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Five Black architects who helped shape L.A.’s Mid-Century style!

The Garris Residence (1958) by Paul Revere Williams. Located at 1070 N. Hillcrest Road, Los Angeles. (Photo courtesy Hilton & Hyland)

When the great Paul Revere Williams joined the Southern California chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in 1923, he became the AIA’s first Black member. This kicked the door open for Black architects across America, and especially right here in Williams’ hometown of Los Angeles. 

Inspired by Williams’ high-profile success, a small but mighty group of Black architects overcame intense racism with talent and determination, working regularly throughout the mid- 20th century. 

Black architects may have been overshadowed in the history books by their more famous white colleagues, but for every Richard Neutra and R.M. Schindler there were Black architects designing buildings that were just as creative and ambitious, and they left a Modern imprint that is still visible here in L.A. … if you know where to look.

Here’s a brief look at some of L.A.’s unsung Mid-Century Modern beauties, and the Black architects behind them. 

JAMES H. GARROTT

The Gregory and Ain Office (1950). Located at 2231 Hyperion Avenue, Los Angeles. (Photo Credit: Michael Locke)

This lovely Mid-Century Modern style office building in Silver Lake was once home to the architectural firm of Ain & Garrott. James H. Garrott (1897 - 1991) was the second Black architect to be admitted to the American Institute of Architects (AIA), thanks to the support of his mentor, Paul R. Williams, who sponsored his application. Garrott, originally from Montgomery Alabama, graduated from Los Angeles Polytechnic High School in 1917 and got his architect’s license in 1928.

Garrott worked for Williams during the 1920s, during which time he made a huge contribution to the Black community by designing the first Golden State Mutual Life Insurance building (1928). But Garrott’s career really began to take flight when he met visionary architect Gregory Ain: the two began a loose partnership in the 1940s, around the same time that Garrott designed his own residence for him and his wife, Fanny, in Silver Lake. It is located next door to another Garrott design, the Loren Miller Residence, which was designed for the powerful Civil Rights attorney, responsible for helping end racist housing covenant deeds both here in Los Angeles and nationwide.

The James H. Garrott Residence (1940). Located at 653 Micheltorena Street, Los Angeles. (Photo Credit: Michael Locke)

Gregory Ain’s progressive politics influenced his approach to Modern architecture, which then inspired Garrot’s own work: he has since been described as a “pivotal Black avant-garde modernist of the 1940s."

Together, they designed a small office building in Silver Lake in 1950 and worked on a number of private residences, including the Ben Margolis Residence (1951). Margolis was a famous L.A. attorney, most remembered for defending “The Hollywood Ten”: the ten writers and directors blacklisted by the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) over alleged Communist sympathies. In 1951, one year before courageously testifying before the HUAC, Margolis commissioned a home from Ain, with Garrott as partner.

Ben Margolis Residence (1951). Located at 5786 Valley Oak Drive, Los Angeles. (Photo Credit: Michael Locke)

The Westchester Municipal Building (1960). Located at 7166 W. Manchester Avenue, Los Angeles.  (Photo credit: Modernista L.A.)

Garrott would design some 200 buildings over the course of his career, including twenty-five churches and several public buildings like the striking Westchester Municipal Building (1960). Later in life, Garrott became a mentor to emerging Black architects. In 1975, he was honored with a lifetime achievement award by the Minority Architects and Planners of Los Angeles, and also became an emeritus of the American Institute of Architects.

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ROBERT A. KENNARD

1958 post-and-beam located at 9032 Wonderland Park Avenue, Los Angeles. (Photo credit: DeasyPennerPodley)

Nestled in the affluent enclave of Beverly Crest lies this Mid-Century Modern gem, designed by the trailblazing Robert A. Kennard (1920 - 1995). It’s a post-and-beam beauty with vaulted ceilings, paneled walls, a sunken living room, and as recently as 2015, sold for nearly $1.5 million.

Kennard was a SoCal native, hailing from Monrovia, and attended Monrovia High School where a teacher first introduced him to the work of Paul R. Williams. Thanks to the GI Bill, Kennard was able to attend the USC School of Architecture after serving in World War II, becoming part of the second generation of Black architects in L.A. who were buoyed by the success of Williams.

Despite being paid half the rate of his white colleagues, Kennard’s drive resulted in the founding of his own practice in 1957. (One of his earlier works, the Zieger Residence [1958] in Laurel Canyon, was designated in 1989 as City of Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #416.) But his work on privately commissioned homes, like the Garrett-Hansford Residence (1964) was relatively short-lived. Starting in the mid-1960s, Kennard shifted his focus to public work. The Kennard Design Group would work on some 700 projects in Southern California, including the City of Carson City Hall in 1976 (in partnership with Robert Alexander and Frank Sata) and the Van Nuys State Office Building in 1985 (in partnership with another L.A.-based Black architect, Harold Williams).

The Garrett-Hansford Residence (1964). Located at 2076 Redcliff Street, Los Angeles. (Photo credit: Michael Locke)

The Carson City Hall (1976). Located at 701 E. Carson Street, Carson. (Photo credit: Carson Chamber of Commerce)

He also focused on becoming a mentor to young people of color who aspired to make their mark in a predominantly white architectural community. Remembering the countless doors closed to him because of his race, he recruited Black students and formed the Minority Architecture and Planning organization: a precursor of the National Organization of Minority Architects. “It was an inspiration to know that such prominence was not beyond the reach of people of color,” Kennard later recalled. “Life is a two-way street, and it is rewarding to be able to give back a little of what one was fortunate enough to receive.”

Each year, the AIA celebrates his legacy with the Robert A. Kennard Award for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, honoring his “commitment to mentorship and encouraging young people, especially underrepresented ethnicities and women, to pursue careers in architecture.”

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ROY A. SEALEY

The Seaport Marina (1963). Formerly located at 6400 East Pacific Coast Highway, Long Beach. Demolished in 2017. (Photo credit: Larry Underhill)

For more than 50 years, the Seaport Marina Hotel in Long Beach was a distinctive mainstay along the Alamitos Bay Marina. Designed by Roy A. Sealey (1917-2008), the prominent and prolific Black architect, the hotel might be better remembered by its original name: the Edgewater Inn Motel. Sealey’s design included such Mid-Century features as Y-shaped supports, a diamond-patterned roofline, and decorative concrete block screens. 

The motel was part of the "garden motel” trend, a style influenced by the bungalow court styles so popular throughout L.A. County. With its fashionable interiors, cocktail lounges, and ballroom, the Edgewater quickly became a "destination" hotel. 

The City of Long Beach originally commissioned the Edgewater in hopes that it would be the destination for the World’s Fair for 1963. While that never happened, the lavish new lodging opened anyway in June of 1963. The papers touted it as an important addition to the Long Beach hospitality business.

The Edgewater Inn’s iconic Y-shaped supports. Date unknown. (Photo copyright Peter Samarin, Samatrix.Digital )

By that time, Sealey had been a successful, respected architect for many years. Born in Gatun, Panama, Sealey immigrated to the United States in the 1920s, eventually settling in Los Angeles. While studying architecture at USC in 1939, he went to work for Paul R. Williams. Sealey left Williams’ practice in 1945 to open his own office where he specialized in Mid-Century Modern and Googie style buildings.  

Success came quickly for him. By August 1950, Sealey was profiled by Ebony magazine in an article called “Architect for the Wealthy.”  His notable projects included the East L.A. Department of Social Services (1967) and the expansion of the County USC Medical Center of 1968 - 76.

And while he mainly worked in Los Angeles, his one project in Long Beach, the Seaport Marina/Edgewater, would be his most famous. Sadly, in later decades the Seaport Marina fell into disrepair. After years of threatened demolition, Sealey's historic hotel was finally destroyed in 2017.  

The Cockatoo Hotel (1958). Formerly located at 15100 Acacia Avenue, Hawthorne. Demolished in 2004. (Photo courtesy Syntherix.com)

A similar fate befell another hotel Sealey was involved with: the famous Cockatoo Inn Hotel and Restaurant in Hawthorne, which the architect worked on in 1961. The Cockatoo, a big destination spot for Hollywood stars, politicians, and gangsters like Bugsy Siegel, featured a charming Old English style exterior and a decadent, European interior with grand banquet halls and a popular, eccentric bar. But after falling into disarray over the decades, it was sold to developers and demolished in 2004. (A Candlewood Suites and Holiday Inn Express now stands in its place.)

With stories of Black architects in Los Angeles County so seldom told, the loss of their physical work is all the more devastating. 

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RALPH A. VAUGHN

Lincoln Place Garden Apartments (1951). Located at 1077 Elkgrove Ave. Los Angeles. (Photo credit: David Lauridsen) 

Ralph A. Vaughn (1917 - 2000) was an award-winning Black architect and proponent of the postwar Garden City Movement and Modernist architecture. Vaughn helped to bring about the Mid-Century image for which Southern California would become known during a time that offered few opportunities to Black architects. 

Vaughn received his bachelor of science in architecture from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1932 and briefly worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Resettlement Administration as a draftsman. In 1935, Howard University hired Vaughn to teach architectural drawing which led to an offer from Paul R. Williams to join his firm in L.A. as an “efficiency expert.”

Vaughn worked with Williams on such local landmarks including the Saks Fifth Avenue building and the grand MCA Headquarters in Beverly Hills, not to mention celebrity homes for the likes of Tyrone Power and Bill “Bojangles” Robinson.  

Vaughn also worked as a set designer on a number of feature films, working with legendary MGM art director Cedric Gibbons. It was during his time at MGM that he met architect and fellow set designer Heth Wharton.  The two became friends, and in the late 1940s they formed the agency, Wharton and Vaughn Associates. 

Chase Knolls Garden Apartments (1948). Located at 13401 Riverside Drive, Sherman Oaks. (Photo courtesy Chase Knolls Apartments) 

Their partnership was brief, but together they completed North Hollywood Manor, Chase Knolls Apartments in Sherman Oaks, and their biggest and most lasting contribution to public housing architecture: the Lincoln Place Garden Apartments. 

With sprawling grounds and fifty-two buildings, Lincoln Place Apartments epitomized Vaughn's Modernist tenets and practical approach. The project was so successful that the Federal Housing Administration reportedly saw it as a model for sophisticated yet cost-effective design throughout the 1950s. (After a heated preservation battle spanning more than a decade, Lincoln Place thrives today with a mix of historic and new buildings.)

He was also an in-demand architect for local restaurants and bars that required his film industry-era expertise in mood and tone. He created the Mardi Gras Room in the Park Wilshire Hotel, Melody Cocktail Bar, Hi-Hat Club, Oyster House Restaurant, and other famous places. In total, Vaughn contributed forty-seven Mid-Century Modern structures to the Los Angeles landscape throughout his decades-long career.

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PAUL REVERE WILLIAMS

The Beverly Hills Hotel (1912), 9641 Sunset Boulevard, Beverly Hills. Paul Revere Williams’ own handwriting style adorns the façade and he made some iconic Mid-Century additions to the hotel in the late 1940s. (Photo credit: Canva)  

By any measure, architect Paul Revere Williams (1894 - 1980) was a master architect whose accomplishments are astounding. A native Angeleno, his barrier-breaking career spanned almost six decades. As the first Black member of the AIA, he designed more than 3,000 structures and mastered a range of architectural styles. He broke racial barriers, prevailing over racism to attend USC’s School of Engineering. 

After working for a number of important L.A.-based architects, he began his own practice in 1923 and would go on to design everything from glamorous Hollywood estates to affordable homes, public housing, and a host of civic, commercial, and institutional buildings. Regardless of style or use, his work shared the common threads of elegant composition and perfect proportion. 

Aptly nicknamed the “architect to the stars,” Williams’ navigated a multitude of architectural styles to fit the whims of a wealthy, glittery clientele. Whether it was Hollywood Regency (the Jay Paley house), Traditional (the Marlon Brando residence) Mid-Century Modern (the Frank Sinatra house), Georgia Revival (the Tyrone Power house), or French Normandy (Barbara Stanwyck’s estate), Williams deftly guided his clients through the process with the aid of a strong in-house design team, headed by his daughter Norma.

The Frank Sinatra Residence (1956). Formerly located at 2666 Bowmont Drive, Beverly Hills. Demolished in 2004. (Photo courtesy The Paul Williams Project.)

At the time, Los Angeles still implemented racist housing covenants which meant that many of Williams’ homes were located in neighborhoods where he himself was not allowed to live. One such example is Seaview: a Mid-Century Modern tract community that Williams designed in 1960. Made to appeal to the breezy suburban lifestyle so popular in the early ‘60s, Williams’ homes were bursts of colorful greens, pinks, and blues, and the richly detailed interiors offered some 41 unique styles: from space-age light fixtures to stone fireplaces. True to the times, the Seaview HOA initially refused to allow Black residents even though the community’s architect was one of the most sought-after in the country.

Seaview Housing Tract (1960), located in Rancho Palos Verdes Estates. (Photo courtesy Esotouric.)

Williams’ Mid-Century residential work is among his finest and in Trousdale Estates you'll find some of his most eye-catching residential designs, such as the Garris House (1959). Michael J. Garris—a prominent L.A.-based electrical engineer—had worked with Williams on multiple projects over the years, during which the two colleagues became good friends. After purchasing an ambitious plot of land in much sought-after Trousdale, Garris commissioned Williams to build what would be his family home.

The result was a Mid-Century beauty reminiscent of some of Williams' celebrity homes. The home remained in the Garris family for 50 years and stayed faithful to Williams' original design, making it a living time capsule. 

The Garris Residence (1958). Located at 1070 N. Hillcrest Road, Los Angeles. (Photo courtesy Hilton & Hyland)

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Cited Sources:

James H. Garrott Sources:

James H. Garrott: PeoplePill / https://peoplepill.com/people/james-h-garrott

James H. Garrott: BlackPast / https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/garrott-james-h-1897-1991/

African American Historic Context Statement, Survey L.A. / http://ohp.parks.ca.gov/pages/1054/files/SurveyLA_AfricanAmericanHCS_Nov2017.pdf

Robert Kennard sources:

Monrovia Weekly: Superstar Architecture / https://www.monroviaweekly.com/featured/monrovian-superstar-architect-robert-kennard/

Inner City Cultural Center / https://www.innercityculturalcenter.org/robert-kennard.html

New York Times: Robert Kennard Obituary / https://www.nytimes.com/1995/03/30/obituaries/robert-a-kennard-74-is-dead-architect-and-mentor-for-blacks.html

AIA Los Angeles / https://www.aialosangeles.org/awards/design-awards/robert-kennard-edi-award-call-for-nominations-2020/

Roy A. Sealey Sources:

The AIA / https://aiahistoricaldirectory.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/AHDAA/pages/20906370/Browse+Se

LongBeach.Gov / http://www.longbeach.gov/globalassets/lbds/media-library/documents/planning/environmental/environmental-reports/approvedcertified-part-1/2nd--pch/iii--responses-to-comments

http://www.longbeach.gov/globalassets/lbds/media-library/documents/planning/environmental/environmental-reports/approvedcertified-part-1/2nd--pch/appendix-c---historical-resources-report

Long Beach Post: Seaport Marina / https://lbpost.com/hi-lo/addison-long-beach-lost-seaport-marina-hotel-mid-mod

Long Beach Post: Black Architects of Long Beach / https://lbpost.com/longbeachize/the-black-architects-of-long-beach

Cockatoo Inn / https://cockatooinn.com/history

Ralph A. Vaughn Sources:

BlueBeam “L.A.’s Most Influential African American Architects” / https://blog.bluebeam.com/la-african-american-architects/

NPS.gov / https://www.nps.gov/nr/feature/places/pdfs/15000911.pdf

Paul R. Williams Sources

L.A. Conservancy / https://www.laconservancy.org/architects/paul-r-williams

The Paul R. Williams project / https://www.paulrwilliamsproject.org/

KCET / https://www.kcet.org/shows/hollywoods-architect-the-paul-r-williams-story/visual-timeline-the-remarkable-life-of-paul-revere-williams