Irving J. Gill Foundation

Hiding in Plain Sight
Irving J. Gill Building Re-Discovered

William Douglas House, 1911
Kensington, San Diego, California

Originally identified as generally historic by Thomas H. Bauman, a local dentist and neighborhood historian, in his book “Kensington – Talmadge, 1910 – 1985”, published in 1984, this house was built by and for William Douglas. Douglas was the original sales agent for the first lots sold in Kensington. Kensington is one of the early streetcar suburbs of San Diego.

As Bauman noted, the house was originally located at the southeast corner of Adams Avenue and Kensington Drive. Several years later, when commercial buildings began being built on Adams, it was moved to the back of the lot to make room for a commercial building. Similar home relocations occurred along other Adams Avenue properties.

There was, however, more to the history of this building than Bauman had uncovered. Thanks to the recent sleuthing of architects Heather Crane and John Sheehan, we now know that Douglas had hired Irving J. Gill in late 1910 to design the Douglas home. At this time, as Douglas would have well known, Gill was San Diego’s most prominent architect.

The next time you visit Kensington, stop and take a look at the Douglas House. Look past some of the harsh modifications, its current commercial use, and the extreme paint. Squint a little and you will see Gill’s original design come through. The distinctive roof brackets, the unique fireplace and chimney, and the single-story flat-roofed pop-out all say “Gill”.

We have long known that Gill was a very prolific architect. It is, though, still a joy to come across some “new” work!

---

Lecture and Book Signing
The Sacred Architecture of Irving J. Gill

by author Rev. Dr. Mark Hargreaves
at Unity Temple, Oak Park, IL
July 27 @ 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm – FREE

Unity Temple Restoration Foundation and the Irving J. Gill Foundation will host a talk and book signing by Rev. Dr. Mark Hargreaves, who will speak about his new book, The Sacred Architecture of Irving J. Gill. Oak Park historian and architect Christopher Payne will introduce the topic with insights from Joseph Lyman Silsbee’s religious works.

Gill apprenticed under Silsbee and Adler & Sullivan during the peak of the Chicago School, 1890-1893. In these heady years, Gill worked alongside Wright, Elmslie, Corwin, Maher, and other prominent early Chicago and Prairie School architects. Moving to San Diego in 1893, Gill went on to have a provocative career in Southern California.

Hargreaves’ lecture will draw on his research and writing to focus on Gill’s sacred architecture, which emerged out of the same cultural and theological milieu as Silsbee’s Unity Chapel, Spring Green, WI, and Wright’s Unity Temple, Oak Park, IL.

No registration is needed—suggested donation of $10 at the door.
Doors open at 6 pm, and the talk begins at 6:30 pm.

More information at Unity Temple Restoration Foundation

---

The Sacred Architecture of Irving J. Gill
New book: Available worldwide at local bookstores
and online 

The Irving J. Gill Foundation is pleased to announce our second book on one of America’s most important architects, Irving J. Gill. Written by Rev. Dr. Mark Hargreaves, The Sacred Architecture of Irving J. Gill is an in-depth examination of the career of one of America’s most significant architectural innovators as seen through his many designs of sacred architecture. This is not a typical book on architecture. It brings together a study of a unique body of architecture and examines the congregations that hired Gill to build their beliefs and aspirations.

The work of Irving J. Gill in building new churches has been hitherto unfairly neglected. Of that topic, Mark Hargreaves reminds us that the architect’s aim should be not just to create a work of beauty but also a building specifically designed for the religious aspirations of the particular congregation concerned. So thorough is Hargreaves’ book that it can also serve as a general introduction to church architecture.
— Professor David Brown, DLitt, FBA, FRSE
Emeritus Professor of Theology, Aesthetics & Culture, University of St Andrews

Available on Amazon.com and their worldwide websites, The Sacred Architecture of Irving J. Gill is also available at local bookstores. Ask your local bookstore for a copy!

Order Here