Architect worked on Nixon’s home
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
Gareth Gilson Wells, 63, an architect who supervised the renovation of President Nixon’s Western White House, died of a heart attack May 24 while playing golf in Maryland.
A native of Glendale, Wells was raised in La Crescenta, where he was a competitive swimmer at Crescenta Valley High School. He earned his degree in architecture at UC Berkeley in 1967.
In 1968, he became an architect with the General Services Administration, working out of the agency’s San Francisco office. His responsibilities included supervising the renovation of La Casa Pacifica, the San Clemente mansion Nixon purchased in 1969.
In 1972, Wells transferred to the GSA headquarters in Washington, where he managed a number of major projects in the area. He retired in 2000.