Browse Items (856 total)

Prior to 1966, the Neighborhood Church congregation used a sanctuary building at 535 South Pasadena Avenue that had been built in 1887 as the First Congregational Church. In 1946, the church expanded its facilities. Smith and Williams designed a…

Smith and Williams created, at the time, the longest unsupported plywood vaults for this church. The clerestories under the vaults are lighted at night, which makes the roof appear to float.

Whitney Smith, the partner in charge, designed a tent-like structure for a new sanctuary, in deference to the Methodist open door philosophy of worship. The interior furnishings, including the cross, communion table and rail, lectern and pulpit were…

Wayne Williams and Robert Meyerhof, associate partner in the Smith and Williams’s office, designed a multi-level arrangement of decks and stair landings with an elaborate post-and-beam system that gives the impression of a tree house. The…

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.

Community Facilities Planners produced comprehensive planning reports for the Buena Park Civic Center and the Brea Civic Center.

Community Facilities Planners produced a master plan for the parks of the City of Lakewood that called for creating four parks over 10 years. Smith and Williams designed the structures.

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…

The post office was designed to anchor a small suburban shopping center. A reproduction of a rendering in the archive shows that the decorative folded detail on the façade was to be carried through onto the fronts of the other buildings in the…

In a letter dated September 1955 to Dan MacMasters at the Los Angeles Examiner’s Pictorial Living section, Smith described the Armstrong house as having no front or back. All four sides, he wrote, were designed for looking ‘at’ and for looking…

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…

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…

In 1944-1945 the Barr Lumber Company invited three architects to design model houses for an unbuilt experiment and engaged landscape architect Garrett Eckbo to create gardens for each of the proposals. For his submission, Whitney Smith wrote an…

The pavilion was designed by Smith and Williams in 1958, and contained walls which were inset with milk-white, blue, and translucent glass panels.

In 1946, a group of four friends decided to pool their resources and buy land in the hills above Sunset Boulevard to build homes for their families. The group soon grew to over 400 interested parties, and the group became the Mutual Housing…

The beach house commissioned by Phillip Lovell is widely regarded as one of the best examples of modernist architecture by Schindler. With rough, exposed, concrete forms, open staircases, two story living room, and windows facing the ocean, the beach…

Schindler was working for Frank Lloyd Wright when Thomas Hardy commissioned a series of 18 worker houses near Racine, Wisconsin.

Anastasia Bubeshko and her daughter Luby commissioned Schindler to design an apartment complex on Griffith Park Boulevard in the Silverlake neighborhood in Los Angeles. They wanted a modular design on the sloping lot, one which could contain 5…

The Harold Bradley house in Pasadena makes maximum use of a small lot, by yielding a small area to the driveway and garage, and reserving the focal point for a garden terrace. The terrace provides garden views and access for all the major rooms of…

For the long, narrow, 1300 square foot house for Leo Zwell, Smith designed a straight line of rooms, with each one having a full wall of glass facing onto the brick terrace. A "light trough" or linear skylight provided natural light to the…

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…

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."

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 Shadow Mountain Club was one of the first resorts in Palm Desert; the Sun Lodges were bungalows which could be purchased by individuals and then rented out when not in use. The land was owned by the corporation, making the Sun Lodges one of the…

The long, low house for Charles Milliken sat on a corner lot with an imposing front of stucco, masonry, and wood, while the back of the house featured much more open and airy glass walls to enjoy the view and outdoor living.

The Max E. Willcockson house in Indio is notable for White's first use of the hyperbolic-paraboloid roof. This dramatically sweeping feature appears from a distance to hover over the house (which was sited on a high sand dune to increase the drama).…

The house in Palm Desert for E.W, Stewart is one of the best examples of White's large residential commissions. The interior of the house is clearly divided into public and private zones, with a massive circular fireplace at the center of the living…

Walter White began designing homes in Colorado in the mid-60s, but it wasn't until 1968, when he received his Colorado architect license, that he was able to work on larger civic and commercial projects. The First Assembly of God Church in Colorado…

The plans for unbuilt duplex and triplex units wee commissioned by Pearl McCallum McManus. She inherited a large amount of land in and around Palm Springs and was a major proponent for the development of tourism in the area. McManus and her husband…

White worked with the Metro Homes company to design small homes for subdivisions throughout California. In Palm Desert, the Metro Homes (also known as "Palm Desert Homes") were one- or two- bedroom homes (either oblong or T-shaped) with and without…

In 1944, White built a 'Desert Dwelling' for his mother-in-law, Esther Breedlove in La Quinta. This small house is one of the earliest examples of White's work in the desert, and shows how his style was shaped by the environment. White used stand…

The Coachella Valley Farms development was initially designed to be the largest small-farm development in the world. With each homestead located on their own long and narrow two acre plots, the houses (with backyard pool) were near the road, with the…

The office building for Safari USA, a boat building company, utilized steel beams and corrugated sheet metal to provide visual interest and help shade portions of the building from the desert sun.

The first Herbert Pritzlaff house was designed by Cliff May, in 1947-1948, and was one of the earliest houses in the Palm Desert / Shadow Mountain region. The home burned to the ground in 1949, and White designed and built the replacement.

The floor plan for the William Durham house in Palm Desert highlights the thoughtful planning behind a Walter White design. The plan shows, through a series of arrows, the view lines from each section of the house, as well as the specific angles of…

For the Newt and Lillian Stafford house in Escondido, the clients built the original frame house, and White designed a shed-like roof, which was shaped like a butterfly's profile. With the angled roof, some of the interior walls did not reach up to…

For office buildings for the Calor Gas Service company, White used simple corrugated metal sheets, which he folded around corners and edges of the buildings. White designed buildings in Merced and Susanville for the company, as well as designing…

For the Valley Lumber Company in Palm Desert, White designed an addition to the store and office building.

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.

After World War II, Walter White designed small cabin-like houses for returning service members in the Hollywood Hills, along Valevista Trail. White and his family lived in one of the cabins for a short time.

For the Carroll and Dr. Marlene Smith house in the Black Forest area near Colorado Springs, White designed the house to utilize passive solar architecture in a domestic setting. The house is curved, to take advantage of the view, and contains many…

Walter White designed and built the four houses which are considered the La Quinta Units (or Bungalows) on land adjacent to the Breedlove house, which he built for his mother-in-law. The four T-shaped houses were designed as middle-class dwellings…

Walter White designed a number of Prefabricated Mountain Cabins through the years with the first one being The Yellowstone in 1965. The design started out as a small weekend home, with eventual designs encompassing permanent mountain residences. By…

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.

This early design by White has been called his "ideal home design." The long, narrow house plan shows a solid wall facing the street, with an open, glass-enclosed side facing a private backyard. Both the plan and elevation highlight the influence of…

The unbuilt George Kanrich house at the Tamarisk Country Club is a luxurious curved house facing a circular pool. The concave side of the house faced the driveway and contained the utilities and service sections of the house. The convex side faced…

The house White designed for Miles Bates in Palm Springs was never built, but would have been a much larger residence than the one built for Bates in Palm Desert. The plan for the house included an experiment in overlapping circles and half circles,…

The large house White designed for his family at the Kissing Camels Estates outside of Colorado Springs, was the first large house White built for himself. With sweeping views of the Rocky Mountains, the house contained two bedrooms, a study…

Palm Desert developers Al and Margaret Hill purchased land overlooking the Garden of the Gods park, outside of Colorado Springs, and created a private club. White designed the two-story guest rooms-- a complex of three buildings with forty guest…

White designed eighteen guest cottages for the Kissing Camels Golf Club. These one story one- and two- bedroom cottages utilized many of the hallmarks of the California Desert Modern design-- breezeblock entryways, floor to ceiling glass walls, and…

The Philip Johnson house in Indio, was a large house with a Y-shaped plan. This splayed plan allowed for each room to have views in many directions.

The Paulette Herbert Johnson house in Palm Desert was one of White's last houses in the desert before he moved to Colorado Springs. The house was originally designed with a hypar (hyperbolic paraboloid) roof, but was constructed with a flat roof, for…

The White Energy Integration System (WEIS) was designed as an alternative energy power plant, which pulled air upwards and powered turbines to generate energy. The large structure (496 feet tall and 880,000 square feet of land) would also have…

The Wayne Turner house in Calhan, Colorado is one of White's passive-solar houses with Heat Exchanger Windows. The houses were designed to trap heat inside during the cold winter months, and shade the house from the sun in the hot summer moths. The…

The Moses Myers House is a historic house museum in Norfolk, Virginia. Barton Myers' ancestors built the house in 1792 and maintained the house through the years.

This portrait of Barton Myers was taken early in his career in Toronto, Canada outside the residence he designed for himself and his family.

This interior drawing is one of Barton Myers' early student projects. Myers went to the University of Pennsylvania School of Architecture and studied under Louis Kahn. He graduated in 1964.

Barton Myers designed and built his first residence for himself at 19 Berryman in Toronto. At the time he was partners in the firm A.J. Diamond and Barton Myers Architects. The house was an infill project on a narrow vacant lot. Myers designed the…

Myers personal home in the Toro Canyon area of Montecito, sits on 38 acres of canyon land which backs up to the Los Padres National Forest. The house was designed so that if a wildfire were to threaten the structure, the metal walls would provide…

For this early house on a steeply sloping lot, Myers used pilings to raise the house and create space for a patio or eventual addition.

The alterations and addition to the theatre building faced the river and a public park, therefore the modifications were made with public access and views in mind.

Myers designed the Housing University Building (HUB) at the University of Alberta, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The HUB is a 957-foot-long galleria with retail shops, day care center, recreation facilities, and student housing on the upper floors of…

The Citadel Theatre complex was designed around a pedestrian mall, with the 700-seat proscenium theater, the 300-seat experimental theater, and the 250-seat cinema/lecture hall all having lobbies which opened onto the central pedestrian mall.

The York Square project, in the Yorkville Village neighborhood of Toronto, was an urban infill development which revitalized old commercial buildings in an established neighborhood into a new space for restaurants and cafes to coalesce around a new…

Don Watt was the founder of The Watt Group, a retail branding and design consultancy business. Myers designed the Studio building with an interior atrium which included trees.

The building, at 240 St. George Street in Toronto, was designed to be the office space for the Ontario Medical Association. The building now houses the Consulate General of the People's Republic of China.

This 1500-seat theater is modeled on Greek and Roman theaters. It overlooks a ravine, which provides a natural backdrop to the stage performances.
The Earl Bales Outdoor Theater is now called the Barry Zukerman Amphitheater in Earl Bales Park.

For the Bekins house in the Toro Canyon area of Montecito, Myers utilized the same type of steel construction he used in his own nearby house. Myers worked with landscape architects Arcadia Studios to preserve some of the landscape features…

Ghent Square was a project for the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority. Myers designed townhomes for the northeast quadrant of the square-- the development was sited around a central green space.

The Dundas-Shelbourne project was an infill housing scheme undertaken by the City of Toronto's Non-Profit Housing Corporation. Instead of tearing down existing housing stock to build high-rise towers, Myers and Diamond designed 5- to 7-story…

The Indian Paintbrush production company building is an example of adaptive re-use of a previously under-utilized brick building into modern office space. Myers designed a one-story office complex with a partial second-story, and a rooftop deck.

The Yorkville Branch Library in Toronto was originally designed in 1907 by architect Robert McCallum, the city architect, as part of a Carnegie library grant. Myers added on to the original Beaux Arts style building, with an addition to the back of…

Myers designed an open and airy restaurant within the structure of an old warehouse building in downtown Toronto.

"Vacant Lottery" was a special issue of Design Quarterly magazine which was co-written by Barton Myers and George Baird in 1978. The graphics show the existing buildings in dark blue, new construction in light blue, outside space is orange, and other…

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…

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.

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

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 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.

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…

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.

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.

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 National Guard Armory in Williston, North Dakota was designed by Stacy-Judd with a castle-like tower and turrets on either side of the entrances. The Armory was financed with a combination public, private, State, and National funds, since the…

In 1919, Stacy-Judd moved to Calgary, Alberta, Canada and partnered with architect William B. Major to construct buildings in the rapidly growing area. The Empire Theater and Apartments in Edmonton contained a number of different architectural…

After the Hoover Dam was built in the mid-1930s, Lake Mead became a popular recreation area. Stacy-Judd put forth a proposal to the National Park Service for three tourist areas: Boulder Beach, Lost City, and Pierce Ferry.

The handwritten caption…

This house possibly located on San Vicente in Santa Monica, features a board and batten exterior, painted light green. Unusual features include a large circular front door and a flat-roofed house volume contrasting with a more traditional gabled…

The Morris Plan Bank was a national banking system which primarily loaned money to middle-class people who had trouble obtaining regular loans. The Bank was started in Virginia in 1910, and soon had locations all across the country, including Los…

The house Robert Stacy-Judd designed and built for himself and his first wife is a modified Swiss Chalet style house. It has a raised floor plan, where the main living area is on the second floor, with bedrooms and integrated garage on the lower…

The unbuilt "Streets of All Nations" project was designed as a large-scale commercial enterprise. Stacy-Judd designed restaurants, motels, theaters, churches and temples, art galleries, and residences all grouped by country and architectural style.…

Twin Lakes Park was a resort development featuring two man-made lakes. Stacy-Judd designed the entrance gate in Mayan style, on the aptly named Mayan Road. He also designed the clubhouse and a few "Aztec" style cabins.
Unfortunately, the lakes have…

The National Hall project, for the client Paramount Group, was a group of buildings two city blocks square, at the corner of Sunset and Vine in Hollywood. The project was to include a 23,000 seat auditorium, a 13-story department store, office…

For this early house on a steeply sloping lot, Myers used pilings to raise the house and create space for a patio or eventual addition.

Mr and Mrs Percival Jefferson owned the 1916 Reginald Johnson-designed house, Miraflores. After her death in 1950, Mr.s Jefferson's friend and secretary, Helen Marso, donated the house and grounds to begin the Music Academy of the West.

The beach house for Peter Berkey III, a former Air Force pilot, sits oceanside along Padaro Lane with an unobstructed view of the Pacific. The siting of the house on a small rise allows for unobstructed views of the mountains to the north as well.

Albert Frey was in partnership with John Porter Clark from 1939 until 1957. This office building was the firm's office on North Palm Canyon Drive in downtown Palm Springs. The unassuming modern two-story building now houses retail stores on its first…

The Adrian Pelletier house in Palm Desert was built as the town was being developed as a getaway for Hollywood stars. Its location near both the Shadow Mountain Club and Marrakesh Country Club was a very desirable location.

This is an early rendering of the Palm Springs Desert Museum, later renamed the Palm Springs Art Museum, in its earlier location on Tahquitz Drive. Clark & Frey worked with the Williams, Williams, Williams architecture firm, which also included E.…