Biographies of Established Masters Historical Resources Board Jennifer Feeley, MCP Tricia Olsen, MCP Ricki Siegel Ginger Weatherford, MPS Historical Resources Board Staff 2011 i Master Architects Frank Allen Lincoln Rodgers George Adrian Applegarth Lloyd Ruocco Franklin Burnham Charles Salyers Comstock and Trotshe Rudolph Schindler C. E. Decker Thomas Shepherd Homer Delawie Edward Sibbert Edward Depew John Siebert Roy Drew George S. Spohr Russell Forester * John B. Stannard Ralph L. Frank Frank Stevenson George Gans Edgar V. Ullrich Irving Gill * Emmor Brooke Weaver Louis Gill William Wheeler Samuel Hamill Carleton Winslow William Sterling Hebbard John Lloyd Wright Henry H. Hester Eugene Hoffman Frank Hope, Sr. Frank L. Hope Jr. Clyde Hufbauer Herbert Jackson William Templeton Johnson Walter Keller Henry J. Lange Ilton E. Loveless Herbert Mann Norman Marsh Clifford May Wayne McAllister Kenneth McDonald, Jr. Frank Mead Robert Mosher Dale Naegle Richard Joseph Neutra O’Brien Brothers Herbert E. Palmer John & Donald B. Parkinson Wilbur D. Peugh Henry Harms Preibisius Quayle Brothers (Charles & Edward Quayle) Richard S. Requa Lilian Jenette Rice Sim Bruce Richards i Master Builders Juan Bandini Philip Barber Brawner and Hunter Carter Construction Company William Heath Davis The Dennstedt Building Company (Albert Lorenzo & Aaron Edward Dennstedt) David O. Dryden Jose Antonio Estudillo Allen H. Hilton Morris Irvin Fred Jarboe Arthur E. Keyes Juan Manuel Machado Archibald McCorkle Martin V. Melhorn Includes: Alberta Security Company & Bay City Construction Company William B. Melhorn Includes: Melhorn Construction Company Orville U. Miracle Lester Olmstead Pacific Building Company Pear Pearson of Pearson Construction Company Miguel de Pedroena, Jr. William Reed Nathan Rigdon R.P. Shields & Son Alexander Schreiber Louise Severin John Sherman Charles H. Tifal William F. Wahrenberger Francis E. Young ii. Master Landscape Architects Master Car Builder Abel A. Butterworth Master Carpenter Wilbur F. Hale Master Designers Ralph E. Hurlburt Master Interior Designers Corinne McAllister Master Landscape Architects Roland Stewart Hoyt Walter Merrill Master Landscape Designer Milton Sessions iii. Master Architects Frank Allen, Jr. 1881‐1943 Biography: Frank Allen, Jr. was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1881 to Frank P. and Mary Allen. He was the son of an architect, and he studied architecture and designed buildings in Michigan under the firm Frank P. Allen & Son before moving to Chicago to work for D.H. Burnham. During his time in Chicago Allen learned the importance of “standardization” which calculated a certain number of office rooms, floors, and space and a certain way of arranging furniture which would allow different buildings to be built from the same general plan. This method saved the firm a lot of time and money. By 1904 Allen was “burnt out” and moved west, purchasing a pony and traveling the state of Washington on horseback. He then moved to Seattle, where he served as Director of Works for the Alaska – Yukon Pacific Exposition in 1909. Allen then moved to San Diego for a position as Architect and Director of Works for the Panama – California Exposition in 1911. Allen was chosen for this position due to his “faithfulness to every detail and his masterly execution of the big undertaking”. He designed numerous structures and buildings for the Exposition at Balboa Park, some of which are no longer standing. Throughout his career, Allen was known as an architect, contractor, engineer, as well as a self‐taught landscape designer. One of the first projects Allen worked on for the exposition was the building of the Cabrillo Bridge in 1911. This bridge as the first multiple‐arched, cantilever‐type bridge built in California. In 1914 Allen worked as consulting architect and engineer with William Sterling Hebbard on the design of the Maryland Hotel at 6th and F Streets. He was then hired by R.F. Vandruff to design his estate at the intersection of Oregon and Copley Streets. The three structures designed for Vandruff are now incorporated into the Our Lady of Peace Academy. Allen’s 1928 design of the Hamilton’s Fine Foods store at 7th and C Streets was praised by the A.I.A. in 1933. After receiving this honor in 1933, Allen moved to Long Beach, California. He ultimately worked for the California Shipbuilding Corporation in Wilmington, where he designed Liberty Ships for World War II. It was there that he died prematurely at the age of 62 when he was accidentally run over by a carrier lumber hoist. Notable Works: HRB# 644 – Hamilton’s Fine Foods, San Diego, 1928 Cabrillo Bridge, Balboa Park (Designer and Constructor) Administration Building, Balboa Park (Assistant to Carleton Winslow) Sacramento Valley Building, Balboa Park (later the Army and Navy Exhibit Building) Commerce and Industries Building, Balboa Park (later the Canadian Building) Botanical Gardens Pergola, Jardin de las Flores, Balboa Park (no longer standing) Botanical Building, Balboa Park (with Carleton M. Winslow) Maryland Hotel, San Diego, 1914 (with William Sterling Hebbard) 1 | Page Master Builders George Adrian Applegarth 1875 –1972 Biography: George Adrian Applegarth was born in Oakland, California on October 4, 1875 to John and Henrietta Sanders Applegarth. His parents were originally from England, immigrating to Canada and later to the United States. He graduated from Oakland High School and then went on to work as a draughtsman for his uncle George Sanders from the firm of Wright & Sanders. George took drawing classes from Bernard Maybeck who encouraged him to train at the renowned Ecole des Beaux‐Arts. Applegarth then went on to graduate from the Ecole de Beaux Arts in Paris in April of 1906. He then returned to San Fransisco to help rebuild the city after the devastating earthquake and fires. He formed a partnership with fellow architect Kenneth MacDonald lasting six years. McDonald and Applegarth maintained a firm in San Diego at the Union Building during the years 1910‐1911, presumably to design and oversee the construction of their only two known projects in San Diego: the Edward T. Austin/McDonald – Applegarth House (HRB #530), built in 1911 for San Diego resident Samuel Bingham; and the Burnham and McMurtrie hotel building built in 1910 at 6th Avenue and C Street (no longer standing). Applegarth’s Beaux‐Arts influences of rigid symmetry, perfect proportions, columned entries, and coffered ceilings are seen in many of his residential designs. Many of his buildings were built in the Italian Renaissance style. Applegarth was selected as the architect for the replica of the Palais de la Legion d’Honneur in Paris which was to be built on the Lincoln Park hilltop in San Fransisco. In order to prepare for this task, Applegarth visited various museums throughout the United States to find out more on solutions to museum problems. The California Palace of the Legion of Honor was presented to the city of San Fransisco on Armistice Day, 1924. In his later career, Applegarth looked at designing parking garages. In 1953 he designed the curvilinear Downtown Center Garage featuring a double‐spiral ramp, multi‐story, self‐parking structure. This design went on to influence the building of similar structures in other major cities. Applegarth married Gwendolyn Powers in 1913, had four children and the family resided on Vallejo Street in San Fransisco. He was a fellow of the American Institute of Architects and was even president of the San Fransisco chapter for some time. George received an “Architect Emeritus of California” from the Executive Secretary of the Board of Examiners. He was also given an Award of Merit by Mayor Joseph Alioto to celebrate his service to the people of San Fransisco. Notable Works: HRB #530 – The Edward T. Austin/McDonald ‐ Applegarth House (2865 Albatross Street) Adolph Spreckels Mansion, San Francisco Cabrillo Monument, San Francisco 2 | Page Master Builders Franklin P. Burnham 1853 – 1909 Biography: Franklin P. Burnham was born in Chicago in 1853. He apprenticed and began his architectural practice in Chicago before joining the Supervising Architect, W.J. Edbrooke, for the United States Treasury Department in designing the Georgia State Capitol Building in 1891. On March 13, 1890 the Kane County courthouse in Illinois burned to the ground. Along with fellow architect W.J. Edbrooke, the two were commissioned to design the new courthouse and jail and is considered one of the finest buildings in Illinois. A square dome raises high above a rotunda, decorative ironwork railings encircle each floor, and various murals are found on the arches of the fourth floor. Burnham also worked for the Columbia World Exposition in Chicago designing the Cold Storage Building. This five story building was built in the Romanesque design and known as the “greatest refrigerator on Earth” providing storage for all the food served at the fair and even featured an ice skating rink. Unfortunately a fire broke out on July 10, 1893 burning the building to ashes. In 1903 Burnham opened an office in Los Angeles, where he became well known as an architect in South Pasadena. In 1903 Burnham designed the Riverside County Courthouse in the style of beaux‐arts Classicism. A building Burnham is widely known for, the Los Angeles Polytechnic High School was built in 1906. In 1908 construction began for the First Christian Scientist Church in Pasadena which featured an auditorium with acoustics designed so that a speaker could be heard anywhere in the room. Burnham was also commissioned for several Carnegie Libraries in the same year. These buildings would not be finished until three years later, after his death. While keeping his residence in Los Angeles, Burnham opened a satellite office in the Union Building in San Diego in 1909. He was commissioned to design a hotel for a group of businessmen under the name San Diego Building Company. This and two other buildings in San Diego were built under the Chicago School of work.