Synopsis
Surveys the work of the father of the Spanish-Colonial Revival style of architecture that can be found throughout the warm, dry climate of Southern California and is identified by enclosed courtyards, white stucco walls, wrought-iron window grilles, and shady balconies.
From the Inside Flap
George Washington Smith: Architect of the Spanish-Colonial Revival surveys the work of the father of the Spanish Revival style in California. Beginning with the building of his own house in Montecito, Smith created his signature designs based on centuries-old Andalusian structures he had seen in his European travels. With enclosed courtyards, shady balconies, cool tiles, and bubbling fountains, the style was perfect for the warm Mediterranean-like West Coast climate.Author Patricia Gebhard's narrative works chronologically from Smith's birth through his death, describing each building as it is built and then the completion by Smith's assistants of his unfinished projects. Smith's work in the 1920s featured houses with massive white stucco walls, rolling red tile roofs, dark wrought-iron window grilles, and lush vegetation. The style has come to represent the essence of Southern California architecture. Smith also designed houses in Arizona, Texas, Colorado, New York, and in Northern California.Author Patricia Gebhard, long-time resident of Santa Barbara, took up the notes of her late husband, architectural historian David Gebhard, for a book he had intended to write about Smith. She continued researching the archives at the Architecture and Design Collection of the Art Museum at the University of California, Santa Barbara, which houses almost all of Smith's drawings and sketches, correspondence, and original photographs.The result is this groundbreaking volume that brings George Washington Smith and his work to a wide audience for the first time. Handsomely illustrated with color photographs and detailed drawings, the book also contains a complete catalog of Smith's work and an extensive bibliography.Patricia Gebhard grew up in Minneapolis and has lived in New York State, New Mexico and since 1961 Santa Barbara, California. She attended Oberlin College, Mills College and the University of Minnesota, having earned degrees in Art History and Library Science. She worked in the Reference Department of the University of California Library. She has traveled extensively in Europe and the Middle and Far East, including a year in Turkey. Ms. Gebhard has been writing for years, but until the publication of her mystery Motives for Murder, she has mainly published a book and articles on librarianship and in the field of architectural history and criticism. Her publications include a book on reference work, an essay on the furniture of R. M. Schindler for an exhibition catalog (UCSB Art Museum), and a book on the Santa Barbara County Courthouse coauthored with Kathryn Masson. Ms. Gebhard has two grown daughters, one a professional hunter-jumper rider and the other an environmentalist and mother of two children, a boy and a girl.
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