Robert Brown Young (April 1, 1854 – January 29, 1914) was a Canadian-born architect who designed buildings 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 ...

. Born in

Huntingdon County, Quebec Huntingdon County is an historical county in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is named after the town and county of the same name (Huntingdon, Huntingdonshire) in east central England. It is situated in the Montreal South Shore region of Montérég ...

, Canada, on April 1, 1854, his parents were Alexander and Mary Ann (Dowler) Young. Young attended Huntingdon Academy. In 1877, he moved to

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, where he finished his education in construction and architectural drawing. He left thereafter for California, locating in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

for two months before arriving in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

in the fall of 1878. He immediately opened up his office as an architect and general contractor. Los Angeles at that time was a thriving city of about 10,000 and there were only two other architects here. Within a short time, demands for plans and architectural drawings were coming in far faster than he could handle them, and he was obliged to give up his work in contracting entirely and confine his attention to architectural work. During this period of building "boom", he had 87 buildings under construction at one time. He was the resident architect of the new Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles. and built many Catholic churches and schools in the diocese of Los Angeles and Monterey. He served as president of the Southern California Chapter of the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...

. In 1880, Young married Mary C. Wilson of Denver. Two children were born to them, Frank Wilson Young and Mary Elizabeth Young Moore. The son joined his father in the family business, and after the father's death, continued the business under the firm's name of R. B. Young & Son. Young died at his home in Los Angeles on January 29, 1914, after an illness of several months.

Works

Los Angeles

*Apartment hotels: Seminole, Engstrum, Young, Westonia *

Barker Brothers Barker Bros. was a major Los Angeles-based retailer of furniture, home furnishings, and housewares. Founded as Barker and Mueller in 1880, the business operated under various names through 1992. History Obadiah Truax Barker had owned upholster ...

Blackstone's Department Store Blackstones or Blackstone's may refer to: * The Blackstones, UK-based reggae vocal trio active since the mid-1970s * Blackstones F.C., non-league football club from Stamford, England * Blackstone's commentaries, Blackstone's ''Commentaries'', Comme ...

*Garages: Kissel Kar, Mitchell *

Hollenbeck Block The late-Victorian-era Downtown of Los Angeles grew year by year, around 1880 centered at the southern end of the Los Angeles Plaza area, and over the next two decades, extending south and west along Main Street, Spring Street, and Broadway to ...

home to the

Hollenbeck Hotel The late-Victorian-era Downtown of Los Angeles grew year by year, around 1880 centered at the southern end of the Los Angeles Plaza area, and over the next two decades, extending south and west along Main Street, Spring Street, and Broadway to ...

, Los Angeles *Joseph E. Carr Building (1909) at 644 S.

Broadway (Los Angeles) Broadway, until 1890 Fort Street, is a thoroughfare in Los Angeles County, California, USA. The portion of Broadway from 3rd to 9th streets, in the Historic Core of Downtown Los Angeles, was the city's main commercial street from the 1910s until ...

, from 1947 to 1979 home to the

Harris & Frank Harris & Frank was a clothing retailer and major chain in the history of retail in Southern California, which at its peak had around 40 stores across Southern California and in neighboring states and regions. Its history dates back to a clothing ...

department store"Los Angeles Union Station Run-through Tracks Project", p. RA6-PP8
/ref> *Lankershim Block, SE corner of 7th and Broadway, demolished, home to the Lankershim Hotel *Pettebone Building 510-512 S. Broadway *

Rosslyn Hotel The Hotel Rosslyn Annex is a historic building in Los Angeles, California built in 1923 at the corner of 5th and Main streets. The structure was designed by the firm Parkinson & Parkinson in the Beaux Arts style and listed on the National Reg ...

* St. Mary's Church,original church from 1897 to 1923

Elsewhere

* State Reform School, Whittier, California *Masonic Temple,

Corona, California Corona (Spanish for "Crown") is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 157,136, up from 152,374 at the 2010 census. The cities of Norco and Riverside lie to the north and north ...

*Reynolds' department store,

Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States, in the Inland Empire metropolitan area. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. It is the most populous city in the Inland Empire an ...

* St. Andrew's Catholic Church,

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

*Yuma County court house, at

Yuma, Arizona Yuma ( coc, Yuum) is a city in and the county seat of Yuma County, Arizona, United States. The city's population was 93,064 at the 2010 census, up from the 2000 census population of 77,515. Yuma is the principal city of the Yuma, Arizona, M ...

Gallery

File:Exterior of the Hollenbeck Hotel on the corner of Spring Street and Second Street, Los Angeles, ca.1900-1905 (CHS-2346).jpg,

(1884-1933), SW corner of 2nd & Spring, Los Angeles; photo from c.1900-1905. Orpheum Theater Building-4.jpg, Orpheum Theater, Los Angeles, CA California State Reform School at Whittier, ca.1901 (CHS-1157).jpg, California State Reform School, Whittier, CA St. Andrew's Catholic Church (Pasadena, California).JPG, St. Andrew's Catholic Church, Pasadena, CA Yuma County Court House, Yuma, AZ.jpg, Yuma County Court House, Yuma, AZ

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Robert Brown 1851 births 1914 deaths 19th-century American architects Canadian architects Canadian emigrants to the United States People from Los Angeles People from Montérégie