In the spirit of last May’s Greene & Greene map, I’ve made a map of most of Bernard Maybeck’s projects. Right now, I have his projects in California and the midwest; soon I’ll add those in the Pacific Northwest and elsewhere, and make the list of demolished or burned structures as complete as possible.
I appreciate your efforts to map Maybeck’s extant works. You should be very careful with the source materials you cite. Most authors writing about Maybeck have personally seen little of his work. I know of only 2 who actually visited the most engrossing work of his career, Principia College, and neither of them stayed longer than 15 minutes according to school records.
Robert M. Craig recently published a handsome volume on Maybeck’s work at Principia, “Bernard Maybeck at Principia.” He has done fine scholarly work with genuine source material. Kenneth Cardwell is generally excellent since he actually interviewed Maybeck over time. The Woodbridge book is valuable for little more than the pictures since her scholarship and fact-checking is sorely lacking.
I had the privilege of living in Maybeck’s buildings at Principia as well as 3 by Henry Gutterson. I studied his drawings for both campuses and letters between architect and client. Maybeck spent 18 years with this project, as long as one spends raising a child, and he delighted to come back to work at it many times.
Visit his works when you can and spend hours if possible.
Thanks Jason! I would very much like to visit Principia. I grew up surrounded by Maybeck homes in Berkeley and have been a fan since I was young.
Yes, the Craig book is excellent and illuminating, not just about Principia but about Maybeck himself.
Thanks for visiting!