Walter J. Mathews (2 May 1850 – 20 November 1947) was an 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 ...

based in

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

. He is best known for designing the

First Unitarian Church of Oakland The First Unitarian Church of Oakland is located in western Downtown Oakland, California. It is a member of the Unitarian Universalist Association. History The building site was purchased in November 1888 from Jane K. Sather, a patron of the U ...

, and the Oakland mansion of Frank M. "Borax" Smith. He was active in the architecture firms J. C. Mathews & Son, and Kysor & Mathews.

Biography

His father, Julius C. Mathews, was also an architect. In 1866, the family moved from Markesan,

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

to Oakland, California. Walter and his brothers trained in the office of their father, J. C. Mathews & Son. He joined his father's office in 1874 to 1875. Walter Mathews' younger brother

Arthur Frank Mathews Arthur F. Mathews (October 1, 1860 – February 19, 1945) was an American Tonalist painter who was one of the founders of the American Arts and Crafts Movement. Trained as an architect and artist, he and his wife Lucia Kleinhans Mathews had a s ...

became a prominent San Francisco artist and furniture designer. The third son of Julius Mathews,

Edgar Edgar is a commonly used English given name, from an Anglo-Saxon name ''Eadgar'' (composed of '' ead'' "rich, prosperous" and ''gar'' "spear"). Like most Anglo-Saxon names, it fell out of use by the later medieval period; it was, however, rev ...

, also became a well known Bay Area architect. After he spent a few years 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' ...

, Mathews became a partner with architect

Ezra F. Kysor Ezra Frank Kysor (1835–1907) was an American architect from Los Angeles, California. He is believed to be the first professional architect to practice in Southern California. Biography Early life Ezra Kysor was born on August 6, 1835 ...

in the architecture firm Kysor & Mathews. Among the Los Angeles projects he collaborated on with Kysor were the Cathedral of Saint Vibiana and Childs' Grand Opera House, which was later to become the first Los Angeles venue of the Orpheum vaudeville circuit. Mathews returned to Oakland in 1877, becoming a partner in his father's firm until establishing his own practice in Oakland in 1886. In the 1890s he served as Oakland city architect.Press Reference Library, 1912, p. 422.
/ref> His projects were typical of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, including office buildings, hotels, theaters, clubs, commercial buildings, churches, and houses. He remained in practice in Oakland until at least 1940.

Works

* C. A. Belden House *

* Key System Mole Ferry Terminal

References

External links

Images of Arbor Villa, F. M. Smith estate, designed by Mathews (not extant)
from

The Bancroft Library The Bancroft Library in the center of the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, is the university's primary special-collections library. It was acquired from its founder, Hubert Howe Bancroft, in 1905, with the proviso that it retai ...

Past and Present of Alameda County, California
from The Internet Archive *https://www.hugoandsons.co.uk * 1850 births 1947 deaths People from Oakland, California Architects from California Architecture in the San Francisco Bay Area Arts and Crafts architects People from Markesan, Wisconsin {{US-architect-stub