Albert Lincoln Farr (October 8, 1871July 12, 1947) was an American residential

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

, who designed homes in the Craftsman and

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

styles.

Early life

Born in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

, his early childhood was spent in

Yokohama, Japan is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

. The Farr family returned to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, and settled in Oakland in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

and he attended Oakland High School. Farr lived at various times in San Francisco (at 2528 Union), and also briefly in

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...

, settled in

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, and

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

Career

From 1909 through the end of his career he maintained an office at 68 Post Street in San Francisco. Farr earned his architecture license in 1901, one of the first in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. He took on Joseph Francis Ward as an associated architect partner in 1922, eventually naming his firm Farr & Ward. Farr and his firm designed buildings throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, particularly in the San Francisco neighborhoods of

Russian Hill Russian Hill is a Neighborhoods in San Francisco, California, neighborhood of San Francisco, California. It is named after one of List of San Francisco, California Hills, San Francisco's 44 hills, and one of its original "Seven Hills". Location ...

, Pacific Heights,

Sea Cliff Seacliff or Sea Cliff or Sea Cliffe may refer to: ;Places ''Australia'' *Seacliff, South Australia, suburb of Adelaide *Seacliff Park, South Australia, a suburb of Adelaide *Sea Cliff Bridge, in Illawarra, New South Wales ''New Zealand'' *Seacli ...

, and St. Francis Wood. Many of his designs involve a facade of brown wooden

shingles Shingles, also known as zoster or herpes zoster, is a viral disease characterized by a painful skin rash with blisters in a localized area. Typically the rash occurs in a single, wide mark either on the left or right side of the body or face. ...

. The

Sundial Lodge The Sundial Lodge, also known today as the L’Auberge Carmel, a Relais & Châteaux property, is a historic Medieval Revival hotel in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. It was designed by architect Albert L. Farr of San Francisco Bay Area and was buil ...

, also known today as the L’Auberge Carmel, a Relais & Châteaux property, is a historic

Medieval Revival Medievalism is a system of belief and practice inspired by the Middle Ages of Europe, or by devotion to elements of that period, which have been expressed in areas such as architecture, literature, music, art, philosophy, scholarship, and variou ...

hotel in

Carmel-by-the-Sea, California Carmel-by-the-Sea (), often simply called Carmel, is a city in Monterey County, California, United States, founded in 1902 and incorporated on October 31, 1916. Situated on the Monterey Peninsula, Carmel is known for its natural scenery and ric ...

. It was designed by Farr and was built in 1929–1930, by

Master builder A master builder or master mason is a central figure leading construction projects in pre-modern times (a precursor to the modern architect and engineer). Historically, the term has generally referred to "the head of a construction project in the ...

Michael J. Murphy. It was designated as an important commercial building in the city's ''Downtown Historic District Property Survey,'' and was recorded with the Department of Parks and Recreation on December 5, 2002.

Projects

Farr also designed houses in

Belvedere Belvedere (from Italian, meaning "beautiful sight") may refer to: Places Australia *Belvedere, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region Africa *Belvedere (Casablanca), a neighborhood in Casablanca, Morocco *Belvedere, Harare, Zim ...

, Piedmont and Woodside. One of his most famous is the Wolf House for

Jack London John Griffith Chaney (January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916), better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors to ...

, in

Glen Ellen Glen Ellen is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sonoma Valley, Sonoma County, California, United States. The population was 784 at the 2010 census, down from 992 at the 2000 census. Glen Ellen is the location of Jack London State Historic Par ...

. The home burned before construction was completed. Long thought to be the result of an

arson Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wat ...

, recent analysis of the ruins, located in

Jack London State Historic Park Jack London State Historic Park, also known as Jack London Home and Ranch, is a California State Historic Park near Glen Ellen, California, United States, situated on the eastern slope of Sonoma Mountain. It includes the ruins of a house burned ...

, determined the cause to be

spontaneous combustion Spontaneous combustion or spontaneous ignition is a type of combustion which occurs by self-heating (increase in temperature due to exothermic internal reactions), followed by thermal runaway (self heating which rapidly accelerates to high tem ...

Death

Farr died on July 12, 1947, in Piedmont, California. He was buried in the Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, California.

References

External links

Albert Farr architect profileSF Architectural Heritage "The San Francisco Architecture of Albert Farr, Part II"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Farr, Albert L. 1871 births 1947 deaths American residential architects Artists from Omaha, Nebraska Architects from San Francisco History of the San Francisco Bay Area Oakland High School (Oakland, California) alumni