Wikipedia

Bernard Maybeck

Bernard Maybeck
A black-and-white photograph of the architect Bernard Maybeck, dated 1919. In the photograph, Maybeck is gazing at the left side of the frame and resting on a step, slightly leaning to his right with his right foot drawn up on a lower step, the left foot on the ground, and the left hand holding a large rolled paper (possibly a blueprint, indicative of his work as an architect).
Maybeck in 1919
Born
Bernard Ralph Maybeck

(1862-02-07)February 7, 1862
New York City, New York, U.S.
DiedOctober 3, 1957(1957-10-03) (aged 95)
Berkeley, California, U.S.
Alma materÉcole nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts
OccupationArchitect
AwardsAIA Gold Medal (1951)

Bernard Ralph Maybeck (February 7, 1862 – October 3, 1957) was an American architect. He worked primarily in the San Francisco Bay Area, designing public buildings, including the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, and also private houses, especially in Berkeley, where he lived and taught at the University of California. A number of his works are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[1]

Early life and education

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Maybeck was born in New York City, the son of a German immigrant, and studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, France.[a]

Career

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He moved to Berkeley, California, in 1892. He taught engineering drawing and architectural design at the University of California, Berkeley from 1894 to 1903, and acted as a mentor for some other important California architects, including Julia Morgan and William Wurster.[3]

Maybeck was equally comfortable producing works in the American Craftsman, Mission Revival, Gothic revival, Arts and Crafts, and Beaux-Arts styles, believing that each architectural problem required development of an entirely new solution.

While working in the office of A. Page Brown in San Francisco, Maybeck probably contributed to the Mission Style California Building at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago and was one of the designers of the San Francisco Swedenborgian Church, which included the first Mission Style chair.[4][5]

For the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition, he designed the domed Palace of Fine Arts[6] and also the "House of Hoo Hoo", a "lumberman's lodge" made of rough-barked tree trunks. The Palace of Fine Arts was seen as the embodiment of Maybeck's elaboration of how Roman architecture could fit within a California context. Maybeck said that the popular success of the Palace was due to the absence of a roof connecting the rotunda to the art gallery building, along with the absence of windows in the gallery walls and the presence near the rotunda of trees, flowers and a water feature.[7]

In 1928, he designed the Harrison Memorial Library in Carmel in a Spanish Eclectic style.[8][9]

In his long-time home city of Berkeley, the 1910 First Church of Christ, Scientist, Berkeley is designated a National Historic Landmark and is considered one of his masterpieces.[10][11] In 1914, he oversaw the building of the Maybeck Recital Hall in Berkeley.

On flatter sites, such as the city of San Francisco, the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, and the Loch Lin General Plan for Principia College in Illinois, his proposals were guided by more formal Beaux Arts planning principles.[12] One of Maybeck's most interesting office buildings is the home of the Family Service Agency of San Francisco at 1010 Gough Street, from 1928, which is on the city's Historic Building Register. Some of his larger residential projects, particularly those in the Berkeley hills such as La Loma Park, have been compared to the ultimate bungalows of the architects Greene and Greene.[13]

Maybeck had many ideas about town planning that he elaborated throughout his career. As a citizen of Berkeley from the 1890s, he was intimately involved in the Hillside Club. His associations and work there helped evolve ideas about hillside communities. Maybeck developed a number of firm beliefs in how civilization and the land should relate to each other.[14] Two overriding principles guided his approach:

  1. The primacy of the landscape - geology, flora, and fauna were not to be subdued by architecture so much as enhanced by architecture
  2. Roads should pattern the existing grade and not be an imposition upon it

There were other principles he would elucidate, such as a shared public landscape, but these were key, and helped Berkeley evolve into a paradigm for hillside living that was organic and unique.[15]

Maybeck's visions for communities in the East Bay were also a conscientious counterpoint to across the bay where in San Francisco city planning was much more conventional, forced, and regimented into expansive grids of streets. Its grids, imposed in places on very steep grades, resulted in extremely steep streets, sidewalks, and urban transitions, some of which were almost comically so. He also developed a comprehensive town plan for the company town of Brookings, Oregon, a clubhouse at the Bohemian Grove, and many of the buildings on the campus of Principia College in Elsah, Illinois.[16][17]

Personal life

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A lifelong fascination with drama and the theater is evident in much of Maybeck's work. In his spare time, he was known to create costumes and also design sets for the amateur productions at the Hillside Club.[18]

Bernard Maybeck died on October 3, 1957, aged 95, and is buried in the Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, California.[citation needed]

Honors

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In 1951, he was awarded the Gold Medal of the American Institute of Architects.[citation needed]

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Notable works

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Date Work Location Notes Ref.
1895, 1902 Charles Keeler House & Studio Berkeley Hills, Highland Place, North Berkeley, California Maybeck's first private client [19]
1895 Swedenborgian Church 3200 Washington Street at Lyon Street, Pacific Heights, San Francisco, California, California NRHP-listed
1898−1902 Wyntoon Rural Siskiyou County, California With architect Julia Morgan; private estate of Phoebe Apperson Hearst−Hearst family
1902 Boke House 23 Panoramic Way, Panoramic Hill Historic District, Berkeley, California For George Henry Boke (1869–1929) [20][21]
1902 Faculty Club University of California, Berkeley campus Later additions by Maybeck and John Galen Howard; NRHP-listed [1][22][23]
1903–04 Grove Clubhouse−Maybeck Lodge Bohemian Grove, Monte Rio, California Bohemian Club 'campground' on the Russian River [24][25]
1904 Howard B. Gates House 62 South Thirteenth Street, San Jose, California Mission Revival style [26]
1904 The Outdoor Art Club 1 West Blithedale Avenue, Mill Valley, Marin County, California NRHP-listed [1][27]
1906, rebuilt 1924 Hillside Club Cedar Street, North Berkeley Berkeley Landmark; original 1906 clubhouse destroyed in 1923 Berkeley Fire. Maybeck's brother-in-law, John White, designed current clubhouse in 1924. [28]
1908 Andrew Cowper Lawson House 1515 La Loma Avenue, Berkeley, California Berkeley Landmark [29][30]
1909 Goslinsky Residence 3233 Pacific Avenue, San Francisco, California
1909 Roos House 3500 Jackson Street at Locust, Pacific Heights, San Francisco, California Tudor Revival and other styles; NRHP-listed & San Francisco Landmark [1][31]
1910 First Church of Christ, Scientist (Berkeley, California) 2619 Dwight Way, Berkeley, California NRHP-listed [1]
1912 Rose Walk La Loma Park neighborhood in North Berkeley, California Public outdoor stairway and landscape [32]
1913 Chick House 7133 Chabot Road, Oakland Hills district of Oakland, California For Guy Hyde Chick (1868–1930), in Chabot Canyon of the Berkeley Hills; Bay regional shingle style [33][34]
1914 Temple of Wings 2800 Buena Vista Way, Berkeley, California Designed in 1911 for Charles Calvin Boynton and Florence Treadwell Boynton, in La Loma Park neighborhood [35][36]
1914, rebuilt 1923 Kennedy-Nixon house 1537 Euclid Avenue, La Loma Park district, North Berkeley, Berkeley, California [37]
1914, rebuilt 1923 Maybeck Recital Hall Euclid Avenue at Buena Vista Way, North Berkeley Part of Kennedy-Nixon house complex [38]
1915, rebuilt 1965 Palace of Fine Arts 3301 Lyon Street, Marina District, San Francisco, California Panama-Pacific Exposition building; NRHP-listed [1]
1915 Parsons Memorial Lodge Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite National Park, California Sierra Club lodge; NRHP-listed [1]
1916 Erlanger House 270 Castenada Avenue, Forest Hill neighborhood, San Francisco, California [39]
1917 Lynwood Pacific Electric Railway Depot Lynwood, South Los Angeles region, California
1922 Byington Ford House Pebble Beach, California [40]
1924 Bernard Maybeck house and studio Maybeck Twin Drive, La Loma Park district, North Berkeley, California Architect's own residence and studio [41]
1927 Phoebe Hearst Gymnasium for Women Oxford Street, University of California, Berkeley campus With architect Julia Morgan; NRHP-listed [1]
1927 Earle C. Anthony Packard Showroom Van Ness Avenue at Ellis Street, San Francisco Beaux-Arts style, now British Motors; San Francisco Landmark [42]
1927 Earle C. Anthony House 3431-3441 Waverly Drive, Los Feliz district, Los Angeles, California Medieval, Gothic, Spanish and Tudor Revival elements. Later the Countess Bernardine Murphy Donohue estate (c.1950−c.1970) with gardens designed by Florence Yoch & Lucile Council. Later the Convent of the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and the Cardinal Timothy Manning House of Prayer for Priests complex (1975−2011). [43][44][45][46][47][48]
1928 Earle C. Anthony Packard Showroom Olympic Boulevard and Hope Street, South Park district of Downtown Los Angeles Remodel of 1911 Greene and Greene design; present day Packard Lofts condos [49]
1928 Associated Charities of San Francisco Building 1010 Gough Street at Eddy, San Francisco Present day Family Service Agency of San Francisco center; San Francisco Landmark [50]
Historic districts with Maybeck-designed works include
Maybeck designed residences include the Boke House (1902) at 23 Panoramic Way[1]
Maybeck designed the 'English village' campus master plan, and campus buildings including the Colonial Revival style Chapel (1931–34) at 1 Maybeck Place.[51]
Maybeck designed the "Sunbonnet House" (1899, restored 2004) for Emma Kellogg.[53]

References

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Notes
  1. ^ One of his early jobs was with the architectural firm of Carrere and Hastings, working as a draftsman on the monumental Ponce de Leon Hotel built for Standard Oil magnate Henry Flagler in St. Augustine, Florida. Maybeck's father also worked on the project as a woodcarver.[2]
Citations
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. ^ Gilcher, William; Court, Ayesha (October 5, 2006). "10 Great Places to Toast German Heritage". USA Today. Archived from the original on November 4, 2006. Two of San Francisco's best-known landmarks were built by Germans: Joseph Strauss designed the 1937 Golden Gate Bridge, and Bernard Maybeck, son of a German immigrant, designed the Palace of Fine Arts.
  3. ^ Cardwell, Kenneth (1977). Bernard Maybeck; Architect, Artisan, Artist. Salt Lake City: Peregrine Smith. pp. 38–40. ISBN 978-0-87905-022-1.
  4. ^ Freudenheim 2005, pp. 163ff, 60–68.
  5. ^ "Noehill.com San Francisco Landmarks: Swedenborgian Church (1895), 3200 Washington Street at Lyon Street".
  6. ^ Way, Natalie (December 23, 2023). "'Architectural Jewel': Century-Old Bay Area Craftsman Designed by Bernard Maybeck". Realtor.com. Retrieved July 18, 2024 – via SFGate.
  7. ^ Macomber, Ben (1915). The Jewel City. pp. 25, 101–102.
  8. ^ Seavey, Kent (2007). Carmel, A History in Architecture. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia. p. 114. ISBN 978-0-7385-3122-9. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
  9. ^ Hale, Sharron Lee (1980). A Tribute to Yesterday: The History of Carmel, Carmel Valley, Big Sur, Point Lobos, Carmelite Monastery, and Los Burros. Santa Cruz, California: Valley Publishers. p. 67. ISBN 978-0-913548-73-8. Retrieved January 19, 2022.
  10. ^ "Maybeck And His Work". Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved March 29, 2011.
  11. ^ "Berkeley Landmarks: First Church of Christ, Scientist".
  12. ^ Craig, Robert (2004). Bernard Maybeck at Principia College: The Art and Craft of Building. Gibbs Smith. p. 112. ISBN 978-1-58685-456-0.
  13. ^ Freudenheim 2005, pp. 186, 154ff.
  14. ^ Freudenheim 2005, pp. op. cit., 100..
  15. ^ Trapp, Kenneth R. (1993). The Arts and Crafts Movement in California; Living the Good Life. Abbeville Press. p. 60. ISBN 978-1-55859-393-0.
  16. ^ "Bernard Maybeck, Grove Clubhouse, Bohemian Club of San Francisco". Vernacular Language North. Archived from the original on September 1, 2003. Retrieved March 4, 2009.
  17. ^ "KETC: Living St. Louis: The Architecture of Principia College".
  18. ^ Fraser, Annie (1925). Hillside Club Yearbook 1924–1925. Berkeley: Hillside Club. p. 24.
  19. ^ "Berkeley Landmarks: Charles Keeler House & Studio". Berkeley Heritage.
  20. ^ "Boke House, by Bernard Maybeck (1902), Bay Regional shingle style". Great Buildings Architecture.
  21. ^ "Maybeck's Boke House: Made by One Crusader for Another". Berkeley Heritage.
  22. ^ "The Faculty Club at UC Berkeley". Berkeley Faculty Club.
  23. ^ "UC Berkeley Faculty Club History". Berkeley Faculty Club. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015.
  24. ^ Mix, Robert. "Bernard Maybeck: (1902–1905)". Vernacular Language North. Archived from the original on September 1, 2003. Retrieved September 4, 2012.
  25. ^ "Maybeck Lodge, Bohemian Grove". Calisphere. University of California. Retrieved September 4, 2012.
  26. ^ "Howard B. Gates House, San Jose, Santa Clara County, CA". HABS−Historic American Buildings Survey.
  27. ^ "The Outdoor Art Club, Mill Valley: History". Archived from the original on February 13, 2018. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
  28. ^ "Hillside Club of Berkeley: History". Hillside Club.
  29. ^ "Maybeck Made La Loma Park His Own Country". Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
  30. ^ "A Tale of Two Houses". Modern Magazine. October 19, 2017. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
  31. ^ "Roos House (1909), 3500 Jackson Street, Presidio Heights". Noe Hill.
  32. ^ "Rose Walk, by Bernard Maybeck (1912), pedestrian street, public stair, and landscape". Great Buildings.
  33. ^ "Chick House, by Bernard Maybeck (1913), Bay regional shingle style". Great Buildings Architecture. Archived from the original on November 6, 1999.
  34. ^ "Guy Hyde Chick: The Man Behind the Chick House". Berkeley Heritage.
  35. ^ Cerny, Susan (January 28, 2002). "The Temple of Wings 2800 Buena Vista Way, Berkeley, CA". Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association.
  36. ^ Ketcharp, Diana (October 7, 1991). "On the Wings of Uncertainty". Oakland Tribune. pp. B1, B2. Retrieved November 28, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  37. ^ "Landmark Bernard Maybeck Kennedy-Nixon house lists for sale in Berkeley". Berkeleyside. April 20, 2012.
  38. ^ "Maybeck Studio for the Performing Arts". Maybeck Studio.
  39. ^ "A Century-Old Arts and Crafts Home by Bernard Maybeck Lists for $4.25M". Dwell. 2019.
  40. ^ "Architect and engineer". Architect and Engineer, Inc. San Francisco. 1905. Retrieved April 21, 2022.
  41. ^ "Maybeck House and Studio, by Bernard Maybeck (1924), Bay Area Modern style". Great Buildings Architecture.
  42. ^ "Earle C. Anthony Packard Showroom". Noe Hill.
  43. ^ Michael Locke (January 17, 2006). "Earle C. Anthony House, architect Bernard Maybeck (1927)". Flickr.
  44. ^ Michael Locke (January 17, 2006). "Earle C. Anthony House image #2". Flickr.
  45. ^ Michael Locke (January 17, 2006). "Earle C. Anthony House image #3". Flickr.
  46. ^ James J. Yoch (1989). Landscaping the American dream: the gardens and film sets of Florence Yoch, 1890-1972. H.N. Abrams.
  47. ^ "Cardinal Timothy Manning House of Prayer for Priests, founder John D. McAnulty". Los Angeles Times. April 8, 2009.
  48. ^ "Katy Perry and Elderly Nuns Fighting for Control of Spectacular Los Feliz Convent". LA Curbed. June 29, 2015.
  49. ^ "A Heap of Downtown History In Neon 'Packard' Sign". Los Angeles Downtown News. August 9, 2011.
  50. ^ "Associated Charities of San Francisco / Family Service Agency of San Francisco Building". Noe Hill.
  51. ^ HABS−Historic American Buildings Survey: Principia College, Chapel, 1 Maybeck Place, Elsah, Jersey County, IL
  52. ^ NPS.gov: Professorville Historic District, Palo Alto, Santa Clara County, California
  53. ^ The Sunbonnet House, 1061 Bryant Street, Professorville Historic District, Palo Alto, CA
  54. ^ Tahoemeadows.org: Tahoe Meadows National Historic District
  55. ^ Tahoemeadows.org: Photo gallery
Works cited
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Selected works

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