Irving Gill's Horatio West Court - I wish this tour was in Seattle

Irving Gill is one of my favorite historic architects. I just look at the photographs of his work and admiration pours out. There was a tour of Horatio West Court in Santa Monica recently. If only I could have been there…

Let me try to describe what I see: simpleness and strength; arches and shade; just what is needed; unobvious creativity and experimentation.

In Gill’s words, it is “common sense architecture”

His work spanned multiple building types and evolved over the course of his career. Churches, schools, commercial buildings, multiple buildings at Scripps Institute, multi-family worker housing, custom houses. Many of these buildings were commissioned by women for women. Some of his work at Scripps used tilt-up concrete, while it was still at the experimental stage.

Teats House #3.

It is the beginning of the modern era of architecture in the United States, along with his contemporary Adolf Loos in Europe. While he was trained in Chicago in the early 1890s, the work he is known for is almost exclusively in Southern California.

First Church of Christ Scientist.

Where is more information? It is slowly seeping out as he is becoming more known. My first introduction to him was the book “Five California Architects” by Esther McCoy. I sought out more information, and found a thorough review of his work in “Irving Gill and the Architecture of Reform” by Thomas S. Hines.

Every time I do an internet search, more information is available: San Diego History, photographer Kansas Sebastian snapped Gill’s work in San Diego and provides a short write-up with each photo.