Samuel Newsom (1852 – 1908) was a Canadian-born American

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 ...

. Together with his brother Joseph Cather Newsom founded the architecture firm Newsom and Newsom (or the Newsom Brothers), practicing in

Northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a r ...

and Southern California. Their most celebrated house is the

Carson Mansion The Carson Mansion is a large Victorian house located in Old Town, Eureka, California. Regarded as one of the premier examples of Queen Anne style architecture in the United States, the house is "considered the most grand Victorian home in Amer ...

Eureka Eureka (often abbreviated as E!, or Σ!) is an intergovernmental organisation for research and development funding and coordination. Eureka is an open platform for international cooperation in innovation. Organisations and companies applying th ...

, California.

Early life

Samuel Newsom was born April 05, 1852 in Canada, in Montreal. His parents were Jessie Livingstone (1821–1882) and Levens Mathewson Newsom (or Newsome, 1815–1897), and he had 11 siblings. His father Levens worked at a plant nursery. In 1860, Samuel Newsom immigrated to San Francisco. His two older brothers Thomas Newsom and John Newsom were also architects and taught Samuel and Joseph. Neither brother had formal education in architecture.

Career

In 1877, the Newsom brothers, Samuel and Joseph Cather Newsom maintained their architectural office (for Newsom and Newsom) at 321 California Street in San Francisco in 1877, followed by an office at 504 Kearny Street in San Francisco in 1883, and then in Oakland by 1884. By 1886, they had a Los Angeles office, which was run by Joseph. The brothers specialized in designing

Queen Anne style architecture The Queen Anne style of British architecture refers to either the English Baroque architecture of the time of Queen Anne (who reigned from 1702 to 1714) or the British Queen Anne Revival form that became popular during the last quarter of t ...

homes with extravagant details, designed for the common home buyer. Many of their clients were middle class. Newsom and Newsom constructed of many of the

Eastlake style The Eastlake movement was a nineteenth-century architectural and household design reform movement started by British architect and writer Charles Eastlake (1836–1906). The movement is generally considered part of the late Victorian period in t ...

and Queen Anne style homes in San Francisco, California and the surrounding areas. They built around 650 buildings which included single family homes, two family homes, flats, apartments and hotels. The Newsom brothers published pattern books on the different decorative styles. By 1893, the firm had made a change and was designing in a

Mission Revival The Mission Revival style was part of an architectural movement, beginning in the late 19th century, for the revival and reinterpretation of American colonial styles. Mission Revival drew inspiration from the late 18th and early 19th century ...

style and in 1906 they were designing Craftsmen style homes. Joseph Cather Newsom ended his relationship to the firm in 1888 but continued to practice architecture alone in Los Angeles. From c.1898 until 1901, Samuel Newsom worked with

Frederick Herman Meyer Frederick Herman Meyer (June 26, 1876 – March 6, 1961) was an American architect. He was active in the San Francisco Bay Area, and is known for designing the YMCA Hotel in San Francisco. From c.1898 until 1901, Samuel Newsom worked with Meyer, ...

to form the firm Newsom and Meyer in Oakland. His two sons joined the firm, Sidney Newsom in 1893, and Noble Newsom in 1906.

Personal life

In 1875, Newsom married Canadian Matilda Gertrude “Tillie” (née Wilcox) in Alameda County. Together they had 6 children; Sidney Newsom, Samuel Newsom Jr., Helen Newsom Tufts, Ruby Newsom Van Sickle, Noble Newsom, and Harold Newsom.

Projects

Newsom and Newsom (1877–1888)

*1878 – Courthouse,

Superior Court of California Superior courts in California are the state trial courts with general jurisdiction to hear and decide any civil or criminal action which is not specially designated to be heard in some other court or before a governmental agency. As mandated by ...

, County of Napa, California *1879 –

Napa Valley Opera House The Napa Valley Opera House is a theatre in Napa, California, it opened on February 13, 1880, with a production of Gilbert and Sullivan's ''HMS Pinafore''. At the time, the town had a population of 5,000 people. Early days The original owner wa ...

, 1018-1030 Main Street, Napa, California *1884 – Berkeley City Hall, Berkeley, California, demolished 1904 * 1884–1886 –

, 143 M Street,

, California *c. 1885 – Vollmer House, 1737 Webster Street, San Francisco, California, not the original location of the home, this location has outstanding decorative details. * 1885 – Boyd House, Eureka, California * 1885 – Murphy House, San Francisco, California, demolished 1906 after the earthquake, the

Carter House Inn The Carter House Inn is a hotel in Old Town Eureka, California. It is known both for housing Restaurant 301 and for being a replica of a Queen Anne style building by Newsom and Newsom, renowned builder architects of many 19th century structures ...

in Eureka is a reproduction of the Murphy House. *1886 – 975 Grove Street, San Francisco, California, this house has an unusual

turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Objective turret, an indexable holder of multiple lenses in an optical microscope * M ...

design, decorative brick, and an image of a bear. *1887 –

San Dimas Hotel The San Dimas Hotel, also known as Walker House, the Carruthers Home, and the San Dimas Mansion, is a historic structure in San Dimas, California, built by the San Jose Ranch Company in 1887. Originally built as a hotel, the structure had 33 ...

, 121 N. San Dimas Avenue, San Dimas, California *c.1887 – Bradbury Mansion, 147 North Hill Street, Los Angeles, California, was located in the Bunker Hill neighborhood and was demolished in 1929. Built at the cost of $80,000 for Lewis L. Bradbury. The house, a 35-room structure with five chimneys and five turrets, stood at the corner of Hill and Court streets. *prior to 1888 – Magnin House, 1478–1482 Page Street, San Francisco, California, this is a two family style house and a prior owner was Isaac Magnin and his two daughters lived next door. *1889 – Green Apothecary, 500-502 Divisadero Street, San Francisco, California

Samuel Newsom, Newsom and Meyer (c.1898–1901)

* 1889 – 2602 Pacific Avenue, San Francisco, California, the former home of Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid in the 1990s. *1889 – Carson House (or the "Pink Lady"), 202 M Street, Eureka, California * 1889 – Patterson House (renovation/addition),

Ardenwood Historic Farm Ardenwood Historic Farm is a Regional Historic Landmark in Fremont, California. It is managed by the East Bay Regional Park District. The Ardenwood Historic Farm consists of the Ardenwood Station, the former Ohlone village and burial site, a bla ...

, Fremont, California * 1892 – 3198 Pacific Ave, San Francisco, California *c.1892 – Simpson-Vance House, 904 G Street, Eureka, California * 1905 – Old City Hall, Gilroy, California

Early life

Career

Personal life

Projects

Newsom and Newsom (1877–1888)

Samuel Newsom, Newsom and Meyer (c.1898–1901)

Publications

Articles

Books

References

Further reading