Browse Items (856 total)

White designed this house for Truman and Marie Susan Ratliff; she was a school teacher and he farmed the property, growing alfalfa and citrus fruits. The sweeping roof was S-shaped, with a higher roofline above the dining and living rooms to take…

The Walter White archive contains a few photographs of White at various stages in his career.

For the Pearson, Scott & Company building, White worked with architect Leopold Fischer to design the offices for the mortgage company. The building is no longer extant.

In this design for a drive-in and restaurant (unbuilt) by White and his friend Harry Webster, the influence of Frank Lloyd Wright can be seen by the use of horizontal lines and the linear design of the building.

A rendering of the Bates house by Siegfried Knop of the side of the house, featuring the roof line extending down to the ground.

A watercolor on board rendering by Siegfried Knop of the backyard of the Bates house.

A color slide of the house under construction. The basic form of the roofline can be clearly seen in the curved wooden composite beam above the solid wall.

An image of the roof line curving down to the ground level. Walter White patented this design in 1955 for a curving roof.

A color slide of the dining room, with kitchen in the background. The original image was possibly taken by Walter White.

An image of the living room, with fireplace. The original slide image was possibly taken by Walter White.

A presentation drawing on board of the proposed floor plan, featuring a round pool and landscaping.

A drawing of the floor plan and interior utility room elevations for the Bates house. This drawing shows the original layout of the one-bedroom, two bathroom house, with minimal solid walls, and extended dining terrace.

Drawings of each of the exterior elevations for the house, showing the contact points between the walls and the roof, as well as the materials to be used.

An exterior view of the house which highlights the curving roof against the backdrop of the nearby mountain range.

Photograph of loggia with cherub fountain.

Photo of exterior of house with chimney.

Photograph of the fountain and archway in the house built for scriptwriter-actor couple Frances Marion and Fred Thomson by architect Wallace Neff in Beverly Hills, California.

Photo of staircase in the house of film director Vidor King and actress Eleanor Boardman in Beverly Hills, California by architect Wallace Neff.

These photos feature the main garden space in St. John's Seminary, modeled after the garden at Edward L. Doheny's Chester Place home in Los Angeles, California. The south-facing facade of the E.L. Doheny Memorial Library overlooks this garden space.

Photos of main entrance to the library. The carved stone arch surrounding the entry door is modeled after the carved stone on the Metropolitan Cathedral in Mexico City, Mexico. At the top of the arched entrance is a statue of Our Lady of Miraculous…

Round display room hallway in E.L. Doheny Memorial Library.

Photograph of the exterior of Eaton House with landscaping.

Photograph of the exterior and porch of Eaton House, located in the Hope Ranch neighborhood of Santa Barbara, California.

Photo of exterior of Eaton house with landscaping, located in Hope Ranch neighborhood of Santa Barbara, California.

Photograph of patio at Eaton House with landscaping.

Photograph of patio at Eaton House, located in the Hope Ranch neighborhood of Santa Barbara, California.

Photograph of exterior of Eaton House and driveway, located in Hope Ranch neighborhood of Santa Barbara, California.

Photograph of the exterior of the A.K. Bourne house from the street.

Photo of tiled courtyard at the A.K. Bourne House in San Marino, California.

Photograph of entrance court in the Marion and Thomson House located in Beverly Hills, California. Architect Wallace Neff built this home for screenwriter Frances Marion and her actor husband Fred Thomson.

Photograph of exterior stairwell with driveway

Photo of the interior of the entrance hall.

Photograph of the side exterior of the A.K. Bourne house in San Marino, California.

Photo of exterior of the A.K. Bourne house from the lawn.

Photo of the exterior and patio of the A.K. Bourne house by architect Wallace Neff in San Marino, California.

Floor plan of the Eaton House in the Hope Ranch by architect Wallace Neff. Hope Ranch is an affluent suburb on the coast between Goleta and Santa Barbara.

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

This Demonstration House was listed as Class 3 by the Better Homes Committee, and was located on Quinientos Street in Santa Barbara.

The long range plan from 1975 shows a much greater concern for the adjacent community of Isla Vista. A larger concentration of university buildings is shown in the 'loop' area, as well as trees and pedestrian-friendly boulevards. Unlike the 1963…

This birds eye view of campus shows the build-out of the land in 1990. Many of the original WWII buildings still remain, and the vehicle flow around the perimeter of campus is greatly reduced from the earlier plans. The large expanse of surface…

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…

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…

A view looking east towards the ocean, with the Marine base water tower off to the left. This site is currently the Materials Research Lab building.

A view looking west from near the current site of the East Entrance to the campus. This area looks fairly similar today, despite plans in the past to turn the coastal wetland into a recreational lake with a harbor, and other plans to infill the area…

A photograph of building 434, the Associated Students Annex, directly across the Pardall bike path from Storke Tower. This building was the recreation building during the time of the Marine Base, it was later converted into a Student Union in the…

A view of the campus pool as it appeared before the Marine base was given to the University of California. The pool was used by the Marines to practice water landings and emergency parachute procedures; the jumping platform in the center of the…

A photograph of the campus as it appeared after the Marines left, but before much construction had taken place. The Marine water tower is seen in the distance, and a car is parked on the road.

A photograph of the former Marine Base, looking southeast towards the ocean. The building in the foreground is possibly Building 431, which was torn down and eventually the 1977 addition to the library was built on this spot. Building 431 was a mess…

An aerial view of the campus looking west towards Isla Vista. Campbell hall is in the center, with North Hall and Robertson Gymnasium in the distance. Cheadle Hall is under construction due west of Campbell Hall. Some of the WWII era buildings seen…

A view of Campbell Hall, looking towards the northwest, from the library. The photograph highlights the landscaping and outdoor patio space for studying. This view no longer exists, due to the building of Ellison Hall and the expansion of the…

A photograph of the Marine base gymnasium building, with attached pool. This photograph also shows the lack of proper landscaping and grounds maintenance which plagued the early campus planners. Lack of topsoil (which the Marines had scraped off to…

A photograph of de-commissioned buildings on the former Marine base, possibly former officers' quarters.. Some of this type of building are still being used today for office space, including housing the ROTC and Military Science department. During…

An aerial view of the campus from the early 1950s, the Carjola-designed library is in the center of the image. Numerous World War II era buildings are seen in the lower right corner of the photograph. This photograph also highlights the lack of…

An aerial view of the campus looking towards the northwest, with the foot hills in the distance at the top of the photograph. The residence halls Anacapa and Santa Cruz appear to be under construction in the front of the photograph, as well as the…

An aerial view of the campus from the early 1950s, looking towards the ocean in a southwesterly direction. The first two University buildings constructed are seen in the middle-lower-right (the Carjola-designed library) and immediately to the left of…

A view of a roadway, with eucalyptus trees lining either side. Two men are standing next to a car, looking at plans for the university.

An aerial view of the Goleta mesa campus site, with Campus Point in the foreground and the Santa Barbara Airport in the distance. World War II era buildings can be seen both inside and outside of the line of eucalyptus trees used as a windbreak. This…

A view of the World War II barracks, as they existed when the University developed the Goleta mesa site. Barracks like these were turned into classrooms, laboratories, and offices. This photograph appears to have been taken in the current area of…

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.

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…

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.

Abell designed side-by-side duplexes for sisters Mary McKeen Niedringhaus and Christine Reber. Both houses had private views of the mountains and each side of the duplex also contained a rental unit.

For this shopping center in the Leimert Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, Abell designed the business block for Philip M. Gordon and the Los Feliz Investment Company.

For this axonometric drawing, Abell shows a cut-away of the Paramount Television Productions studio plant on North Bronson Avenue in Hollywood. Klaus Landsberg, a pioneering electrical engineer for the early television studios, is listed as the 'West…

This rendering for a shopping center was commissioned by M. Russell Davis and Philip Mackay Gordon, builder and business property developers. This early work shows influences of Streamline Moderne as well as a more Modern aesthetic.

The Thornton Abell archive contains a number of studio portraits of the architect.

This commission from the Los Angeles School District for a classroom building at Mt. Vernon Junior High, was located in the West Adams neighborhood. It is now named the Johnnie Cochran Middle School.

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…

The site plan for the Charnock Road Elementary School shows how additional buildings could be added to the site as enrollment grew during the population boom of the 1950s. This was a project for the Los Angeles City School district in the Mar Vista…

This house was built for the Los Angeles Seventh National Home Show and Building Exposition. Abell designed a model home named "The Californian."

This elementary school was one of many schools designed by Abell. Located in the Culver City area of Los Angeles, this school is now a 'gifted magnet' school. The photographs by Julius Shulman were thoughtfully staged.

This house in the Bel Air Hills section of Los Angeles, was built for Dr. William S. Beck. Sited on a steeply upwardly sloping lot in a canyon, the house was placed close to the road to take advantage of the only flat portion of the lot.

The Thornton Abell office building in Santa Monica highlights his architectural style for clients. The use of clean lines, indoor/outdoor living, and sliding partition doors were all features showcased in the photos by architectural photographer…

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…

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…

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…

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…

The black and white photograph shows the front facade of the hotel, with 1920s era automobiles. The caption at the bottom of the photograph: "First structure ever erected utilizing Ancient Maya Art Motifs throughout."

This is a scale drawing of the north and south walls of the Aztec Hotel lobby. The north wall features the detail work on the staircase to the second floor, doorways leading to the restaurant dining rooms, and the front desk. The south elevation…

This original drawing depicts each of the four main elevations: west, north, east, and south. The main entrance facade (south elevation) contains the majority of the cast concrete decorative elements. The west elevation shows the pergola and patio…

The original floor plan for the first floor of the hotel. Stores, barber shop, and coffee shop are along the bottom of the image. The lobby and dining room for the restaurant are in the center. In the upper right-hand corner are four one-room…

This image depicts the front desk in the lobby of the hotel. The "Mayan" themed furniture and the wall accents (including the drinking fountain) were designed by Stacy-Judd. The short staircase led to the private dining rooms for the restaurant.

Black and white photograph of the lobby looking towards the east. The front desk is on the left, with the entrance to the lobby on the right. The stairway on the far left leads to the outdoor patio area for the restaurant. "Mayan" themed furniture…

Photograph of interior of lobby looking towards the fireplace with the front desk to the right-hand side. Cast concrete was used for the "Mayan" forms around the doorways and fireplace. Stacy-Judd painted the murals on the walls and designed the…

Colored pencil on board. Rendering of interior of lobby; this shows the original design from August 1924. This presentation board displays the full color effect that Stacy-Judd was trying to achieve with his "Mayan Revival" style. The fireplace is on…

Colored pencil rendering of exterior side view of hotel on board. This view shows the corner of Foothill Boulevard (old Route 66), and Magnolia Avenue. It features "Mayan" decorative motifs on the corner, and along the side of the building. The view…

Colored pencil on board rendering of exterior view of hotel. This presentation board shows the view of the front entrance of the hotel, with shops on either side. The asymmetrical "Mayan" stonework is shown above the entrance, and the sage green…

This house won second prize in the House and Garden Competition in 1927. It was remodeled by Soule, Murphy & Hastings and is located near East Islay and Laguna Street in Santa Barbara.

This house is listed as Demonstration House Number 7 for the Better Homes Committee. Owners were Dr. and Mrs. Allin Williams for this house on East Padre Street.

A rendering of the landscape plan for the campus. This plan orients south at the top of the plan, with the lagoon and ocean at the top and left of the image. Three quadrangles (south, east, and northwest) are shown originating from a central point.…

A watercolor rendering of the second building to be built on the Goleta campus. The Science Building was designed by Santa Barbara architects Windsor Soule and John Murphy, who were the supervising architects for the new campus until 1953. The 1.2…

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…

This master plan of the Leadbetter Mesa campus, assumed to be drawn by Soule & Murphy, shows a large number of buildings built on the mesa and surrounding areas. The Arts buildings were clustered towards the Cliff Drive side of campus, while the…

Portraits of both Whitney Smith and Wayne Williams can be found in both the Smith and Williams collection as well as the Wayne Williams collection.

Whitney Rowland Smith was born in Pasadena in 1911 and lived there most of his life. He entered the…

Whitney Smith described his design for the Santa Ana Woods tract development as one of his best: "a tract of 104 houses, set far apart from other neighborhoods by natural barriers. The exclusive atmosphere further emphasized by the stone entrance."

The Welborn Phillips Company was a developer of tract homes. Smith and Williams created a brochure which illustrated their philosophy on tract housing. They highlighted such details as exterior masonry planter boxes to give a pleasant view from…

Smith and Williams designed more residential and commercial buildings but produced many master plans and planning studies for public and civic projects. The expansion of the state college and university systems provided work for many architects…

These medical offices have an unusual form and are very difficult to see from the exterior. In the simplified plan, the building is composed of two adjacent circles connected by a diamond- shaped reception vestibule. Patients enter through a small…

Photographs in the Smith and Williams’s files show the students at John Marshall congregating in groups at the edge of the campus. The design for a new cafeteria gracefully accommodates the students’ energetic sociability with a space that is…

Smith and Williams arranged the office spaces in six pavilions connected by covered walkways that carry people from the edge of the site to each of the six pavilions.