Browse Items (856 total)

Photographs of the exterior of the Stothart House; one of the driveway entrance and one of the side patio. The design emphasis on horizontal and flat forms, along with uniform windows and parapets echoed the International Style.

Photographs of the exterior of the apartments. The plans reflected the Bauhaus concept of utilizing limited space. Each of the four apartments has an exterior space such as a patio or sundeck to provide private outside access- a luxury usually only…

Built in the single-story"ranch style", the Walter Foster House project was one of Davidson's new designs bearing a departure from the International Style in favor of Soft Modernism. The house's plan incorporated local building styles and materials,…

These photographs document the narrow medical building that housed the practices of Dr. B.F. Feingold and and Dr. J.M. Harris. The spaces were designed to be modern and expansive, with scattered lighting and noise insulation.

Davidson's design for the cover of California Sport Magazine.

Exterior photograph of the Vigeveno #1 House, a ranch-style vacation home for art dealer James Vigeveno and his family. Another design was made for Vigeveno alongside the first, although this second house featured a completely different architectural…

Photographs of the interior and a floor plan of the Rabinowitz House. The design featured a panoramic view of Bel Air from its secluded position on a hill.

Photographs of the interior of the Hi-Hat restaurant. The owner originally requested an English style tavern, to which Davidson created a design that reflected his wishes but through a modernist's sensibilities.

Photos and plan of the entrance to Davidson's office in Los Angeles. The facade echoes the stylistic influences of Rudolph Schindler and Frank Lloyd Wright.

A portrait of J.R. Davidson in his later years.

Photographs of the exterior and interior of the Bilicke-Satyr Bookstore, featuring special strip lights. Many of Davidson's early commercial projects incorporate Art Deco elements, calculating geometric shapes, sleek forms, and straight lines.

Photograph of the interior and front entrance of the Schilling's Flower Store. It was later replaced by Bachelor's Haberdashery Shop.

Photographs of the entrance and interior of the Haberdashery (a men's clothing store). This business replaced the earlier Schilling's Flowers.

Renderings and floor plan of the Drive-in Curb Market. Designs like this clearly anticipated the increasing importance of automobiles in the modern age.

Photographs of the remodeled bar and tavern of the Hotel Knickerbocker. The resulting shape of the space results from the combination of "several existing odd rooms".

Photographs of the exterior entrance, bar, and lunch counter of the Golden Lion Inn. The facade echoed tavern aesthetics, yet the inside was incredibly spacious and well lit.

Schematics of lamp designs. Davidson was inspired by Bauhaus furniture, which were streamlined, stainless steel constructions.

Sketches of the vacation house designed for Blake g Smith. The house was situated on the top of the cliffs, with a staircase leading down to a "natural sea pool".

Watercolor sketch of Davidson's hometown of Berlin.

An early sketchbook of Davidson's studies of furniture and other objects from a decorative arts and design museum in Paris. Note the attention to detail and pattern.

Watercolor sketch of a church steeple when Davidson probably still lived in Posen, Poland.

Watercolor sketch from one of Davidson's sketchbooks.

Photographs of the former servants' quarters that Davidson retrofitted into his five-bedroom apartment in Berlin.

Floor plan and photographs of the residence Davidson designed for himself and his wife on South Barrington Avenue in Los Angeles.

Photographs of the interior of the coconut grove courtyard and lamp details. Davidson emphasized unique lighting designs, with the lamps here incorporating vegetal or "oriental" star elements.

Davidson was commissioned to refurbish Sardi's Restaurant, which originally had interior design work done by Rudolph Schindler. Davidson reorganized the inside and added new features, opening up the space by cleverly incorporating partitions and…

Concept for the Tierney and Co. Restaurant. Note the bold Art Deco inspired interior.

Davidson was asked to design a family home for Richard Bransten, son of a wealthy coffee manufacturer from San Francisco. The window design reflects De-Stijl sensibilities, focusing on large geometric shapes. The three story residence was built on a…

Davidson retrofitted this Georgian home to better house the owner's modern art collection. He replaced wall space with larger windows and a glass enclosed porch to allow more light in and open up the space.

Davidson's furniture and restaurant supply designs expressed both Art Deco and modernist sensibilities. His "cellarette" concept for a pullout bar on wheels echoes the same simple, functional design of his patent for an easy open cigarette container.

Originally designed in Berlin, Davidson brought this drawing with him to America. The slightly curved armrests are reminiscent of Bruno Paul's own armchair designs.

The plan of the Floyd D. Crosby Residence is actually the same floor plan Davidson used for the design of his own home, though the interior design choices of the homes differed widely.

This house was designed not unlike the Crosby residence and Davidson's own home, although in the Taylor house the kitchen plan is more open and a glass vitrine provides views into the living room.

After supposedly being turned down by Richard Neutra to design their home, clients Joseph and Lore Kingsley commissioned Davidson to design a unique home to fit their needs. This design was then mirrored next door in the house built for Joseph…

Davidson designed a whole line of outdoor furniture crafted from rattan and bamboo materials, which are flexible and durable enough to withstand the elements. He was inspired by Asian modes of craft-making, classic wooden furniture, and the designs…

This presentation drawing is similar to other Byers drawings-- with a Spanish Colonial Revival house set amongst lush landscaping. The house features a loggia running the length of the front of the house, with a second story balcony, and all under a…

The McLaughlin house, though its location is unknown, is very similar to many of the adobe and Monterey Revival houses Byers designed in the Santa Monica area. With an exterior staircase leading to a second floor balcony, red tile roof, and colorful…

The two very different renderings of the Unitarian Church of Santa Monica highlight the range of styles that John Byers was capable of designing. The first image, a more Spanish Colonial style, was the ultimate choice of the building, which is shown…

The rendering for the Frederick Laue restaurant is an example of Byers' commercial work. While known specifically for residences, he did design a few commercial and civic buildings. A Laue Restaurant was located near the corner of Santa Monica…

These images are for the first and second floor plans for an early house for Mrs. John Byers. The plans are not dated, and there is no address listed anywhere on the sheets. The thick-lined walls for the living room and first floor bedroom indicate…

As with many of Lockwood de Forest's commissions, the houses were designed by some of the top architects in Southern California, and de Forest's landscaping was a harmonious compliment to their work. The formality of the house lent itself to the…

The 84 acre "Riven Rock" estate belonged to the McCormick family, the inventors of the grain reaper and founders of the International Harvester company. The original house was constructed in 1898 (demolished after the 1925 Santa Barbara earthquake),…

The plaza at the corner of State Street and Anapamu in downtown Santa Barbara was designed by Lockwood de Forest and architect Lutah Maria Riggs. The seating area with trees and benches allows for a brief respite prior to or just after visiting the…

This extremely colorful and detailed design for a garden was for Elizabeth and Harold Chalifoux, who were well-known orchid growers in the Santa Barbara area. The Chalifoux were from Boston, and Elizabeth Chalifoux was the daughter of Albert Burrage,…

San Francisco industrialist Henry Bothin and his wife Ellen Chabot Bothin purchased 350 acres of mountain and foothill land above Montecito in 1916. The property was named Mar Y Cel, but was commonly referred to as the Tea Garden; it was adjacent to…

In the John Byers collection, many items are unidentified. Some of the drawings have dates or locations, however the vast majority do not. This pair of images shows the front of an adobe-style house in the first image, and the back of the house in…

Lockwood de Forest was not just a landscape architect, but also designed and built houses, including his own on Todos Santos Lane in Santa Barbara. The house and landscaping were oriented towards a view of the Santa Ynez Mountains and included many…

Robert Stacy-Judd worked for the railroad in England, then moved to the United States and worked for the Great Northern Railroad in North Dakota. After a couple of years, he started his own practice in Minot. The Central Block was originally designed…

The founder of the Philosophical Research Society, Manely P. Hall, had commissioned buildings by Stacy-Judd previously, due to their shared interest in Mayan design. The Library in the Philosophical Research Society was designed to hold the many rare…

As travel by personal car became more feasible during the 1920s, the mountains surrounding Los Angeles on the east became weekend getaways for residents. The use of hot springs for relaxation and to cure various ailments was a popular attraction. The…

The pair of bungalows for Dr. H. Gale Atwater were part of a larger swath of land owned by Atwater along Avon Park Terrace, adjacent to Elysian Park. Atwater had previously built another "Hopi-style" house on the property, and commissioned Stacy-Judd…

The Carey house is a fascinating study of architectural vision versus reality. The rendering of the house is in the "Mayan" style, reminiscent of Stacy-Judd's Aztec Hotel. The photographs of the completed house show a much more subdued and modest…

This church building is widely regarded as one of the premier examples of Mayan Revival style architecture. It was declared a city landmark in 1975, and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009. The exterior steeple is stepped up…

Theosophy was a religion that began in the United States in the late 1800s as a mix of esoteric Spiritualism, occult influences, and adaptation various Asian religions. The Krotona Institute started in the Beechwood Canyon area of Los Angeles in…

The La Jolla Beach and Yacht Club was a large-scale commission for Stacy-Judd after his success with the Aztec Hotel in Monrovia. For the Club, he created a more subdued theme, with triangular shaped window openings, adobe-style exterior walls, and…

As the population of the Los Angeles region grew in the early 1920s, developers purchased land that was formerly ranches to turn into housing developments. Merrick & Ruddick developed the San Fernando Valley area, and asked Stacy-Judd to design and…

The small community of Lake Sherwood is situated in the mountains of Ventura County, northwest of Los Angeles. The man-made lake and surrounding forest land was used in the 1922 filming of Robin Hood, and as the setting for many subsequent movies.…

The Panama-California Exposition opened in 1915 in Balboa Park, San Diego, as a celebration of the opening and of the Panama Canal a few years prior. The Expo originally picked architect John Galen Howard to design the site, but due to his…

The Bliss house was one of Winslow's largest private commissions. The 80 room mansion for William and Anna Dorinda Bliss, at the corner of Olive Mill and Hot Springs Roads in Montecito, was to be their summer residence. The 45 acre estate, named Casa…

The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History was designed in a Spanish Colonial Revival style and built along the banks of Mission Creek, just a few blocks from the Santa Barbara Mission. Winslow designed a series of buildings interconnected with…

Winslow altered the Chapman Park Hotel and Bungalows, which were located on Wilshire Boulevard, in 1936. The hotel had been in business since the early 1900s, and Winslow added details to make the walled garden with bungalow cottages feel more like a…

The Valley Club is a golf course originally designed by renown course designers Alister MacKenzie and Robert Hunter and the American Golf Course Construction Company. The main club building featured a main dining room, men's and women's lounges, as…

The Los Angeles Central Library was one of Bertram Goodhue's final projects, which he was working on when he died in 1924. Winslow took over and finished the project in 1926.
The early Art Deco building featured Egyptian friezes and inscriptions on…

In 1914, the Chicago Architectural Club held a competition to design a neighborhood civic complex. This was Schindler's entry, featuring a very clean lines and a rectilinear plan.

The distinctive A-frame shape of the Gisela Bennati cabin is possibly one of the earliest uses of the style as a residence in the United States. The steeply pitched roof is a very good choice for the Lake Arrowhead region, since the lake is at a high…

The housing development for Gould and Bandini was a series of small houses for single workers or small families. This project was never built.

This rendering of Harriman's Colony is a birds-eye view of a planned community, possibly in San Gabriel. The client, Job Harriman was a lawyer and ran for mayor of Los Angeles in 1911 as a socialist. After his failed mayoral bid, Harriman started a…

In the 1920s the 'bungalow court' was a common form of affordable housing in the Los Angeles region. With small units lining the sides of a city lot, perpendicular to the street, a courtyard is formed between the units. This style allowed each unit…

The apartment complex for Ted Falk at the corner of Lucile and Carnation avenues in Los Angeles, is one of the more complex designs for a Schindler apartment building. The four apartments are set on an irregular-shaped lot, on a steeply sloping hill.…

Jock Peters worked with Eleanor LeMaire on the interiors of the women's clothing store. The architectural firm who designed the building was Shreve, Lamb & Harmon, and it is located on East 57th Street in Manhattan. The store was laid out 'boutique…

This house for L.E. Shepard in the Los Angeles suburb of San Marino is one of the few houses designed by Peters. The style is a Streamline Moderne, with some hints of International Style and Art Deco. The images highlight the indoor-outdoor living,…

This two-story modern house for the cinematographer Alfred Gilks is in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, just a short distance from Griffith Park. The house features multiple decks, an outdoor fireplace on the patio, and a mural in one of…

The renderings for a proposed Jock Peters residence along College View Avenue in the Eagle Rock section of Los Angeles show a very modern house, sited on a hill, with a studio and garage at street level. As with his other residential works, this…

After working for the movie industry for a few years, in 1927 Peters began working with his brother George as Peters by Jock, Brothers Modern American Design Office. They designed furniture and other interior pieces.

After working with an architect in Germany, Peters emigrated to the United States in 1922 and settled in Los Angeles. By 1924 he was working with Famous Players- Lasky Corporation, one of the largest silent film production companies in the city.…

The Bullocks Wilshire department store was one of the first to cater to customers in automobiles. The large Art Deco edifice was easily recognizable, and customers were able to drive up, have a valet securely park their car at the rear of the…

The architect A. Lawrence Kocher was asked to design a house for the Architectural League of New York City and the Allied Arts of Industries bi-annual exhibition. Kocher hired Frey to help design a house that used new materials, like steel and glass…

Frey and Chambers designed the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway station house (the building at the base of the mountain) in 1963. The Tramway Gas Station, at the corner of Tramway Road and Highway 111, was constructed in 1965 with a distinctive hyperbolic…

In 1934, Frey was sent to Palm Springs to design and build an office building, with an apartment above, for Dr. J.J. Kocher, the brother of A. Lawrence Kocher. The building was designed to take advantage of the climate and featured a courtyard…

Architects A. Lawrence Kocher and Albert Frey worked together in 1933-1934 to design low-cost structures, like the Aluminaire House. Kocher was the managing editor of Architectural Record, faculty at the University of Virginia and Black Mountain…

The Bel Vista affordable housing tract was built in 1945 as housing for War workers. The subdivision of 15 homes was designed by Albert Frey and John Porter Clark for the developers Sallie Stevens and Culver Nichols. This was the first subdivision…

The Salton Sea was a formerly dry lake bed located southeast of Palm Springs. The area was flooded as part of an effort to irrigate the surrounding area in the early 1900s, and is one of the largest lakes in California. It is also one of the saltiest…

The industrial designer Raymond Loewy commissioned Frey to design a bachelor pad and winter getaway in 1947, in Palm Springs. The small (1100 square feet) house features walls of sliding glass doors opening onto a patio and pool. The outdoor living…

Schindler designed the interior of the restaurant for Adolph Edward Brandstatter, including the furnishings. The restaurant, on Hollywood Boulevard near Vine, was popular with the Hollywood movie stars. It was originally open 24 hours per day and…

The Charles H. and Ethel Wolfe house was a single-family house with views of Avalon Bay, ocean, and natural landscapes. The mezzanine level was the street level and included the garage, small bedroom with full bath, kitchen, terrace, and living room…

This twelve unit complex of duplexes, built for San Diego dentist W.L. Lloyd, showcased how Schindler was able to incorporate many of his modern plans into a multi-unit complex. Each unit had a ground floor living area, outdoor garden space, and an…

This desert house for Maryon (also listed as Marian) Toole, is located in Palm Desert, which at the time was an unincorporated area known as Palm Village. It features stone walls with wood framing, large glass walls and clerestory windows to let in…

This very early work of Schindler was done while he was still in the employ of the Chicago architecture firm Otternheim, Stern, and Reichert, just prior to Schindler leaving to work for Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin. Built at Buena Avenue and…

The James B. Irving house was a temporary home designed by Schindler while he was employed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Schindler designed the home quickly, after Irving requested a temporary home since his had been destroyed by a tornado.
The Irvings…

Riggs designed this house on Middle Road in Montecito for herself in the mid-twenties; she lived there until her death in 1984. The house, named Clavelitos or "little carnation," contained two bedrooms, ample outdoor space, and large fireplaces. The…

The Santa Barbara Botanic Garden was started in 1926 as a partnership between the Carnegie Institution and the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, with land in Mission Canyon donated by Anna Dorinda Bliss. The Garden grew from the initial 13…

The large, multi-story commercial and retail building on State Street in downtown Santa Barbara had exterior alterations by Riggs. The T.C. Suski Building was a Joseph Magnin department store in the 1960s and is currently retail and offices.
The…

The alterations to the Herman Baer house in rural Lompoc show the modern style of architecture that Riggs was moving towards in the late 1940s. A marked departure from her Spanish Colonial Revival work of the 20s, this house shows her growth as an…

This medical office building was one of three commissions by dermatologist Lawrence Nelson. It is a typical small medical office building, with parking in the rear of the property, and access from the street. The present occupants of the building are…

In 1954, the University of California opened a new campus on a former Marine Air Base, about ten miles west of Santa Barbara. This sparsely populated area, called Isla Vista, did not have the housing or infrastructure to support the influx of…

These two photographs, taken approximately 30 years apart, show Lutah as a student at Berkeley and as a well-established architect at her drafting table.

These undated portraits of Peters highlight his personal style and attitude in line with his interior designs.

These photographs capture Schindler at the construction site for the Walker house and in a more composed setting later in life.

This grouping of portraits shows the serious nature of Winslow.

Robert Stacy-Judd was an architect, archeologist, and tireless promoter of himself and his work. These portraits exhibit how his persona of Mayan explorer informed his architectural explorations.