George Pardee Jr., 87; Home Builder Was a Leader in Developing Region
George M. Pardee Jr., one of Southern California’s most prolific home builders, died Monday of prostate cancer at his condominium in downtown San Diego. He was 87.
His company, Pardee Construction, was a leader in the development of the region after World War II, building homes in several areas including Pacific Palisades, Las Vegas, Pomona and San Diego. By the time he retired as chairman in 1981, the company had built more than 27,000 homes, mostly for first-time buyers.
The company, now known as Pardee Homes, remains based in Los Angeles and is developing housing throughout Southern California and southern Nevada.
Pardee was born on May 31, 1916, at his parents’ Hollywood home because his mother didn’t trust hospitals. He attended one of the last one-room schoolhouses in Santa Monica Canyon before graduating from Beverly Hills High and then UCLA in 1938.
He worked at the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. for two years after college and then held various positions at Douglas Aircraft Co. during the war, finishing his employment as a department supervisor in 1945.
While at Douglas, Pardee took a correspondence course in building contracting and got his state contractor’s license. In 1946, he built his first house, for himself and his family, in Pacific Palisades, using a design provided by his father, George M. Pardee, a designer and builder working in Beverly Hills.
In February 1946, George Jr. formed Pardee Construction Co. with his brother Hoyt and his father. They adopted a policy that all business decisions had to be unanimous, because the brothers didn’t want to outvote their father. They maintained that policy after another brother, J. Douglas Pardee, joined the company in 1948, and after their father’s death in 1952.
The company’s first subdivision was in Pacific Palisades, where the firm developed homes on a 70-acre parcel in partnership with St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church.
One of Pardee’s biggest competitors was Ray Watt, head of Santa Monica-based Watt Cos., who had a cordial relationship with Pardee. Watt, the Pardees and representatives from about six other Southern California home builders took occasional weekend retreats together from the 1950s through the ‘70s, Watt said. The men would play cards and then discuss what was going on in their business.
“It was a new industry in those days, and we were trying to be more proficient and build better projects and better organizations for ourselves,” Watt said. They frequently toured and critiqued each other’s developments, then went back to the card table.
Pardee was a Boy Scout in an industry populated by some cutthroat operators. He joined the Scouts on his 12th birthday, which in 1928 was the youngest eligible age. He earned the rank of Eagle and remained a registered Scout for the rest of his life. He ran his business by the Boy Scout oath, said his son John Pardee.
“He believed you can be a success while still maintaining high ethical standards,” his son said. “I think people really respected him for that.”
Pardee is survived by brothers Hoyt and J. Douglas; his children, Anne Koch, Carolyn Beahrs, and John and Neal Pardee; and nine grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday in the Founders Chapel at the University of San Diego. The family requests that memorial donations be sent to the University of San Diego or to a favorite charity.
