THE SMALL HOME OF TOMORROW
Paul R. Williams
Paul R. Williams: THE SMALL HOME OF TOMORROW. Hollywood: Murray & Gee, 1945. First edition [De Luxe Edition priced at $3.00]. Quarto. Tan textured cloth stamped in brown. 96 pp. Architectural floorplans and renderings. A near fine copy in a good dust jacket. Architects circular emboss to title page. Unclipped jacket with vintage kraft tape reinforcements to verso. A rare book in the hardcover first edition with jacket. 8.75 x 11.25 hardcover book dedicated to a new type of post-war California living: houses that were spare, comfortable, and attuned to the new landscapes opening up for development.
One of the most important Los Angeles architects, Paul R. Williams' prolific career extended from the 1920s to the 1970s. His vast body of built work stretches across the world from Paris and Colombia to Washington, D.C., New York, and Memphis. However, the Los Angeles area was his personal and professional focus.
Overcoming incredible prejudice in an all-white field, Williams became the first African American admitted to the A.I.A and designed over 3,000 projects, including the Jetsons-like theme building at Los Angeles International Airport, Saks Fifth Avenue and W. & J. Sloane's department stores in Beverly Hills, the famous Beverly Hills and Ambassador hotels, and renowned celebrity haunts, such as Chasen's and Perino's restaurants. He also designed mansions for Frank Sinatra, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, Tyrone Power, William "Bojangles" Robinson, Lon Chaney, and other entertainers.
While Williams had extraordinary facility with the historical styles popular in southern California at the time, he was equally adept at modern design, as seen in his work for Fisk and Howard universities, Saint Jude Hospital in Memphis, and several banks, churches, and country clubs.
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