Casa History

In “California Colonial” (Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 2002), author-photographer and Los Angeles resident Elizabeth McMillian traces this architectural form, rooted in traditional Spanish and Mexican architecture, from 1769 to the present, using her photographs as well as those of Matt Gainer.

The first two chapters of the book are historical text, and the photos show how this indigenous California style evolved in chronological order, followed by more explicative color photographs of specific details that help create it. The final chapter in the book describes the California ranch house and hacienda from 1900-2000 and follows the same format.

Perhaps the easiest way to understand the framework for what architecture was here originally, and how it developed, is to scan the book’s contents page. For anyone who thinks California Colonial is not complex or sophisticated, look at the chapter subheads where such cultural style assimilations as “California’s Spanish Islamic/Gothic revival” or “California’s Spanish Baroque/Churrigueresco Revival,” to name just two, are found.

But it took a while to get to those stages. Originally people living in Southern California built conical homes from natural materials, such as sticks and brush, until the Spaniards arrived in the late 1700s and introduced adobe structures. Interestingly, sticks, barks and leather as building materials would resurface later in the ranch house style.

“California’s style had its roots in Mexico through the Spanish Franciscans, their Mexican universities and the 18th-century styles that Mexico derived from Spain,” McMillian writes. The first chapter deals with the different Colonial styles, such as Spanish and Mexican, until 1915. But the architecture even then was never purely one thing, with influences from Victoriana, Arts and Crafts and other forms near the turn of the 19th century. Mission Revival was especially popular for public buildings, such as the Beverly Hills Hotel (1910-12) by Elmer Grey, Frederick Roehrig’s Green Hotel in Pasadena (1890s) and the Mission Inn in Riverside, done in 1890-1901 by Arthur Benton.

Using 1915 as a starting point, McMillian writes that by then a phase of period architectural styles spread across the country because people were traveling and were better educated. “Alongside Tudor, Italianate and French Normandy design, Spanish style works arose in great abundance, particularly in Southern California, where people used it to claim their tentative lineage as a Hispanic colony,” she writes. She goes on to explain the historical differences among the different Spanish styles, Plateresco (Spanish Renaissance architecture, circa 1492-1556), Desornamentado (Spanish Classical architecture, circa 1556-1650) and Churrigueresco (Spanish Baroque architecture, circa 1650-1750). She also explains how those styles were popular in Mexico first, and then spread to California.

Here in Southern California, with its Mediterranean climate, the Spanish Colonial Revival style was often preferred, with architects looking directly to Spain for ideas. “They perpetuated the myth and romantic fiction that California was the New Spain of North America, after only 79 to 80 years of limited Spanish-Mexican contact,” McMillian writes.

The many Spanish period styles created throughout California from 1915-40 are documented in the book. Luckily, many are public buildings that can still be visited. Two are now museums built in the Spanish Andalusian or white-walled farmhouse style, including Malibu’s Adamson House with its Moorish elements designed in 1928 by Stiles Clements, and Montecito’s Casa del Herrero, built from 1922-25, and designed by George Washington Smith. The latter house museum is particularly intriguing for its examples of Latino decorative arts and landscape design with courtyards and fountains. In Northern California, there is the spectacular Hearst Castle in San Simeon, designed from 1919-49 by Julia Morgan, which combines many European styles, including Spanish.

McMillian has also created a catalog-like chapter of details and objects that help create the California Colonial style, among them building entrances made of carved wood, wrought iron and even gilded metal, in the case of the Hearst estate. There are colorful, Moorish tiles found on furniture, fountains and outdoor courtyards. Fanciful metalwork depicts dragons, horses and flower motifs.

The last section of the book deals with the ranch house and hacienda. McMillian writes, “California’s true multi-ethnic cultural roots surface in the California rancho hacienda and the later California ranch house where Native American, Anglo and immigrant pioneer, and Spanish and Mexican influences coalesce.” One strong advocate of this style was architect Cliff May, who in his 1946 book “Western Ranch Houses” defined the style. McMillian points to Will Rogers’ Pacific Palisades home as a good example of this type of architecture. The house is now a museum and part of Will Roger’s State Historic Park.

For anyone who’s driven around California and wondered about this romantic architectural style that once defined how Californians lived to the rest of the world, “California Colonial” is a valuable resource. Those interested in purchasing pieces to create a California Colonial look will find an excellent resource list put together by interior designer Bettye Young at the back of the book.

McMillian will give a slide presentation, “Architecture under the Stars,” from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. May 7, at Casa del Herrero in Montecito. The cost is $35 for nonmembers; $25 for members. Limited seating. Call (805) 969-1554. For more information, www.casadelherrero.com. The Adamson House Web site is www. adamsonhouse.org. Hearst Castle’s is: www.hearstcastle.org.

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Kathy Bryant may be reached at kbryant @socal.rr.com.