John Byers (architect)


John Winford Byers was a Santa Monica architect and builder noted for use of the Spanish Colonial revival style.

Early life

Byers was born in Michigan. Byers, a graduate from Harvard University, was employed as a schoolteacher, teaching Spanish and French, at San Rafael High School and Santa Monica High School. Self-trained as a builder and architect, Byers completed his first commission, a house at 510 Lincoln Boulevard for W.F. Barnum, the principal of the Santa Monica High School in 1916.

Importance

Byers designed and built dozens of homes in Brentwood, Pacific Palisades, and Santa Monica from 1916 through 1946. He was fascinated with the native California architecture and its Mexican and Spanish roots. He was most notable for his "Adobe" designed buildings, having written several articles in the 1920s and 1930s on adobe construction and its influence in California architect. He studied the native building traditions of Hispanic cultures, and went through a phase where he built houses of adobe and stucco. He established his own workshop, employing Mexican craftsmen who were masters at creating and installing the adobe brick, the decorative tile, wrought iron and woodwork that he used in his houses.

Some projects

ProjectDateAddressLocation
Stevenson Residence
Albert Ahern Residence		1926
1926		2126 La Mesa Drive
1707 San Vicente		Santa Monica
Santa Monica
Donald Armstrong Residence1717 San VicenteSanta Monica
J.B. Nethercott Residence500 25th StreetSanta Monica
Speers Residence270 18th StreetSanta Monica
Byers Residence19172034 La Mesa DriveSanta Monica
Byers Residence1917547 7th StreetSanta Monica
Fuller Residence1920304 18th StreetSanta Monica
MacBennel House1921404 Georgina AvenueSanta Monica
Bradbury House 1923102 Ocean WayPacific Palisades
Gorham-Holiday Residence1923326 Adelaide DriveSanta Monica
Zimmer Residence19242101 La Mesa DriveSanta Monica
Laidlaw Residence1924217 17th StreetSanta Monica
Thompson House19242021 La Mesa DriveSanta Monica
Tinglof Residence19252010 La Mesa DriveSanta Monica
Bundy Residence19252133 La Mesa DriveSanta Monica
E.J. Carrillo Residence19251602 GeorginaSanta Monica
Residence19251650 Amalfi DrivePacific Palisades
Byers Office1926246 26th StreetSanta Monica
Barclay Residence19271425 Monaco DrivePacific Palisades
Miles Memorial Playhouse19291130 Lincoln BoulevardSanta Monica
John Byers Residence19292034 La Mesa DriveSanta Monica
Kerr Residence1930428 N Carmelina AvenueBrentwood
Hamilton Residence1931193 N Carmelina AvenueBrentwood
Murray Residence1935436 N Carmelina AvenueBrentwood
Stedman Residence1935363 N Carmelina AvenueBrentwood
Temple Residence1935231 N Rockingham AvenueBrentwood
Kenaston Residence1936914 Corsica DrivePacific Palisades

Other dwellings were constructed in Coachella, Victorville, Bel Air, and Beverly Hills. Byers also constructed an adobe memorial recreation hall in Santa Monica, a clubhouse at Brentwood Park, and a building at the John Thomas Dye School.

Family life

When John Byers died in Santa Monica, at the age of 91 in 1966, he was based out of this Spanish Colonial Revival compound at 246 26th Street. Byers and his family lived in the house at 2034 La Mesa Drive for almost thirty years.