The Architecture Of Santa Barbara California

This documentation of the architecture of Santa Barbara, California has grown since the first edition was published in 1970: the second (1980) saw an expanded format and some 150 new photographs, and the third includes still more pages and photographs. The architectural examples presented here, selected from thousands taken on a block-by-block survey, were chosen for purity of style, historical signficance, and uniqueness. Each clear and beautiful black & white photo is captioned with information on the original owner or building title; date of construction; name of architect, designer, or builder; address; and alterations or additions to the building. 11x10" Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Following a devastating earthquake in 1925 that destroyed most of Santa Barbara’s significant buildings, the city became the first in the country to have a controlled building plan that encouraged a unified style using elements of Spanish colonial architecture. With airy broad patios, thick adobe walls, and warm-colored tile roofs, Californian architecture is beautifully distinctive. The product of many architects, it combines the harmony and color of Spanish colonial style with some of the best of American architecture. It is inspired by the play of sunshine on light surfaces as well as the contrast of deep shadows. Here, where gardens are so much a part of the house, the homes have become part of the garden. In 1929, H. Philip Staats presented 231 photos and plans of the rebuilt Santa Barbara: its public and commercial buildings, homes, interiors, and gardens. This book contains that collection, and is meant to serve as an inspiration for those planning and decorating in the Hispanic styles.

An ode to the classic Spanish-style houses of Santa Barbara. Spanish Colonial Style celebrates an extraordinary tradition in architecture whose hallmarks include whitewashed stucco and plaster walls, wood-beamed ceilings, dramatic fireplaces, and, above all, mystery and romance. Homes in this much-loved style of architecture welcome the visitor and embrace the resident, and architects James Osborne Craig and Mary McLaughlin Craig, early proponents of the style and influential disseminators of it, were masters of the form. Their work, until now, has been largely underappreciated and little seen. The Craigs played pivotal roles in the development of the Spanish Colonial Revival and of other styles of architecture in Santa Barbara, and the influence of their work spread much beyond that. In addition to shining a long overdue spotlight on the rich career of these tremendously influential architects, Spanish Colonial Style also heralds Santa Barbara as the small city of international importance that it became in the first half of the twentieth century.

Building with stone requires a commitment to permanence, like the extraordinary, almost citywide conviction of builders in Santa Barbara from the 1870s through the 1930s. As Santa Barbara was evolving from a dusty little port and outlying resort into a vibrant and growing city, there occurred an extraordinary era of stone construction. This was made possible by a fortuitous conjunction of factors: abundant material, a cadre of expert artisans, and almost unlimited financing. This period provided an atmosphere not only conducive to the building of public spaces, homes, bridges, walls, and an assortment of other stonework, but encouraged some exceptional expressions of the stoneworkers' art. Many of these artistic fabrications remain a testimony to the skills and tastes of their creators and add a distinctive element to the particular ambiance that makes Santa Barbara the special place that it is.

The architectural identity of the wealthy southern California town Santa Barbara is explored with emphasis on the architects who designed its major buildings, estates and historic homes. 200 illustrations.

Domestic architecture and interior design.

The Colorful Story of a Santa Barbara Landmark The Santa Barbara County Courthouse is a widely recognized icon of the city called the e oeCalifornia Riviera, e and just as widely known as a historic architectural achievement. Thousands, if not millions, visit it each yeare "jurists and tourists alikee "but although everyone appreciates its beauty, few really know how it came to be. Surprisingly, in the three-quarters of a century that the building has graced its grounds, no one has undertaken to document this architectural masterpiece. Authors Patricia Gebhard and Kathryn Masson have changed that once and for all with their book, The Santa Barbara County Courthouse. Together with photographer James Chen and book designer Eric Larson, they have created a work that is not only historically important, but nearly as beautiful as the courthouse itself. Many people know or assume that Santa Barbara had a courthouse before the present building was erected in 1929, but almost no one knows anything about it. Gebhard and Masson begin there, with historic photos of the original, classical-style courthouse and its Queen Anne hall of records add-on. In 1919 the county, needing more room, held a design competition for a new courthouse, and the entries received, as Gebhard and Masson show us, were heavily inA3/4uenced by the Spanish baroque style that was popularized by the 1915 Panama-California Exhibition in San Diego. None of these designs was built, however, because the county was unable to raise money to pay for construction. It wasne (TM)t until 1925, when the old courthouse was destroyed by the earthquake that leveled much of Santa Barbara, that a new building became imperative and funds were Aznally secured. Construction began in 1926, with the result we see today. (The footprint of the old building is reflected in the contours of the ! sunken gardens behind the present courthouse.) To document their story, Gebhard and Masson spent months poring over County Supervisorse (TM) minutes, news reports in the Santa Barbara Morning Press and articles in architectural magazines, and courthouse docentse (TM) records. They were able to identify nearly all of the architects, craftsmen, and artists who designed the building and created the exquisite tile, ironwork, furniture, murals and landscaping that grace it inside and out. Many of these individuals and companies are long gone, of course, but many are still active, and, as the authors point out, some of the courthousee (TM)s Azttings can still be ordered from their catalogs. Chene (TM)s 75 full-color photographs beautifully capture the courthousee (TM)s ambiance, and Larsone (TM)s open and asymmetrical book design reA3/4ects the buildinge (TM)s balance between void space and intricate detail. They combine with Gebhard and Massone (TM)s careful research to produce a deAznitive study and appreciation of the Santa Barbara County Courthouse, one that can hope to stand as long as the building itself.

Of the many practitioners of art nouveau in Great Britain, Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928) has outlasted them all. His work bridged the more ornate style of the later nineteenth century and the forms of international modernism that followed. Like Frank Lloyd Wright, with whom he is frequently compared, he is known for so thoroughly integrating art and decoration that the two became inseparable. His work has been honored by a major exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and his designs have proliferated to such an extent that they can be found reproduced in posters, prints, jewelry, and even new buildings. His most important project was the Glasgow School of Art, which still functions as a highly prestigious art school. This glorious building is visited each year by thousands of tourists from around the world. Built over a dozen years, beginning in 1897, the Glasgow School of Art is Mackintosh's greatest and most influential legacy. This completely redesigned and heavily illustrated edition of Mackintosh's Masterwork has been greatly expanded and contains newly discovered material about both the early life of the architect and the formative years in which his plans for the School of Art were executed.