Share information about the San Francisco Bay Area architect John Hudson Thomas, who practiced in Berkeley, California in the first half of the Twentieth Century.
I happened to be channel flipping last night and by chance came upon the American Experience documentary on PBS about the SF Earthquake of 1906. It really made me understand at a much deeper level how this fueled the East Bay's growth from 1906-1918 (when World War I began). You can't see the show online, but you can view some of the photos of SF in 1906 here. You can rent the program from Netflix or buy it used on Amazon for $8.
In 1979, the Ecole Bilingue offered a self-guided house tour of 7 houses by John Hudson Thomas. There are detailed descriptions for the featured houses:
1. Kruse House, 564 Santa Clara Ave., 1914 2. Spring Mansion, 1960 San Antonio Road, 1912 3. Pratt-Verper House, 959 Indian Rock Ave., 1911 4. Pratt-Thomas House, 800 Shattuck Ave., 1911 5. Blum House, 1505 Hawthorne Terrace, 1926 6. Park House, 3115 Claremont Ave., 1914 7. Wintermute, 227 Tunnel Road, 1913 8. Ecole Bilingue, 1001/9 Heinz St., 1915
I've added a brief overview map and list of the houses in the document. I originally photocopied the 1979 tour from the BAHA archives.
To see the whole tour, check out the document on Scribd.com:
Many thanks to all the original contributors who wrote these descriptions.
I also created the tour in Google Maps. For those who are interested, you can find it here.
There's nothing particularly special about this house tour today (since the houses are not open as they were in 1979). But the descriptions are interesting and have occasional historical bits in them.
Coming soon - some self-guiding tours that focus on a particular theme or aspect of JHT's work - or works that are located in a specific neighborhood.
Currently in default, the building will go on the auction block this Friday, March 27, at 12:30 pm. The sale will take place at the Fallon Street entrance to the Alameda County Court House, 1225 Fallon Street, Oakland, CA.
To date, the person who has written the most about JHT is Thomas Gordon Smith, who wrote his master's thesis, while a student at U. C. Berkeley in the early 70s, on Thomas.
Thomas Gordon Smith later became the dean of the school of architecture at the University of Notre Dame and a noted architect specializing in the classical style.
I called him this week to see if he might allow his 1975 thesis to be published on the web, so it will be more available to researchers and fans - and he's agreed.
This is a great gift and we are all grateful for his contribution and granting access to this work.
The fabulous Loring house, done in the Prairie School style, is on the National Historic Landmarks building list. Anyone have more info about the Loring House? Or know someone who does? Anyone know the owners?
This entire hillside was bare and unpopulated when developer Pratt commissioned JHT to design three houses, that cascade down the hill, on Indian Rock Avenue, beginning with the top house across the street from Indian Rock Park. A more commanding site could not be imagined. With thrilling views down the street to the Marin Circle and vast views across the Bay in all directions, JHT, who'd had the pick of the litter when it comes to lots, had the choicest location at 800 Shattuck.
I've a sneaking suspicion he liked to look at his own work, and designed the two houses below 800 Shattuck - the Pratt-Verber House next door and the Pratt House adjacent to it - at 959-961 Indian Rock so that he could view them from his living room window.
I had a lovely visit with Dorcas Kowalski, owner of the Pratt-Thomas house. She gave me a tour of the property. It was thrilling to sit in what was once Thomas' house and look across the living room to see his other houses, just below.
It's sometimes called his honeymoon house for he moved here in 1911 with his new wife and lived here for two years. The master bedroom has matching his and her walk in closets, each with a window. In the middle, in the master bedroom, is a fireplace.
The Pratt Thomas house has a fireplace centered in a spacious inglenook with a wide arch framing the opening. Mr. Kowalski papered the inglenook ceiling with art works.
I happened to be channel flipping last night and by chance came upon the American Experience documentary on PBS about the SF Earthquake of 1906. It really made me understand at a much deeper level how this fueled the East Bay's growth from 1906-1918 (when World War I began). You can't see the show online, but you can view some of the photos of SF in 1906 here.
