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JULIUS RALPH DAVIDSON (1889-1977)
Davidson was born in Berlin, Germany. He worked for the office of Frank Stewart Murray in London and Paris for several years before marrying Greta Wollsteing (1914) and serving in World War I (1915). He returned to Berlin after the war. In 1923, Davidson moved to Los Angeles and worked for architect Robert D. Faquhar and developers Hite-Bilike. He then went to Chicago in 1933 to remodel hotel interiors until 1936 when he returned to Southern California for good. Most of his commissions after 1936 were residential. In 1938, he began teaching at Art Center College of Design. He retired in 1972 and died in Ojai CA in 1977. Davidson donated his papers to the Architecture and Design Collection at the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1972 and 1975.
Davidson was part of a group of European expatriate architects which included Richard Neutra, Rudolph Schinder, Kem Weber, and Paul Laszlo who furthered modern architecture in Los Angeles in the 1930s and 1940s. Architectural historians and critics have described Davidson as bridging Art Deco, International, and Modernist styles. His modern interiors have been noted for their warmth, fluidity, and well-planned storage space. Bio adapted from Wikipedia. Research by Catherine Westegaard Cramer and Michael Locke.
1921 - The J. R. Davidson Apartment Remodel, Berlin, Germany. Status unknown.
1930 - The Archie Bilicke Apartments,
Los Angeles
CA. Unbuilt. Davidson designed several commercial buildings for
Bilicke as well.
1931 - The Richard Bransten House, San Francisco CA. Unbuilt.
1936 - The Stephen Hoag House, 9294 Sarah Street, North Hollywood, Los Angeles CA. Destroyed. Address no longer exists.
1938 - The Herbert Stothart House, aka Stothart-Phillips House, 2501 La Mesa Drive, Santa Monica CA. Altered over the years. Bottom photo by Michael Locke. Sold to Roger and Julie Corman.
1939 - The Houston Branch House, 1248-1250 Hillside Avenue, Los Angeles CA. These are two draft plans; needs verification of build. Status unknown.
1939 - The Maurice Berkson House I, 4641 Hayvenhurst, Encino CA. Identical to Berkson II. Given to his daughter, Ethel Berkson. In 1971, the house became the Jackson Five Family Compound. The Jacksons added on, then destroyed it in 1983 for a new house.
1939 - The Maurice Berkson House II, 4620 Rubio, Encino CA. Identical to Berkson I. Formerly addressed 4643 Hayvenhurst. Sold to Martin and Bonnie Brill. Sold in 2017 to Pamela Lifford.
1940 -
The Harold Spurrier Anderson House, 4105-4109 Parva Avenue, Los Angeles CA. Unbuilt.
1940 - The J. S. Druckman House, 3614 Amesbury Drive, Los Angeles CA. Unbuilt. In 1941 Rudolph Schindler built a house for him on Outpost Drive.
1940 - The Gretna Green Apartments, aka Johanna Drucker Quadriplex, aka Drucker Apartments, 12215 Dunoon Lane, Los Angeles CA. Photo by Michael Locke. Sold in 2013 to 12215 Dunoon Lane LLC.
1940 - The Leslie M. Maitland Remodel, 230 Strada Corta Road, Los Angeles CA. Original house built in 1934 by General Construction Co. Remodel included the bathroom, fireplace, stone veneer, and a reinforced concrete retaining wall. Sold to Stephen and Deborah Scherer who commissioned architect Craig Raymond Townsend in 2006 to remodel the house again, adding a guest room, breakfast room, and family room. B/W photos by Julius Shulman; color photo by Michael Locke.
1941 - The Rubin and Zipporah Luleff Sabsay House, 2351 Silver Ridge Avenue, Los Angeles CA. Architect R. M. Schindler remodeled and made additions to the house, including a studio, in 1944 and 1952. Photo by Michael Locke. Sold to Sharon L. Sabsay.
1941 - The Thomas and Katia Mann House, 1550 North San Remo Drive, Pacific Palisades CA. He was the author of Dr. Faustus. Sold in 1953 to Chet and Jon Lappen, who commissioned removation by Buff and Hensman. Sold in 2016 to the German government, which restored the house with architect and contractor Jeff Fink in 2017-2019 and runs it as a cultural center. Photos by Michael Locke.
1941 - The
Hans Buki House, 11149 Cashmere, Los Angeles CA. Unbuilt.
1941 - The D. Rajagopal House, Ojai CA. The Rajagopal's were involved with Krishnamurti and there was a compound of homes near the Vigeveno house below at 134-190 Besant, one from 1962 is still being used for the Krishnamurti Meditation Center. Needs verification. Status unknown.
1942 - The James Vigeveno House I, 145 Besant Drive, Ojai CA. Commissioned 1941. 145 Besant for sale in 1990. Sold in 2009 to Douglas Martinez and Jennifer Wood. Photo by Julius Shulman.
1944 - The Barrington Development Complex, 1417 Comstock Avenue, Los Angeles CA. Unbuilt.
1944 - The
Walter Foster House, Bishop CA. Plan courtesy of UCSB Architecture and
Design.
1945 - aka Case Study House 1A, unbuilt. Designed with Greta Davidson.
1945 - The Robert Rosson Remodel, 541 Loring Avenue, Los Angeles CA. Original house built in 1935. Sold in 1950 to Dr. Adolph Lakes. Sold in 1964 to Morton Maxwell. Sold in 1979 to Allen Levy. Sold in 1992 to Birnie Katz. Sold in 1994 to Susan Barnes. Sold in 2002 to Kirk Schenck.
1945 - The
Irving Stone Remodel, 717 North Maple Drive, Beverly Hills CA. Original house
1926. There
is a photo in the Julius Shulman archive.
1945 - The Blake G. Smith House, 32 North La Senda, South Laguna Beach CA. Destroyed around 1970.
1946 - aka Case Study House 11, 540 Barrington Avenue, Los Angeles CA. Commissioned 1945. Davidson built his personal house and studio on the same street. Destroyed in the late 1960's for high rise apartments.
1946 - The R. A. Mia House, Johannesburg, South Africa. Unbuilt.
1946 - The Ben Silver House, 2535 Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles CA. Unbuilt.
1946 - The E. L. Stancliff House, 17876 Vicino Way, Los Angeles CA. Unbuilt.
1946 - The E. Kost Shelton Remodel, 760 North Beverly Glen
Boulevard, Los Angeles CA. Original house built in 1938. Sold in 1972 to
Albert Katz. Sold in 2008 to John Gottlieb. Sold in 2020 to Brett
Anderson. Remodeled in 2021.
1947 - The Floyd Crosby House, 473 Denslow Avenue, Los Angeles CA. Sold in the early 1950's to Charles O. Furniss who hired Davidson around 1954 to design a remodel and a guest house. Sold in early 1990s to Oved Chalabi who did a 1991 remodel and additions, removing most of the Modernism. The swimming pool and spa were updated in 2002. Chalabi still owner as of 2022.
1947 - House in Pacific Palisades CA. Designed for a single man. Status unknown.
1947 - aka Case Study House 15, 4755 Lasheart Drive, La Cañada Flintridge CA. A modified version of Case Study House 11. Has been remodeled. Photo by Michael Locke. Status unknown.
1947 - The Mrs. Paul Kingsley House, 1620 Amalfi Drive, Pacific Palisades CA. Featured in Architectural Record, August 1948. Sold in 1976 to Mark and Roberta Meryash, who added a pool designed by Barry Baron and a second story. Sold in 1991 to actress Rita Moreno and her cardiologist husband, Leonard Gordon. Sold in 1999 to Philip John Wickser Jr. and Anousha Hamzavi, who commissioned architect Farhad Ashofteh to do a major addition in 2008. Color photos by Michael Locke. Sold in 2014.
1947 - The Joseph R. and Lenore Kingsley House, 1630 Amalfi Drive, Pacific Palisades CA. This was Mrs. Paul Kingsley's son. Photos by Julius Shulman. House was deeded to heirs by Lenore Kingsley, sold in 2014, house destroyed.
1947 - The Sam and Jane Taylor House, 3247 Waverly Drive, Los Angeles CA. Built by the Ironwood Company. Sold around 1999 to Louis and Suzanne Wenzlaff. Designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument in 2020. Photos by Michael Locke.
1947 - The J. R. Davidson House, 548 Barrington Avenue, Los Angeles CA. Destroyed for high rise apartments.
1947 - The A.
R. Golder House, 3260 Bennett Drive, Los Angeles CA. Unbuilt.
1947 - The
Milton Wichner House, 1953 Cummings Road, Los Angeles CA. Unbuilt.
1947 - The Houston Branch House #2, 215 Redlands Avenue, Playa del Rey CA. Unbuilt.
1948 - The J. H. Billings House, 518 Bonhill Road, Los Angeles CA. Unbuilt.
1948 - The Don W. McFadden House, aka Case Study House 1B, 10152 Toluca Lake Avenue, Toluca Lake CA. Built by Paul W. Wright. Photo by
Michael Locke.
Sold to the Papkin Trust. Sold in 1996 to D. Brent and Donna Nelson.
1948 - The
Albert E. Wollman House, 1900 Crest Road, Los Angeles CA. Unbuilt. A
permit was pulled for a new house and garage in 7/1948, with Davidson's name
typed in, then scratched out. In January 1949 a new permit was pulled for
house and garage for a Harry Monkarsh, no architect listed but plan on permit
doesn't match. House that was built there was destroyed in 2018.
1949 - The J. M. Goss House, 1771 Royal Oaks, Duarte CA. Probably unbuilt.
1949 - The Helen Saterlee House, 521 Saltair Avenue, Los Angeles CA. Unbuilt. House by another architect built there in 1953.
1949 - The Joseph and Margo Osherenko House, 1005 North Alpine Drive, Beverly Hills CA. 4,350 sf house on a 2.65 acre lot in Beverly Hills. Pallisgaard-Wilson was the builder. Renovations in 1954, 1963, 1968. Sold to Alan S. Roberts in 1982. Sold in 1982 to Jane Lockshin and Alan Roberts. Sold to Charles and Sylvia Weiner Trust in 2003. For sale in 2023, includes "conceptual plans by renowned architects SAOTA for a 20,000 sf + world class estate," so this house is likely to be destroyed. Photos by Michael Locke.
1950 - The Jack G. Schapiro House, 3214 Waverly Drive, Los Angeles CA. Commissioned 1943. Built by Whiting Construction Co. Sold in 1996 for the first time to Ellen Guild. Sold in 2002 to Trina Turk and Jonathan Skow. Photos by Michael Locke.
1950 - The Edward T. and Lillian B. Tyler House, 540 Moreno Avenue, Los Angeles CA. Built by Ryan Construction Co. As of 2022, still in the Tyler family. Photos by Michael Locke.
1950 - The Rachford Harris House, 379 Fordyce Road, Los Angeles CA. Featured in Progressive Architecture, February 1954. Sold in 2018 to Milton Lugash who destroyed it in 2020.
1950 - The
Arthur Ross House, Chevy Chase Drive, Los Angeles CA. Unbuilt.
1951 - The Sampson Schoenbrun House, 357 Fordyce Road, Los Angeles CA. Sold in 2014 to Milton Lugash who destroyed it and built a $26M house in 2016.
1951 - The
Charlotte Auerbach House, 1631 Marmont Avenue, Los Angeles CA. Likely not built
to Davidson plans. Permits
show an addition of a guest room above garage, no architect. Contractor
Victor Palfi.
1951 - The Kurt Greer House, 9115 Cordell Drive, Los Angeles CA. A house was built there for Kurt Greer but Davidson's archives only lists 6 plans, no photos, no indication it was built to Davidson's plans. Another house was built there by Victor Palfi, no architect listed.
1951 - The Gustav H. Dann House, 1369 Londonderry Place, Los Angeles CA. Davidson's archives lists the address incorrectly as 1365 which is a house designed by Alvin Lustig for the Wayne family. Sold in 1963 to Joe Luckie. Sold in 2014 to spec developer Nile Niami who destroyed it and built an enormous new house, aka The One, designed by Paul McClean.
1953 - The Sam Harris House, 9233 Cordell Drive, Los Angeles CA. Unbuilt.
1953 - The
Dorothy Hindin Remodel, 10471 Le Conte Avenue, Los Angeles CA.
1953 - The Fausto Ricci Interior Remodel, 1090 Carolyn Way, Beverly Hills CA. Archive shows furniture - bookcase, tv cabinet, and desk. Greatly expanded between 1953 and 1964. Sold in 1987 to Vallapee Charunak and Mary Chu.
1953 - The
John Stroud House, Catalina Place, Project. Unbuilt.
1954 - The Dr. Anna Kulka House, 11650 Chenault, Los Angeles CA. Unbuilt. In 1956 architect Gregory Ain designed an apartment building for Kulka at this same address, also unbuilt.
1954 - The
Margrit Munk House, 290 Westgate, Los Angeles CA. Sold to Robert H. Justman, one
of the original producers of Star Trek. Remodeled in 1975 by Kenneth Dillon.
Deeded to wife Jacqueline Justman and daughter Jennifer Justman later
1957 - The Earl Cohen Remodel, 717 North Maple Drive, Beverly Hills CA. Original 1926 house. Sold in 2005 to James and Nancy Ellist.
1957 - The David L. and Margaret Elizabeth Rabinowitz House, 2262 Stradella Road, Los Angeles CA. Sold in 2007 to Johnathan and Diane Bear. Sold in 2021 to Rustyjet LLC. Photos by Michael Locke.
1957 - The W.
H. McLauchlan House, Hemet CA. Unbuilt.
1958 - The Robert A. Jokl House, 563 North Bundy, Los Angeles CA. Esther McCoy wrote an article about the house, July 1962 LA Times. Destroyed in 1999.
1958 - The Fritz Katzky House, 154 Bowling Green Way, Los Angeles CA. Unbuilt. Permit pulled, but project fell through.
1959 - The Dr. Hanna Fenichel House, 490 Tigertail Drive, Los Angeles CA. Sold in 1968 to Ronald P. Klein who hired Davidson to do a remodel, adding a hallway, closet, and 2' additions study and fireplace. Sold in 1974 to Mark Bloome who hired Davidson to add 2 rooms and bathrooms. There appears to be two buildings on the lot, but it is one building with the middle section covered by trees. In 2002 architect Cory Buckner did another addition of a family room and master bedroom remodel. Deeded to Judith Bloome, still owner as of 2022.
1960 - The James Vigeveno House II, 137 Besant Drive, Ojai CA. 6 acres. Sold in 1996 to the Sathya Sai Society of America, followers of Krishnamurti.
1965 - The J. R. Davidson Apartment Building, 4 Units, 11900 Darlington Avenue, Los Angeles CA. Became condominiums. Sold in 2011 to Erin Wang.
1965 - The Esther McCoy Duplex, Santa Monica CA. Unbuilt.
1966 - 953-955 South Westgate Avenue, Los Angeles CA. 4-unit apartment complex. Photo by Michael Locke.
Sources include: The Julius Ralph Davidson Papers at the University of California, Santa Barbara; J. R. Davidson: A European Contribution to California Modernism by Lilian Pfaff.