Craig Ellwood
| Craig Ellwood | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Jon Nelson (Jonny) Burke April 22, 1922 Clarendon, Texas, USA |
| Died | May 30, 1992 |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Architect |
| Spouse(s) | Faith Irene (Bobbie) Walker Gloria McIniry Henry Anita Eubank |
| Partner(s) | Leslie Hyland |
| Children | Jeffrey, Erin, Adam (with Gloria McIniry Henry) Caitlin Emily Ellwood (with Leslie Hyland) |
| Practice | Craig Ellwood Design (established 1949) unlicensed architect |
| Buildings |
1953 Case Study House 16, Bel Air, California, (1952-53) |
| Design | The Milton Lappin House, Cheviot Hills, Los Angeles, California (1948) The Epstein House, Los Angeles CA (1949) The Meyer House, Los Angeles CA (1950) |
1953 Case Study House 16, Bel Air, California, (1952-53)
Case Study House 17B (Hoffman House), Beverly Hills, California, (1954–56)
Craig Ellwood (April 22, 1922 – May 30, 1992) was an influential Los Angeles-based modernist architect whose career spanned the early 1950s through the mid-1970s. Although untrained as an architect, Ellwood fashioned a persona and career through equal parts of a talent for good design, self-promotion and ambition. He was recognized professionally for fusing of the formalism of Mies van der Rohe with the informal style of California modernism.
Ellwood was born Jon Nelson Burke in Clarendon, Texas. Along with many others in the 1920s, Ellwood's family moved west, following U.S. Route 66, finally settling in Los Angeles in 1937. There, Ellwood, as Johnnie Burke, attended Belmont High School, where he was class president before graduating in 1940. In 1942, Ellwood and his brother Cleve both joined the U.S. Army Air Corps. Ellwood served as a B-24 radio operator, based with Cleve in Victorville, California until his discharge in 1946.
After his discharge, Burke returned to Los Angeles and set up a company with his brother Cleve and two friends from the war, the Marzicola brothers, one of whom had a contractor's license. The four men called their firm 'Craig Ellwood' after a liquor store called Lords and Elwood located in front of their offices. Burke later legally changed his name to Ellwood. In 1948, he joined the firm Lamport Cofer Salzman (L.C.S.) as a construction cost estimator, having acquired this skill during his work for the Craig Ellwood Company. Ellwood also studied structural engineering through UCLA extension night school for five years. He became increasingly involved in design and architecture, resulting in Ellwood's first commissions, all for residences.
Ellwood established 'Craig Ellwood Design' in 1951. There Ellwood would provide the commissions and the vision, and it was up to USC-trained architect Robert Theron 'Pete' Peters, and later others, to provide the technical realization, drawings and the required sign-off of a licensed architect. Early projects included Case Study House 16 in 1952. The designs were well received by both the trade and potential clients, often receiving favorable coverage in influential publications like John Entenza's Arts & Architecture, often arranged for by Ellwood personally. Thus the firm received a growing stream of both residential and commercial commissions, and Ellwood's style matured to fully embrace the concepts put forth by International Style architects, particularly Mies van der Rohe.
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