Silas Reese Burns

Silas Reese Burns
BornApril 08, 1855
Morgantown, Virginia
DiedAugust 10, 1940
EducationMassachusetts Institute of Technology
OccupationArchitect
SpouseLouise Devereux

Silas Reese Burns (1855–1940) was an American architect.

Biography

Early life

He was born on April 8, 1855, in Morgantown, Virginia.[1] He became a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects in 1882.[1] He graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1875.[1]

Career

Together with Myron Hunt (1868–1952), John B. Parkinson (1861–1935), and Sumner Hunt (1865–1938), he designed the Hotel Maryland in Pasadena, California in 1903–1904, which was destroyed by a fire in 1914.[2] Alongside George Wyman (1860–1939), he designed the Old Soldiers' Home in Sawtelle, Los Angeles.[3]

Together with Sumner Hunt and Abraham Wesley Eager (1864–1930), he designed the private residence of William G. Kerckhoff located at 1325 West Adams Boulevard, Exposition Park, Los Angeles in 1908 and 1909.[4][5] It is now home to the Annenberg Center for Communication at the University of Southern California.[6] In 1908, they designed the Hope Ranch Country Club in Hope Ranch, California.[7][8] The same year, they designed a mansion at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and South Westmoreland Avenue, opposite the Bullocks Wilshire building.[9][10] A year later, in 1909, they designed a Tudor Revival mansion for Arthur S. Bent (1863–1939), a building contractor, in Pasadena, California.[11]

Together with Sumner Hunt, he designed the Children's Hospital Los Angeles in 1910.[12] In 1911, they designed the A. C. McKevett House in Santa Paula, California.[13] The same year, they designed the E. S. Hall House in Ojai, California.[14][15] In 1913, they designed the Vermont Square Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library located at 1201 West 48th Street, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[16] From 1910 to 1914, they designed the Southwest Museum of the American Indian in Los Angeles.[17] In 1914, they designed the Henry C. House in Oak Knoll, Pasadena, California.[18] In 1919, they designed the Wilshire Country Club located at 301 North Rossmore Avenue in Los Angeles in 1919, but it was demolished and replaced in 1970.[19] They designed the Ebell Club of Pomona, California, in 1924.[20] They also designed the Ebell of Los Angeles located at 4400 Wilshire Boulevard in 1927, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[21] They also designed the McKinley House in Lafayette Park, Los Angeles, which was torn down in 1999.[22] On the campus of Scripps College in Claremont, California, they designed the Administration Building in 1928, and Balch Hall in 1929.[23][24][25][26]

Together with Sumner Hunt, Roland Coate (1890–1958) and Aurele Vermeulen (1885–1983), he designed the headquarters of the Automobile Club of Southern California located at 2601 South Figueroa Street from 1921 to 1923.[27]

His office was located in the Homer Laughlin Building at 317 South Broadway in Downtown Los Angeles.[1]

Personal life

He married Laura Beall of Troy, Ohio, in 1881.[28] Laura died in 1884.[29] He married Louise Devereux in 1891.[1][30] They resided in Alhambra, California, and he retired in San Gabriel, California in 1930, where he was a member of the San Gabriel Valley Country Club.[1] He died on August 10, 1940.[1] He is buried in the San Gabriel Cemetery.[31]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Pacific Coast Architecture Database
  2. ^ Pacific Coast Architecture Database: Hotel Maryland
  3. ^ Pacific Coast Architecture Database: Old Soldiers' Home, Sawtelle, Los Angeles
  4. ^ Pacific Coast Architecture Database: William G. Kerckhoff House
  5. ^ 'Residence for W. G. Kerckhoff, Los Angeles', Architect and Engineer of California, 77, 07/1908
  6. ^ West Adams Heritage Association
  7. ^ Pacific Coast Architecture Database: Hope Ranch Country Club
  8. ^ 'Hope Ranch Country Club notice', The Los Angeles Times, part V: 24, 11/15/1908
  9. ^ Pacific Coast Architecture Database: Wilshire Boulevard and South Westmoreland Avenue House, Los Angeles, California
  10. ^ 'Among the Architects', The Los Angeles Times, 20, 04/26/1908
  11. ^ Pacific Coast Architecture Database: Arthur S. Bent, Pasadena, California
  12. ^ Pacific Coast Architecture Database: Children's Hospital of Los Angeles
  13. ^ Pacific Coast Architecture Database: A. C. Kevett House, Santa Paula, California
  14. ^ Pacific Coast Architecture Database: E. S. Hall House, Santa Paula, California
  15. ^ 'Architects Hunt and Burns prepare plans or E. S. Hall residence in the Ojai Valley', Los Angeles Daily Journal, 2, col 1, 12/19/1911
  16. ^ Pacific Coast Architecture Database: Vermont Square Branch, Los Angeles Public Library
  17. ^ Pacific Coast Architecture Database: Southwest Museum, Los Angeles, California
  18. ^ Pacific Coast Architecture Database: Henry C. House
  19. ^ Pacific Coast Architecture Database: Wilshire Country Club
  20. ^ Pacific Coast Architecture Database: Ebell Club of Pomona
  21. ^ Pacific Coast Architecture Database: Ebell Club of Los Angeles
  22. ^ Pacific Coast Architecture Database: McKinley House, Lafayette Park, Los Angeles
  23. ^ Pacific Coast Architecture Database: Administration Building, Scripps College
  24. ^ 'Colleges Plan New Buildings', The Los Angeles Times, A16, 9/7/1928
  25. ^ Pacific Coast Architecture Database: Balch Hall, Scripps College
  26. ^ 'Auditorium, Balch Academic Hall, Scripps College, Claremont, Sumner Hunt and S. R. Burns, Architects', Architect and Engineer, 111: 1, 27–29, 10/1932
  27. ^ Pacific Coast Architecture Database: Automobile Club of Southern California Headquarters
  28. ^ Ohio, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1774–1993, No. 815
  29. ^ Find a Grave, Laura J Beall Burns
  30. ^ Daughters of the American Revolution, Lineage Book, Volume 10, 1899, p. 99 [1]
  31. ^ San Gabriel Cemetery