettlement project they worked on together. Letters in the Gill archive from agents in Washington D. C. refer to the clay block construction and the task of finding a proficient contractor for the Magnesite, which Gill specified for the interiors. Gutheim reported that Gill worked alongside the new residents to build the church and 12 cottages of handmade clay bricks. He was convinced that Gill’s work was important for being “a truly native style of modern building in California.”
Irving J. Gill: South Bay Union School (San Diego, Calif.)
Gill designed a number of schools. A 1913 article about his concrete public school for the City of Fontana praised the large outdoor playground and quoted Gill as saying that the basement playroom is “the most glaring evil in school room construction today.”
Irving J. Gill, architect John S. Siebert, architect
Irving J. Gill: Daily Blade-Tribune building (Oceanside, Calif.)
In the last year of his life, with the Depression still strong, Gill designed at least four buildings, of which only the Blade-Tribune newspaper building and a beauty parlor in Redondo Beach were built. In 1936 he was working on a theater with Zara Witkin, a civil engineer for the City of Los Angeles who had worked on the Hollywood Bowl with Lloyd Wright, 1927-1928. In a 1936 letter to Gill, Witkin notes that he visited the Dodge house on Gill’s recommendation and was eager to discuss the “possibilities of mutual work.”
Irving J. Gill: Gill cottages (San Diego, Calif.)
Gill designed approximately eight cottages for parcels of land he purchased in San Diego. There is little documentation for these, but all or most of the houses seem to have been built on Albatross, Front, Robinson Mews, and Hawthorne streets.Gill proudly wrote to his father that he built his small houses, “so as to work out some new ideas I had for a cheap, semi-fireproof cottage for working men’s families. They have been a great success and I am building several others of similar construction.” Gill and his nephew Louis lived at 3719 Albatross in 1912. Lloyd Wright and his brother John lived in another of the cottages, down the lane. Gill reused the plan of his Cleveland Heights house in his preliminary design for the Bella Vista Terrace cottages, several years later.
Irving J. Gill: Horatio West court (Santa Monica, Calif.)
Gill helped Schindler and Claude Chase form and raise the tilt-slab walls for the Schindler house on Kings Road, 1921. Invoices in the Schindler archive show that Schindler rented some of Gill’s equipment for the concrete work. Chase assisted Gill on the construction of Horatio West, which has concrete floors and roof, and walls thinly constructed of plaster covered lathe. The building permit for this project was announced in 1922. The Horatio West and Lewis Courts are among the best examples of Gill’s intentions and compositional strategies. Richard Neutra was sufficiently intrigued when he first saw Gill’s buildings in 1925 that he included Horatio West, and several other Gill buildings,in his 1930 book, Amerika.
Thornton Abell: Abell house (Santa Monica, Calif.)
Thornton Abell designed this house on a very steep lot in the hills of Santa Monica for himself and his family. The three story home featured a rooftop deck, main level terrace, lower level drafting room, and a garden with a pool and guest house.
Thornton Abell, architect; Victor Haveman, photographer
Thornton M. Abell papers, Architecture and Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara.
Thornton Abell: Siskin house (Los Angeles, Calif.)
This house was built in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles for a young family with many children, live-in maids, and a need to entertain large groups. The International Style house that Abell designed also worked well for the Siskin's need for indoor/outdoor living, a pool, multiple storage and workshop areas, and separate wings of the house for children and parents.
Thornton Abell, architect; Richard Fish, photographer
Thornton Abell: Bakos house (Los Angeles, Calif.)
This one-story house in the Hollywood Hills area of Los Angeles is sited on a flat lot, with a private pool and outdoor living area. Built with a distinctive roof line, the house allows for indoor/outdoor living through glass walls and atriums.
Thornton Abell, architect; Julius Shulman, photographer
Thornton Abell: LeBrun house (Malibu, Calif.)
The house was designed for Rico LeBrun, an artist and teacher. LeBrun requested a large art studio with an outside work area, inside work area, drawing room, metal shop, sculpture room, and large studio with darkroom and plentiful storage. The house also originally contained three bedrooms, an office, atrium, and expansive living/dining/kitchen area that opened onto a patio.
Thornton Abell, architect Julius Shulman, photographer
Thornton Abell: Rich house (Los Angeles, Calif.)
The steel magnate Gustav Rich commissioned this house from Abell in 1966. The steel frame with stucco also contained long walls of glass and interior walls of walnut. The house was designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument in 2006, after an extensive restoration.
Thornton Abell, architect Richard Fish, photographer
Thornton Abell: Adelman house (Beverly Hills, Calif.)
This house for L.B. Adelman is sited on a portion of the former Charlie Chaplin estate in Beverly Hills (the tennis court on the property is the original Chaplin Estate court). The post and beam design was designed by Abell and O'Neil Ford, a Texas-based architect. In 2019, the house was considered for the Beverly Hills Register of Historic Properties, since it has retained a significant number of its original features.
Thornton Abell: Bank of America (Los Angeles, Calif.)
In addition to private homes, Abell also designed schools, stores, and other commercial buildings such as this bank on Larchmont in Los Angeles. The clean and simple facade, overhanging roof, and ample off-street parking have survived the 40+ years since its construction. The changing of a few exterior colors and the growth of trees surrounding the building are the main changes to the exterior.
Thornton Abell, architect Allan Dean Walker, photographer
Thornton Abell: CSU Art Building (Fullerton, Calif.)
The Art Building complex at California State University, Fullerton is actually a grouping of four buildings connected by courtyards, loggias, and water features. The classrooms in the Art building were designed to be wide and long, to permit many artists to work in the same room. Large windows along the exterior walls provided additional natural light.
Thornton M. Abell papers, Architecture and Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara
Architecture and Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara
Edward Killingsworth: Hilton Inn (El Paso, Tex.)
In one of his earliest projects for the Hilton Hotel chain, this airport hotel in El Paso utilized many of the hallmarks of Killingsworth's style. The six interconnected low-slung, two story buildings had walls of glass in the lobby, with a wide overhang to shelter the front of the hotel from the Texas sun, and all buildings were grouped around a central courtyard with pool. The 150 guest rooms were part of a complex which included gift shops, meeting rooms, and a drive-up check-in window.
Edward Killingsworth, architect Photographic Associates, photographers
Edward A. Killingsworth papers, Architecture and Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara
Edward Killingsworth: Hilton Kahala (Honolulu, HI)
The Kahala Hilton was one of Killingsworth's first luxury hotels. With 300 rooms and suites, all air conditioned, surrounded on three sides by golf courses and direct beach access, the hotel featured state of the art luxury amenities. The ten story building, with two rectangular wings, was set on its own private man-made lagoon, and catered to an upscale clientele. The location was key to the sense of exclusivity-- the hotel was located away from the main tourist areas and contained no convention facilities, which gave the property a more intimate appeal.
Edward Killingsworth, architect Julius Shulman, photographer
Edward Killingsworth: Hilton Jakarta (Jakarta, Indonesia)
The Jakarta Hilton was built using indigenous craftspeople to add traditional cultural elements to the design of the hotel. The 14 story hotel included 406 rooms, with long-term rental cottages also available on the 32 acre hotel property. The hotel resort also included multiple swimming pools, shopping center, ballroom and meeting areas, restaurants, and many different options for outdoor recreation. A re-created Balinese village along the shores of a man-made lagoon on the property featured different architectural designs from various facets of Indonesian culture. The hotel was such a success that Killingsworth was asked to design an additional 200 room hotel on the property in 1984, and another sixteen-story, 200 room addition in 1991. With these additions, the Hilton Hotel Jakarta became Killlingsworths' largest hotel complex of his career.
Edward Killingsworth: Boca Beach Club (Boca Raton, Fla.)
The Boca Beach Club was a luxury resort in Boca Raton, Florida, perched on a piece of land surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean and the Intercoastal waterway. The hotel featured 212 rooms, 147 oceanfront cabanas, 5 lounges, and two restaurants on site.
Edward Killilngsworth, architect Julius Shulman, photographer
Edward Killingsworth: Phoenician Hotel (Phoenix, Ariz.)
The Phoenician Resort, at the base of Camelback Mountain just outside of Phoenix, was designed as a very high end luxury hotel and spa. It initially had 604 rooms, 132 casitas, 9 Steinway grand pianos, and exterior tropical landscaping designed by plant specialists from the island of Tonga. By the early 1980s, the architecture practice had evolved into the firm Killingsworth, Stricker, Lindgren, Wilson and Associates. As a main component of their work, the firm designed large-scale, high-end luxury resorts throughout the world.
Edward Killingsworth: Princess Reforma Hotel (Mexico City, Mexico)
The Princess Reforma hotel was an unbuilt design that reached the stage of having a scale model built and photographed by renown architectural photographer Julius Shulman. The hotel was to feature a tall, thin tower to house the majority of the hotel rooms, with lower buildings including parking and conference services. The street-level interface included a large drop-off area and entrance/exit to the lower levels of the parking garage.
Edward Killingsworth: Marriott Airport Hotel (Long Beach, Calif.)
The firm Killingsworth, Stricker, Lindgren, Wilson & Associates designed and built many high-end luxury hotels throughout the world during the 1980s. This Marriott was built close to their home office in Long Beach. It was also conveniently located next to the Long Beach Airport, with abundant parking, conference facilities, an outdoor pool and other water features, along with restaurants and other luxury amenities.
Edward Killingsworth: Halekulani Hotel (Honolulu, HI)
The Halekulani Hotel's name means "House Befitting Heaven" in the native Hawaiian language of the people of the Waikiki beach area. The location for the hotel had been the site of various guest accommodations and hotels since the early 1900s. The 453 room hotel built by Killingsworth featured a beach side location, multiple restaurants, pools, suites, and other amenities.
Edward Killlingsworth: Mauna Lani Bay Hotel (Big Island, Hawaii)
The Mauna Lani Bay Hotel on the Big Island of Hawaii was designed to be one of the top luxury resort hotels in the world. The 345 room hotel also contained separate bungalows designed by the firm, which were each 4000 square feet in size and were adjacent to the main hotel, but contained separate private pools, a spa, and ocean views. The main hotel complex featured a tropical atrium with extensive indoor and outdoor water features, multiple restaurants, and luxury amenities.
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Edward Killingsworth: Del Ray Hotel (San Diego, Calif.)
The Del Ray Hotel / Apartments / Shopping center complex in San Diego, was one of Killingsworth's first multi-family dwelling projects. It was designed to provide for all of the necessities in one location. With a large outdoor pool area, landscaped lawn, and covered parking, the complex was a self-contained community, set well back from the surrounding streets. This un-built development was a precursor to the mixed-use retail/residential buildings of today.
George Washington Smith: Maverick house (San Antonio, Tex.)
This house for Robert VanWyck Maverick was one of only two houses Smith built in Texas. It was considered one of the best examples of a courtyard-centered house at the time of its construction. The plan for the house was U-shaped, with a fourth wall enclosing the courtyard. The bedrooms were along one wing, the kitchen and service areas the other, and the main living area connected the two wings. As with many of Smith's houses, the Maverick files contain many preliminary sketches and elevations, along with renderings by Riggs.
George Washington Smith: Jackling house (Woodside, Calif.)
This large Spanish Colonial Revival mansion in the small town of Woodside was built for copper mining magnate Daniel Cowan Jackling and his family. The 17,000 square foot house sat on a 194 acre parcel of land. The property was subdivided and all but 6 acres was sold off in the late 1950s. The house was purchased by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs in 1984; in 2007 he petitioned to have the home razed so he could build a smaller house. After lengthy legal appeals, the house was destroyed in 2011.
George Washington Smith: Isham beach house (Carpenteria, Calif.)
The Carpenteria beach house for Albert Keep Isham was a Moorish inspired estate directly on the beach. Smith also constructed a natatorium, which was done in an "Islamic" style and contained a large number of decorative tiles around the swimming pool and a retractable roof. The beach house and natatorium are currently part of a gated community with private beach access in the Carpenteria area.
George Washington Smith: Gallagher house (Montecito, Calif.)
The Wesley Gallagher house was a Smith commission just prior to his death in 1930. The Smith files contain these sketches and drawings (most done in Riggs' hand) for preliminary elevations for the house. The Riggs files contain the actual working drawings used for construction of the house.
George Washington Smith: Dietrich house (Montecito, Calif.)
George Washington Smith was commissioned by Alfred Dietrich, an heir to an oil manufacturing fortune who also owned a railroad line, to design servants quarters and a garage for his property on Park Lane. This smaller house was built prior to the large main house for Dietrich, who secured Addison Mizner to be the architect for the main portion of the estate. These drawings and renderings are for a three bedroom, three bathroom house, with two car garage, and living quarters for chauffeur.
Barton Myers: Portland Performing Arts Center (Portland, Ore.)
The Portland Performing Arts Center was designed in association with BOOR/A and ELS Design Group. Myers designed two theaters, the 900-seat Newmark Theatre and the 360-seat Dolores Winningstad Theater, as well as offices, ticketing area, and support spaces. The Spectral Light dome by artist James Carpenter sits above the lobby of the building. Myers also renovated and converted a 1927 theater into a 2750-seat concert hall. All of the theaters were designed to be versatile in their varied uses-- from intimate theater to large concert hall.
Barton Myers, architect Barton Myers Associates, architects Timothy Hursley, photographer
Barton Myers papers, Architecture and Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara.
Barton Myers: Seagram Museum (Waterloo, Ont.)
For the Seagram Museum, Myers used the original nineteenth-century barrel warehouse, which had held up to 6000 barrels of whiskey, as part of the exhibition space. He also used wood beams from the warehouse to clad the new structures. At the time of the construction of the Museum, the distillery was still in use by the Seagram company. Unfortunately, the museum closed in 1997 and the building has since been turned into office space.
Barton Myers: A Grand Avenue proposal (Los Angeles, Calif.)
In 1980, the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency was planning to demolish the Bunker Hill area of the city and organized a competition for a team of architects to design a new urban center. A Grand Avenue proposal was created by developer Robert Maguire and led by Barton Myers Associates and the Urban Innovations Group. Barton Myers and Edgardo Contini designed a mixed-use development with housing, shops, hotels, parks, and offices. Myers designed two residential towers, both containing ample outdoor space for residents. The plan was to integrate the new development into the surrounding area, bridging the older neighborhood to the east with the newer areas of the downtown core. Their plan did not win the competition, but was widely admired by architects and the public.
Barton Myers, architect Barton Myers Associates, architects Carlos Diniz, renderer Maguire Partners, developers
Barton Myers: Phoenix Municipal Government Center (Phoenix, Ariz.)
The design competition for the civic center of Phoenix placed the main municipal buildings at the center of the city; the Myers plan incorporates the main arteries into how the architecture works with the surrounding area. The low-rise buildings were joined together by a series of walkways, parks, courts, and an aqueduct. The reddish-brown and pink sandstone wall color connected the building and the city to the desert.
Barton Myers, architect Barton Myers Associates, architects
Barton Myers: Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts (Cerritos, Calif.)
The Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts was the initial phase of building for the Cerritos Town Center development. The arts center was a grouping of buildings designed for theater performances, meetings, receptions, and other gatherings. The main focus is the theater, which was designed by Myers to have five different configurations, which could be changed based on the type of performance. The buildings were carefully massed to work with the surroundings-- a hotel complex, shopping center, and freeways.
Barton Myers, architect Barton Myers Associates, architects Timothy Street-Porter, photographer
Barton Myers: Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto, Ont.)
Myers renovated and expanded the Art Gallery-- renovating the existing 190,000 square feet of museum and adding another 100,000 square feet. The renovations included the re-working of buildings dating back to 1817, and to connect the various new and old spaces to each other with courtyards, sculpture gardens, and the use of mass and voids. Myers created a sculpture garden in the midst of the expanded buildings, to be utilized as a site for dining, exhibition openings, concerts, and other events. The expanded Art Gallery is one of the largest museums in North America.
Barton Myers, architect Barton Myers Associates, architects KMPB, associates
Barton Myers: New Jersey Performing Arts Center (Newark, NJ)
With the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJ PAC), Myers created a multi-building center with theaters, conference rooms, and restaurants to connect existing parts of Newark (a Military Park and the Passaic River) with each other and the new venue. The theaters included the 2700-seat Prudential hall and the 500-seat Victoria Theater. The complex was designed to be an urban revitalization project for downtown Newark.
Barton Myers: U.S Pavilion for the World Expo in Seville (Seville, Spain)
For the United States Pavillion at the Universal Exposition of Seville (Expo 92) competition, Myers created a series of buildings connected by courtyards, with theaters, exhibition space, and a water wall, all capped by three 'shade sails' to provide vertical interest and relief from the sun. Myers design was not the winner of the competition, so this design was never built.
Barton Myers, architect Barton Myers Associates, architects Arquitectura Langdon, architects
Lutah Maria Riggs: Von Romberg house (Montecito, Calif.) plans
The drawings of the Von Romberg house were commissioned for Baron Maximilian Edmund Hugo Wilhelm Von Romberg and his wife Emily Hall Von Romberg. The floor plans show how the design for the house changed over time.
Lutah Maria Riggs papers, Architecture and Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara.
Lutah Maria Riggs: Von Romberg house (Montecito, Calif.) elevations
The renderings of the exterior, details, and sections of the Von Romberg house also show how the exterior changed as Riggs and Emily Von Romberg worked together to create a house that would suit all involved.
Lutah Maria Riggs: Von Romberg house (Montecito, Calif.) exterior photographs
The three exterior photographs were taken by George Hurrell.
Lutah Maria Riggs, architect George Hurrell, photographer
Lutah Maria Riggs: Von Romberg house (Montecito, Calif.) interior photographs
Lutah Maria Riggs worked with interior designer Paul T. Frankl to furnish the Von Romberg house. Photographs were taken by both George Hurrell and Stuart O'Brien.
Lutah Maria Riggs, architect Paul T. Frankl, interior designer George Hurrell, photographer Stuart O'Brien, photographer
Riggs and Shaw: Tremaine ranch house (Meteor Crater, Ariz.)
Burton and Emily Tremaine commissioned Riggs and Shaw to design a ranch house on the Tremaine family ranch near Winslow, Arizona. The circular shape was reminiscent of the nearby Meteor Crater Natural landmark.
Lutah Maria Riggs, architect Arvin B. Shaw III, architect
Riggs and Shaw: Tremaine beach house (Sandyland Cove, Carpenteria, Calif.)
These are two designs for an un-built beach house in the Sandyland Cove beach community of Carpenteria, Calif. for Burton and Emily Tremaine. The designs by Riggs and Shaw are for two very different stylistic conceptions.
Lutah Maria Riggs, architect Arvin Shaw, architect
Riggs and Shaw: Serena Beach Club (Montecito, Calif.)
The Serena Beach Club was to be built on property adjacent to the Burton and Emily Tremaine house that was designed by Oscar Niemeyer. Neither project was realized.
Cliff May: Tremaine ranch house (Donadea, Ireland)
This ranch house was designed by California architect Cliff May, with a local architect from Ireland, Donal O'Neill Flanagan. The architects collaborated to design a house for Warren and Katherine Tremaine and their manager of the Loughtown stud farm for horses, John Alexander. Only a portion of the planned house was built, and Alexander lived in the house while managing the horse farm.
Cliff May, architect Donal O'Neill Flanagan, architect
Cliff May papers, Architecture and Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara.
Paul Soderburg: Tremaine house (Montecito, Calif.)
Katherine Tremaine commissioned Paul Soderburg to design a house for her after her divorce from Warren Tremaine. The house was built in the hills of Montecito in 1972, and extensively remodeled by Soderburg for Tremaine in 1977.
Paul Lawrence Soderburg papers. Architecture and Design Collection, Art Design & Architecture Museum, UC Santa Barbara
Architecture and Design Collection, Art Design & Architecture Museum, UC Santa Barbara
Roland Coate: Fudger house (Los Angeles, Calif.)
This house was built for Eva J.K. Fudger, daughter of a citrus rancher and wife of a Toronto businessman. Fudger had been living across the street when she commissioned Coate to build this house with a view towards the adjacent Wilshire Country Club. Coate designed the house in a Monterey style, with second floor balconies, ample connection to the outdoors, and a rambling, sprawling floor plan which included a large servant's wing and separate owners' wings. Fudger only lived in the house for two years before moving out and renting it to industrialist and aviator Howard Hughes, who lived in the house until 1942. The estate's extensive grounds were designed by Florence Yoch and Lucile Council., which received an AIA award.
Roland E. Coate Sr., architect W.M. Clarke, photographer
Roland Eli Coate, Sr. papers, Architecture and Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara.
Roland Coate: Bryner house (Pasadena, Calif.)
This house is a departure from Coate's Spanish and Monterey Revival style. Built for industrialist Ira L. Bryner and his wife Margaret, the house was sited on an irregular hillside lot and bore the hallmarks of a Georgian Revival, with some Colonial influences. The steep and angled site allowed for views of the Arroyo Seco and the mountains; Coate sited the house to take best advantage of the view. The extensive gardens were designed by Florence Yoch and Lucile Council.
Roland E. Coate, Sr., architect Haight, photographer
Roland Coate: Bixby house (Pasadena, Calif.)
This house, an interpretation of a Monterey style house, was one of Coate's earliest commissions as a solo architect, after the dissolution of the Johnson, Kaufmann, and Coate partnership. Stafford W. Bixby was a descendant of early California settlers, which might have been an inspiration for the architectural style. The two-story house features a second floor balcony which stretches almost the length of the facade. The design earned Coate an AIA honor award and the Medalla de Plata y Diploma in the United States section of the Third Pan-American Congress of Architects in Buenos Aires.
Roland Coate: Cowlishaw ranch house (Nogales, Ariz.)
The owners of a successful furniture business, Frank and Ruth Wilmot Cowlishaw commissioned Coate to design a large ranch house and stables for their 640 acre working ranch in Arizona. The house was L shaped and centered around a pool in the back of the house. It is a blend of many different styles, and quite different from Coates' other commissions. The rambling design incorporated many different levels, heights, and masses of various parts of the building to create a single structure that gives the appearance of many different buildings.
Roland Coate: Barber house (Pasadena, Calif.)
The John E. Barber house is an early example of Coate's Monterey Revival style-- a second story balcony, center hall, with the majority of rooms opening onto outside space. Grayson C. and John Edwin Barber were a well-to-do and prominent Pasadena couple, and the property was a prime lot with views along the Arroyo Seco. Landscape architecture design was completed by Katherine Bashford.
Roland E. Coate, Sr., architect William Clarke, photographer
Roland Coate: Norcross house (Bel Air, Calif.)
This large house, on a prominent hill overlooking the Bel Air Country Club was commissioned by petroleum executive David C. and Irene Norcross. The house features many Monterey Revival influences, as well as some intricate ironwork on a double-height balcony which references the architectural styles in New Orleans. The landscape plan was designed by A.E. Hanson.
Roland E. Coate, Sr., architect George Haight, photographer
Roland Coate: Selznick house (Beverly Hills, Calif.)
Irene Mayer and David C. Selznick, a well-known movie producer, commissioned this house from Coate at the height of the great depression. The house was a Georgian Revival on a large lot in the center of Beverly Hills, surrounded by other movie moguls. Irene Mayer took a hands-on approach to working with Coate on her house-- she even assisted in designing the kitchens, bathrooms, and service wing. Subsequent owners of the property included Edward Doheny, Sammy Davis Jr., and Ed McMahon. The original landscape design was by Florence Yoch and Lucile Council.
Roland Coate: Stern house (Holmby Hills, Calif.)
Real estate investor Jacob Stern commissioned this house from Coate in 1928. The over 9000 square foot estate was designed in the Mediterranean Revival style, on a 2.2 acre parcel of land. The 30 room mansion was sited on the crown of a hill, overlooking some of Holmby Hills' prime real estate. The house was later owned by Alfred and Betty Bloomingdale; it was recently sold and is undergoing extensive renovation of house and grounds. The estate landscape design was by A.E. Hanson.
Holmby Hills, Calif.; Los Angeles, Calif.