Wrought iron inside and out on window grills and around balconies and an impressive 2-story, paneled, arched entry illustrate Williams’ incorporation of Spanish architectural elements. Williams’ design for the Blackburn home included many of the Spanish Colonial Revival details that were characteristic of his interpretation of the style: red clay tile roof, multi-paned fixed and casement windows, art stone, 2-flue fireplace and smooth stucco finish. In 1927, Williams designed this 12-room home in the Spanish Colonial Revival style, a style he’d later go on to become well known for. The Los Feliz neighborhood of LA was already recognized as an ideal and tony choice residential area as early as 1910. Where some would say it all began for Paul Williams. This year, Williams was awarded AIA’s 2017 Gold Medal, the highest annual honor recognizing individuals whose work has had a lasting influence on the theory and practice of architecture.īruce and Lula Blackburn Residence, Los Angeles, CA ![]() Williams retired from practice in 1973 and died in 1980 at the age of 85. Williams famously remarked upon the bitter irony of the fact that most of the homes he designed, and whose construction he oversaw, were on parcels whose deeds included segregation covenants barring blacks from purchasing them. And the dread LA County Courthouse, which may cut quite an imposing figure but if you’ve been there chances are it was for a parking ticket or worse. His practice expanded to include buildings now considered landmarks: MCA, Saks Fifth Avenue, Palm Springs Tennis Club and Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Building. He believed these civic buildings would further the health and welfare of young people and African Americans, and thus greater society as a whole. He frequently donated his time and skills to build community projects. Over the course of William’s five-decade career he designed thousands of houses and buildings and served on many municpal, state, and federal commissions. A number of his works are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Modern interpretations of Tudor-revival, French Chateau, Regency, French Country, and Mediterranean architecture were all within his vernacular. But his most famous homes were for celebrities, and he was well regarded for his mastery of various architectural styles. Williams’ early practice flourished through his growing skills as a designer of small, affordable houses for new homeowners. As Hollywood began producing new stars, surely they’d need more homes. During the 1920s Los Angeles’s real estate landscape began to grow simultaneously alongside Hollywood’s. Williams was licensed as an architect by the State of California in 1921. ![]() ![]() I wanted to prove that I, AS AN INDIVIDUAL, deserved a place in the world.” ![]() As he would later say, ““I wanted to vindicate every ability I had. The implication there is that the larger white community would refuse to hire him at all.īut Williams persisted. Back at the turn of the 20th century (remember when?) Los Angeles had a population of just 102,000, and just 3,100 of that total were African American. In high school Williams was told by a teacher that he should not pursue a career in architecture because the small Los Angeles blakc community wouldn’t be able to provide him enough work. When Paul was 4 years old both of his parents had died but he was fortunate to grow up in the home of a foster mother who devoted herself to his education. Paul Williams was born in Los Angeles on February 18, 1894. He influenced the look and feel of Los Angeles as much, if not more, as his contemporaries. Williams also broke racial barriers, becoming the first African American member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), as well as a civic leader. Hell, you’ll have possibly been inside many of his buildings. Even if you’re not an architecture buff you’ll recognize many of the houses and buildings designed by iconic trailblazing architect Paul Revere Williams.
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