The Architects' Record

Who Designed Your House?

The architects of the valley's standing houses, by city and by decade, with every house the documents credit to them.

The library has pages of its own for the architects in The Architects Behind the Homes. This is the record of others: 150 architects with no page of their own in the library, each named by a document as the architect of at least one house the Los Angeles County Assessor's record confirms standing, 313 standing houses in all, in 12 communities. Find them by city or by decade below. 37 of them have a page of their own here, with every house the documents credit to them, and 113 more link to their entry in the Who Built makers' register.

150Architects
313Standing houses
12Communities
37Architect pages
Ways in

Find your architect two ways.

By cityThe architects of each community's standing houses.12 communitiesBy decadeThe architects of the standing houses of each decade.9 decades
Questions

Who designed my house?

Look for your community below, then for your street on an architect's page here or on Who Built's page for your city; the 150 architects here are the ones with no library page of their own who have at least one house the county confirms standing. The architects the library already has pages for are on The Architects Behind the Homes.

How do I find out when my house's architect was licensed?

From the State Board's lists. California's State Board of Architecture printed its certificate holders in its reports, and the State Board of Architectural Examiners' 1961 roster has a numbered list of everyone licensed in California from 1901 to November 1960, grouped by the years of their license. Each architect page here gives what those lists print for him, with the page: 31 of the 36 architects with pages here have a line in the 1961 numbered list; the 37th page is Cliff May's.

Why does a page say a house was built before its architect was licensed?

Because the documents date it that way. Many designers drew houses before they held a California license, and California licensed no architects before 1901. The record shows both dates, the year from the house's document and the license years from the Board's rosters; where the house came first, its row and the architect's page say so.

Who can tell me who designed my house?

I can check. I'm Greg Anderson of Arroyo Casa. Send me the address and I'll tell you whether a document behind this record names its architect, and which document says so.

Architect pages

The architects with the most standing houses.

By city

The architects of each community.

Pasadena Who Built

San Marino Who Built

La Cañada Flintridge Who Built

Claremont Who Built

South Pasadena Who Built

Alhambra Who Built

Monrovia Who Built

Pomona Who Built

San Gabriel Who Built

Altadena Who Built

Arcadia Who Built

Sierra Madre Who Built

By decade

The architects of each decade.

The 1890s

The 1900s

The 1910s

The 1920s

The 1930s

The 1940s

The 1950s

The 1960s

The 1970s

Sources and methods

How this record is built.

A house is on these pages when a document names its architect and the architect is on the record's register, the names the State Board of Architecture's reports, its successor's rosters of 1961 and 1970, and Architect and Engineer's certificate notices print as licensed in California, and one building designer, Cliff May, included by name. The documents are the ones the Who Built sources page lists: city and county surveys, National Register nominations, landmark reports and preservation groups' publications, plus the building notices of 1909 to 1930, printed as houses were permitted, contracted or announced, and compiled by the Arroyo Casa Archive of Records from published sources of those years. A notice is cited by its date. Where a notice printed no house number, the house is matched to it by street, owner and year, and its row says so. A house is called standing when the Los Angeles County Assessor's record at the same address in the same city confirms it, and the county's year built is not well after the house's documents; a much later year means a newer house on the lot.

Find who designed your house.

Every house has a birth year. Start with the owner's guide: how to find who designed and built your house, who lived in it first, and what this record already holds.

Who designed my house? Start hereAsk me what the record holds for your house

ArroyoCasa.com · (310) 402-8430 · greg@arroyocasa.com

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ARROYO CASA

Mobile (310) 402-8430 · greg@arroyocasa.com

Greg Anderson, REALTOR® · DRE# 01071792

REALTOR® means member of the National Association of REALTORS®.

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Learn more about the Sell Odds development at sellodds.com

About Greg Anderson

This guide is informational and is not legal, tax, or financial advice. Mills Act eligibility, ADU permitting, and property tax implications vary by property and by year. Consult the relevant city, the Los Angeles County Assessor, and a licensed tax professional for guidance specific to your situation.