• E. C. Anthony Packard sales room
• Sunday school, First Church of Christ, Scientist
• Edwin S. Pillsbury house
• Earle C. Anthony house, studio, and gardens (#3)
• Principia College Chapel
• A. W. Maybeck cabin, Twain Harte Mountain Club
• J. B. Tufts house (#3)
• Paul Elder Book Store
• Wallen Maybeck house (#1)
• Annie Maybeck house
• Abbreviations

Richly decorative, the Los Angeles showroom still effectively housed automobiles of the 1970s.

In the Los Angeles Packard building, designed by John and Donald B. Parkinson, Maybeck's work was limited to the interior finishes and the styling of the executive office suite. However, late in 1928, he established temporary residence in southern California to oversee its construction and the development of the Anthony's residential property at the eastern end of the Santa Monica mountain range (Cardwell 1977: 224; Woodbridge and Barnes 1992: 177, 189, 235).

The program called for a church building that could seat seven hundred people, a Sunday school that could be used in conjunction with the church proper, and various service elements. To meet these requirements, Maybeck developed a plan that covered most of the restricted area on which he had to build. He located the Sunday school unit to the front of the property and kept the building as close to the street lot lines as feasible in order to gain some isolation from neighboring properties (Cardwell 1977: 123).

In 1928, in association with Henry Gutterson, Maybeck added a new Sunday school to the church on land adjoining to the east. The original school room was turned into a lounge area and was extended to house the church office. The addition was done in sympathy with the original design; but the intervening years had taken their toll. Maybeck's design and Gutterson's execution of the Sunday school building did not achieve the same mastery and delight in detail and form as did Maybeck's earlier structure.

The addition of the Sunday school allowed for the development of a sheltered and peaceful central court between it and the existing church (Cardwell 1977: 130, 132; Woodbridge and Barnes 1992: 235).

nm(Cardwell 1977: 246).

The chronology of Maybeck's work is based on the list compiled by Kenneth H. Cardwell for his monograph, Bernard Maybeck. Artisan, Architect, Artist, published in 1977. Among the difficulties encountered by Cardwell and others seeking to document Maybeck's work are the losses of drawings and office records in the 1906 fire in San Francisco, which damaged Maybeck's office, and the 1923 fire in Berkeley, which destroyed his house. Thus the possibility remains strong that he designed more buildings, particularly in the period 1895-1906, than are listed here. Some of the houses for which drawings and other records exist have not been located because of insufficiently documented addresses or because street numbering has changed.

There have been no additions to the archives of Maybeck papers and drawings in the Documents Collection at the University of California College of Environmental Design in Berkeley since the publication of Cardwell's list, and no verifiable evidence of previously unknown work by him. However, some of the known buildings have, regrettably, been altered significantly or demolished. In October 1991 another catastrophic fire occurred in the East Bay hills, this time in south Berkeley and Oakland; it destroyed Maybeck's Warren P. Staniford house of 1925 and the Edwin S. Pillsbury house of 1928.

Destroyed in 1991 fire (Woodbridge and Barnes 1992: 225, 236).

The Anthony residence (1928) in Los Feliz Park was the last large house that Maybeck built. He had started its plan in 1924, and at that busy period had asked John White to be his associate architect for its design and construction. The house is situated on an eight-acre hilltop site and commands an unobstructed view in all directions. Prior to the construction of the main house, two smaller structures were built, one in 1925 for temporary living quarters and later guest house accommodations and the other in 1927 as a playroom with motion picture facilities. The site was extensively landscaped by building retaining walls to create garden terraces and by planting more than ten carloads of trees and shrubs during the four-year period preceding the counstruction of the main residence. The living rooms of the house surround a patio containing an elliptical swimming pool, planting, and dining terrace. Large windows frame vistas across the patio and through the gardens to the mountains beyond.

An unsigned typescript among the Maybeck records, evidently written as an article for a contemporary journal, states:

The Los Angeles home of Earle C. Anthony in Los Feliz Park expresses the catholicity of taste of the owner and architect Bernard R. Maybeck. Its long low roof lines and stone battlements, crowned with a huge Norman tower, are at first glance reminiscent of the hill towns of Italy. Closer inspection discloses a surprising combination of architectural orders and national elements used apparently without any regard for chronological continuity or academic conventions. These "studied differences" as the architect phrases them are vigorously, intelligently and skillfully combined to the satisfaction of the most fastidious, to form a most comfortable and livable home. (Note 11: B. R. Maybeck MSS, "E. C. Anthony," C.E.D. Docs.)(Cardwell 1977: 225).

The Anthony mansion was richly finished and handsomely detailed, but its eclectic assemblage of forms and decoration was antithetical to Maybeck's earlier practice.

The house was redesigned every time Anthony made a visit to Europe, where he gathered materials and new ideas for its construction, and its final form in 1928 became the antithesis of the kind of buildings Maybeck had promulgated thirty years earlier. Whereas Wyntoon (1902) and the Roos house (1909), both luxurious designs, have an affinity with the principles of the Gothic house, the Anthony house has none. It is the epitome of historical pastiche and artifice, even though well-proportioned and carefully detailed. In spite of fine materials, handsome spaces, and intriguing vistas, Maybeck's use of anachronistic architectural forms, such as the portcullis guarding the entrance, the crenellated tower, and groined masonry vaults and arches executed in plaster, demonstrate an approach to architectural design contrary to every maxim proclaimed in The Simple Home.

Of course, in all of Maybeck's work there had been borrowed details. Even his earliest residences had the flavor of southern German or early Greek forms, but during those years his interest in structure and invention in building form made a contribution worthy of note. The Anthony residence, like the automobile agency buildings, created a make-believe world. Maybeck believed that an architect can only reflect the spirit of his time. On the eve of the great economic depression and in a decade which focussed on material values, the acquisition and exhibition of wealth was an end in itself. Maybeck characterized Earle C. Anthony as a "merchant Prince" serving mankind with "flying carpets" to carry one to enchanted lands. Perhaps it is no coincidence that the architecture Maybeck created for him was as illusive as his image of Anthony--entrepreneur, purveyor of automobiles, and promoter of radio advertising (Cardwell 1977: 226-227).

While staying in Los Angeles to supervise some construction details for the Anthony house, Maybeck underwent minor sugery. Unfortunately, he developed a severe post-operative infection, and for almost two months it was doubtful whether he would survive. Annie traveled to Los Angeles to be at his bedside, but during his convalescence she became distraught with her husband who irrepressibly insisted on continuing with drawing and approving details of the Anthony construction. (Note 12: B. R. Maybeck MSS, "Illness," C.E.D. Docs.) Annie had taken over the financial management of Maybeck's practice in 1924. Under her direction it had shown a good profit and she saw no reason why Ben, now sixty-eight, should not begin to end his professional career. He had little liking for the idea, but when his vigor did return, he soon found that the ensuing financial depression forced other unwanted changes in his practice (Cardwell 1977: 229).

Anthony and Maybeck may have met at the Bohemian Club, but if not, they certainly saw each other there and would have shared an interest in the theatricals staged by the club. Anthony built his fortune in the glamorous world of automobiles, starting a Packard dealership in California in 1904 (he is said to have opened the first gas station there), which continued until 1956. He also owned two radio stations in Los Angeles and became familiar with the Hollywood film world. Eighteen years younger than Maybeck, Anthony was in his early forties when he acquired about fifteen acres on a hilltop in Los Feliz Park in Los Angeles, apparently as a speculative real-estate venture as well as a site for his own house. Correspondence from October 30, 1923, relates that Maybeck had visited the property and given Anthony his advice about an access road and appropriate landscaping. "After many pros and cons," the letter states, "Mr. A decided to have sketches made, using the old reservoir as a sunken garden with a living room to the east, dining room west, studio north, and bedrooms south."¹ This general disposition of the rooms in what would be the Anthony house remained constant throughout the four-plus years of the design process. Everything else was subject to change.

A letter of May 4, 1927, in the office files reviews the history of the Anthony residence, beginning with sketches for a frame house made in the fall of 1923. The sketches became plans; then a complete set of twenty-four working drawings and specifications was prepared in spring 1924. Bids were obtained from four different contractors, ranging from $75,228 to $90,500. When additional work not included in the bid was figured in, the estimated cost rose to $126,326. Subsequent enlargements and revisions that also changed the basic material from wood to concrete raised the cost still higher, so that by October 12, 1926, it had reached $232,687. These figures did not include estimates for the costs of the garden-wall balustrade, steps, and the pool, which in February 1927 came to a total of $14,550. The final plans are dated November 1928 and updated to December 31; the final cost was about $500,000. The construction period lasted through the stock-market crash of October 1929, and the finishing details continued into 1930, when the Anthonys finally moved into the house.

Before construction on the house could begin, the hilltop was sculpted into a platform for the building, and the rest of the site was reconfigured for terraced gardens designed by Mark Daniels. This work, which covered eight acres, began in 1923. The main east-west axis for the long dimension of the site ran from the service spaces and dining hall, across the pool terrace, through the great hall, and out through the loggia to a broad terrace with a panoramic view to the northeast over Los Angeles. Given his contractual agreement with Anthony, it is unlikely that Maybeck participated in any responsible way in Daniels's design for the landscaping, but they undoubtedly conferred on it.

Anthony's letters to the office of Maybeck and White read as though he were his own designer. For example, a single-spaced, three-page typed letter dated October 2, 1924, precisely details Anthony's concerns about the terraces and their walls from the lower road to the upper level of the driveway: "I am quite anxious to get the lower wall in as soon as possible, as we will gain all this fall and winter growth of the trees. I figure that [the outside face of] this wall should be 2 ft. inside of the stage line, which brings it 3 ft. inside the gutter line .... That will permit a 3 ft. space for planting a high hedge up to the face of the wall. I then figure we should put occasional flower pots on top of the wall, and put trailing vines out of these flower pots to drop down over the face of it."

The letter continues with more dimensions for various terraces and the placement of trees; half of it is devoted to the charactaer of the walls. Anthony wrote that he was sending Maybeck a sketch of a French wall that he made from a photograph--he was an avid collector of photographs that illustrated his desires--and wanted from Maybeck a design for the top, the return, and the bottom of the wall. "If this wall is made of cement, it can be left roughened, and then we can either squirt it with cement afterwards, to give a cement finish, which I personally don't like very much, or we can face it with rocks, if we ever get the [right] price to do it." Anthony's observations reveal an appetite for detail that seemed never to be fully satisfied. He favored the walls he saw in France because they had moldings top and bottom that caught the light and did not end abruptly in plain edges, which he found crude. Anthony always wanted stone for the walls but usually had to settle for concrete with a cement finish because it was so much less expensive. He fretted constantly over the design of the garden balustrade and other details of the terraces.

The correspondence conveys an image of Anthony forever stepping into or out of one of his fleet of seven Packards, with sketches and photographs in hand, and issuing rapid-fire directions about doing this or undoing that. Still, he would occasionally have second thoughts about his role. In a letter dated August 10, 1926, and addressed to "My dear Mr. Maybeck," he stated:

In working out the plans for my house, I have a feeling that a great many of the completion details are being held up for my decision, because of your desire to give me just what I want.

The main detail of the rooms and general plan has been settled of course. I think we will get along better if matters such as floor materials, widths of marble, entrance halls, or such things are left to your decision and that you do these things just exactly the way you would if I were in Europe. I think you have held back a little bit in your desire to put my personality into the house and I feel now that the plans have been worked over and made to suit Mrs. Anthony and me, that you as Architect should finish up the details, putting your personality and ideals into them just as if you were designing it yourself.

On December 2, 1928, a contract between Anthony and the contractor Donald F. Harrison was signed for the construction of Anthony's residence and garage. The owner reserved the right to alter plans and specifications "any way, any time, as many times as the owner may desire even though such changes may require tearing out work." The contractor had to absorb the costs of the changes, and a strict accounting procedure was outlined. Although Maybeck had intended to spend a great deal of time on site, a life-threatening infection following prostate surgery confined him to the Glendale Sanitarium for much of that winter and the following spring. Judging by correspondence and family accounts, February of 1929 seems to have been the critical month. Annie came to stay near him, and after he was permanently released from the sanitarium in May, they lived in the Anthony guest house. Although Annie tried to restrain him while he recuperated, Ben appears to have spent considerable time on a cot set up in the courtyard, overseeing the art work, particularly the polychrome plastering of the walls by the Gunite process.

While Maybeck was in the sanitarium, construction proceeded. A long letter dated February 14, 1929, and signed "Mark" (probably the staff architect Mark Manning) to Charles Lundgren in the Maybeck and White office in San Francisco, exemplifies the trials the office staff faced in trying to accommodate their frenetic client:

Mr. A. came in yesterday. First thing he spotted ht. of L.R. [living room] loggia above terrace where forms [for concrete] are in on loggia and cast L.R. wall to floor level ready to pour. Said loggia floor would have to be lowered. Suggested a step outside single cast L.R. door, then he didn't think that so good. Wanted me to suggest a solution. Today he looked at a ¼" section at that point and saw finished grade at about 18" above lawn--wanted to know how could he raise his garden level....impossible to raise it.

Didn't like study fireplace....had a picture of a mantel he wanted to use there, etc. Didn't like L.R. fireplace, said it had been changed from the old scheme...said the present one was a jazzy type and not like the former classical type. Then I think he said it was too big.

Said the pool was too big, but don't hink he will change it now since all packing is in and outer wall has been in 2 weeks and they are filling in soil around pool.

Looked at ent. [entrance] tower section and said he thought maybe it was too high. Said the balcony door in ent. tower shouldn't come over passage door where it was before, wanted to hang tapestry on balcony rail and it couldn't hang down over front door etc.

Said L.R. was too big and high. Was it raised after model was made and was it raised to accommodate a tapestry or something? The upshot was that he told H[arrison] to build a skeleton of L.R. so that he could see what it looked like so all carpenters stopped and went to building this skeleton. They have 2 posts up to the plate line and it sure does look high and the rest of the roof will raise it some more while chimney goes up 14' more above the plate. It's a corker.

The completed building (plate 179) shows none of the strains of its planning and construction. Topping the hill like a natural outcropping of the site, it gives the impression of a Mediterranean hill town composed of domestic buildings attached to the ruins of a medieval castle. A huge round tower is set into the corner of what appears to be a surviving piece of the castle facade. The impression of entering a walled castle is reinforced by a metal portcullis suspended inside the arch in front of the deeply recessed entry (plate 180). Since the wall rises only a few feet above the arch, it is clear that the portcullis is a stage prop and could not descend to close off the entrance. To the right is a mighty wooden door of Gothic persuasion carved with Maybeck's favorite tracery forms (plate 171). Opposite this door is a grated window, from which, presumably, the keeper of the castle could scrutinize those who entered. Inside, the forty-eight-foot-tall tower room dwarfs those who enter. As reported in the letter, Anthony thought it was too high, but it may have been too late to change it. In any case, the height seems exaggerated and makes those entering the space feel like suppliants.

From the tower room--which, in spite of Anthony's concerns, does have a balcony above the entrance door--a flight of steps winds up to the great hall. Its beamed ceiling of pecky cypress is stenciled in uneven tones so that it seem to have faded over the course of time. The walls are faced with Caen stone shipped from France. Through the high arched windows on either side of the hall is visible the trace of the long axis from the dining hall on the opposite side of the court to the end of the terrace. The loggia attached to the northeastern side of the hall is indeed high, but it seems commensurate with the view. From the street below, tantalizing partial views of the loggia and hall roofs are visible through the trees; the terrace is indicated by its balustrade. The long southern elevation is the front stage, or public side, of the complex. The northern side of the hilltop falls away steeply. Since the relatively plain base of the building comes nearly to the hill's edge, leaving room at the back only for service pathways, this elevation reinforces the idea of a stage/backstage concept for the overall composition.

The open court with its keyhole-shaped pool serves as center stage (plate 181). There are any number of possible entrances and exits on different levels from spiraling stairways, raised terraces, doors placed at oblique angles to the space, and balconies. No straight path crosses the space; the vistas across the pool do not intersect at right angles. Even the pool is slightly skewed. This distortion may have resulted inadvertently from the addition of an organ loft to the great hall, but it seems intended. The painterly effects that Maybeck achieved through the use of Gunite combine with the dapple of sun and shadow to bewitch the eye.

Since no correspondence exists to verify the Anthonys'satisfaction with the house, one can only assume that, when they were not traveling, they lived there contentedly until Anthony's death in 1961. In 1964 Daniel and Bernardine Donohue purchased the property, which they named the Villa Giuseppe. More given to entertaining than to travel, the Donohues found the house suited to their needs, but they commissioned Lutah Maria Riggs, a Santa Barbara architect who had designed several gardens, to relandscape the site. Under her direction most of Mark Daniels's gardens were replaced with more formal arrangements based on fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Italian gardens. A new street wall and entrance were built, and a new driveway was constrtucted to ascend the slope. At the angle of the dramatic hairpin turn, the drive now extends into a plaza with a terrace and a belvedere that juts out farther than the main terrace off the loggia above. A tempietto purchased by the Donohues in Europe occupies the belvedere. The main terrace was paved in a mosaic shell pattern; a tiered marble fountain marks its end (plate 184). Although Riggs's landscaping is quite in tune with the mixed Mediterranean character of the building and changes the hilltop site into a more Italianesque architectural composition, as the clients wished, old photographs reveal that Daniels's landscaping, which used a greater variety of plant forms, had matured to embrace the structure, masking out parts of the walls so that the building appeared to be embedded in a lushly verdant site rather than raised up on a formal pedestal (Woodbridge and Barnes 1992: 172, 173-77, 182-89, 235).

The Principia chapel, sited near the edge of the high bluffs, commands a view of the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. Its spire, resembling those found on New England churches and their Christopher Wren prototypes, rises high above the trees, marking the chapel's position on the campus. Its exterior is finished with walls of dressed sandstone, a white, wood cornice, and details of modified classic forms. It has a bold scale and simplicity characteristic of Maybeck's early work; but none of the imaginative play of light and form or skillful display of structure and pattern that occur in the Berkeley church are to be found in The Principia chapel (Cardwell 1977: 207).

Julia Morgan, associate architect (Woodbridge and Barnes 1992: 236).

At the age of seventy-six Maybeck relinquished his interest in The Principia. And, although he was associated with William G. Merchant for some designs for the Golden Gate International Exposition of 1939 and did other designs as late as 1941, Maybeck had ended his professional career. He and Annie lived a simple, independent life in retirement; dividing their time between their mountain retreat in Twain Harte and the second Berkeley studio which Maybeck had enlarged in 1938. And while Bernard did an occasional design for a friend or a family member, Annie astutely managed the sales and devleopment of their real estate holdings in Berkeley and Kensington. Annie was always an integral part of the family ventures. From the early days of private practice, she had acted as secretary and general assistant for Bernard and her brother Mark. The monogram "A" in Maybeck's architectural ornament was more than a sentimental device; it was his recognition of the close understanding and cooperation that Annie gave him in his quest for beauty (Cardwell 1977: 234; Woodbridge and Barnes 1992: 236).

None of Maybeck's hillside houses was more dramatic than the one he designed in 1905 for J. B. Tufts. A dentist by occupation, Tufts seems to have been a staunch patron of art and architecture, since he commissioned three houses from Maybeck: the first in San Anselmo in 1905, the second in San Rafael in 1908, and the third in Berkeley in 1931. (By now the San Anselmo house is nearly hidden from sight by the oaks that Maybeck carefully preserved around it in 1905.) Maybeck had just enough of the hillside cut away to establish flat patches for the three levels of the house. Midway up one side is a cavelike entrance set in a shingled ell and framed on one side by the jagged edge of a corbeled-brick chimney. Since no door is visible from the approach, the visitor can only assume that the dim space recessed under the house has a door--which it does, on the left wall. The door opens into a modest hall from which a passageway leads to small bedrooms on the south side. On the other side of the entry hall is a stairwell, open to the ceiling, which cranks upward past a landing to a small hall. There sits a wall bench, perhaps intended to encourage a restful pause in the ascent and a moment's appreciation of the view out the window on the opposite wall.

The upper floor, which has the living and dining rooms and the kitchen, is a platform tied to the hill on one side. On the other side is the living room, flanked by trellised decks that offer spectacular views of the scenery near and far. Given the woodsiness of the setting and the unadorned shingled sides of the house, it is a surprise to find that the living room is not a rustic aerie but a long, rectangular, half-timbered Tudor hall that streches the length of the building. The formality of the dark beams against the white plaster ceiling is reinforced by a baronial fireplace with a mantel decorated with three sections of gilded Gothic tracery. (Similar tracery is used on the newel in the hall landing.) In creating the unexpected in interiors like this one, Maybeck may have been pursuing the dramatic effects that also attracted him to stage-set design (Woodbridge and Woodbridge 1992: 41-42).

Designing buildings for the new campus of The Principia filled Maybeck's days from 1930 to 1938. After his stay in Elsah to oversee the completion of the college chapel. Maybeck returned to Berkeley. He built a second studio house on his Buena Vista property, where he worked on his large charcoal and pastel sketches, foregoing his daily trips to San Francisco. His residential designing was restricted to the development of his Berkeley property where he constructed a third house for J. B. Tufts (1931), one for himself known as Annie's house (1933), and one for his son Wallen and his wife, Jacomena, (1933). As the Berkeley property filled with construction, Annie purchased undeveloped land lying to the north of Berkeley and Maybeck's first structure on this property was for his son, Wallen. Its isolated position above dry grass hills beyond the area of city fire protection was one of the factors that led Maybeck to his final demonstration of fireproof building (Cardwell 1977: 230).

A dentist by occupation, Tufts seems to have been a staunch patron of art and architecture, since he commissioned three houses from Maybeck; the first in San Anselmo in 1905, the second in San Rafael in 1908, and the third in Berkeley in 1931 (Woodbridge and Barnes 1992: 41, 236).

nm (Cardwell 1977: 246).

Maybeck designed three bookstores for the publisher Paul Elder, all now demolished. The first was designed in 1906 and located on Van Ness Avenue at Pine Street. The second was built in 1908 on Grant Street. The last was built around 1932 and was on Geary Street (Woodbridge and Barnes 1992: 228, 229, 236).

(Woodbridge and Woodbridge 1992: 213).

Designing buildings for the new campus of The Principia filled Maybeck's days from 1930 to 1938. After his stay in Elsah to oversee the completion of the college chapel. Maybeck returned to Berkeley. He built a second studio house on his Buena Vista property, where he worked on his large charcoal and pastel sketches, foregoing his daily trips to San Francisco. His residential designing was restricted to the development of his Berkeley property where he constructed a third house for J. B. Tufts (1931), one for himself known as Annie's house (1933), and one for his son Wallen and his wife, Jacomena, (1933). As the Berkeley property filled with construction, Annie purchased undeveloped land lying to the north of Berkeley and Maybeck's first structure on this property was for his son, Wallen. Its isolated position above dry grass hills beyond the area of city fire protection was one of the factors that led Maybeck to his final demonstration of fireproof building.

Steep roofs, woodwork, abundant windows and a terrace over the garage was again found in Maybeck's house built after the destruction by fire of his earlier home.

The high-ceilinged, well-lit interior provided a fine space for Maybeck's work tables (Cardwell 1977: 230-31).

As the Depression deepened, Maybeck appeared to be drifting into retirement. But everyone needed money, and he felt responsible for his small staff as well as for the craftsmen who had long depended on him for work. According to his daughter-in-law, Jacomena Maybeck, he and Annie decided to build two small houses on their La Loma Park property: one for Wallen and Jacomena (plates 193-97), the other for Ben and Annie and their daughter, Kerna (plates 198-201.² (Maybeck called that one "Annie's house" and said it was a proper replacement for the house destroyed in the fire.) Both were hillside houses located on Buena Vista Way, and their plans were essentially the same except that parts of them were shifted around in response to the sites. In both there was an entrance convenient to the kitchen alcove, which shared the first floor with the living and dining areas. The sleeping quarters were on the floor below. Though the houses were not large, the fine craftsmanship of the wood interiors and the elegant metalsash casement windows and French doors made them distinctive as well as practical (Woodbridge and Barnes 1992: 194-99, 218, 236).

Nearly a twin of Wallen's house adjusted for another site (Woodbridge and Woodbridge 1992: 213).

Designing buildings for the new campus of The Principia filled Maybeck's days from 1930 to 1938. After his stay in Elsah to oversee the completion of the college chapel. Maybeck returned to Berkeley. He built a second studio house on his Buena Vista property, where he worked on his large charcoal and pastel sketches, foregoing his daily trips to San Francisco. His residential designing was restricted to the development of his Berkeley property where he constructed a third house for J. B. Tufts (1931), one for himself known as Annie's house (1933), and one for his son Wallen and his wife, Jacomena, (1933). As the Berkeley property filled with construction, Annie purchased undeveloped land lying to the north of Berkeley and Maybeck's first structure on this property was for his son, Wallen. Its isolated position above dry grass hills beyond the area of city fire protection was one of the factors that led Maybeck to his final demonstration of fireproof building (Cardwell 1977: 230).

As the Depression deepened, Maybeck appeared to be drifting into retirement. But everyone needed money, and he felt responsible for his small staff as well as for the craftsmen who had long depended on him for work. According to his daughter-in-law, Jacomena Maybeck, he and Annie decided to build two small houses on their La Loma Park property: one for Wallen and Jacomena (plates 193-97), the other for Ben and Annie and their daughter, Kerna (plates 198-201.² (Maybeck called that one "Annie's house" and said it was a proper replacement for the house destroyed in the fire.) Both were hillside houses located on Buena Vista Way, and their plans were essentially the same except that parts of them were shifted around in response to the sites. In both there was an entrance convenient to the kitchen alcove, which shared the first floor with the living and dining areas. The sleeping quarters were on the floor below. Though the houses were not large, the fine craftsmanship of the wood interiors and the elegant metalsash casement windows and French doors made them distinctive as well as practical (Woodbridge and Barnes 1992: 194-99, 236).

Abbreviations