There’s been a resurgence of interest lately in one of my favorite Bay Area architects, a fellow who was just as comfortable with classically Arts & Crafts structures as he was with Art Deco, Mission Revival and less orthodox (or harder to pigeonhole) styles.
John Hudson Thomas grew up in the Bay Area and returned to Berkeley after graduating from Yale. While in the Architecture MA program at Berkeley, he studied under and became friends with both Bernard Maybeck and John Galen Howard, and worked for Howard for a few years after graduation.
A member of Berkeley’s Hillside Club, he socialized with Maybeck, Julia Morgan and others, and certainly elements of their own styles are visible in his early work. He was especially interested in the tall, thin and somewhat whimsical forms of European designers like Mackintosh and Voysey, and incorporated these lines – along with those of the fledgeling Prairie movement and those of the Viennese Seccessionists – into his own style, which in more recent years been called part of the "First Bay" school. Eventually, his work became a bit softer and more orthodox, but he still kept his knack for interior architecture – lots of detail – and tall structures with long uninterrupted lines well into the 1920s and 30s.
By this time, he was working for more established clients, on more complex and high-paying projects – mostly large homes – but his attention to landscape, environment and view was still paramount, and slightly odd or purposely out-of-place elements – friezes, odd finishes, unexpected combinations of materials, nooks and crannies and whimsical woodwork – remained. Luckily, many of his best buildings are still standing; a few are listed below:
- Spring Mansion at 1960 San Antonio Road in Berkeley (1914)
- Pratt-Thomas House at 800 Shattuck in Berkeley (1911)
- W. L. Locke House in Oakland (1911)
- Kay House at 892 The Arlington in Berkeley (1912)
- Chisholm House at 2821 Ashby in Berkeley (1907)
- Randall House at 2733 Bienvenue in Berkeley (1909)
- Tudor (esque) cottage at 2597 Buena Vista in Berkeley
- Antony House at 1010 Cragmont in Berkeley (1915)
- Sellander House at 35 Oakvale in Berkeley (1914)
- Dangan House at 41 Oakvale in Berkeley (1911)
- Wintermute House aka "The Rocks" at 227 Tunnel Road in Berkeley (1913)
- several houses on Yosemite Avenue, including one which I lived in as a child, in Berkeley
is that spring mansion just above the arlington? if it is, it’s the place i took dance classes at one time! also, an old friend from detroit was a caretaker there and lived in a wonderful groundskeeper cottage….
Thank you for posting this page. My grandfather was John Hudson Thomas. I am the daughter of his only son John Wickson Thomas
Thank you for this page. I grew up in the carriage house of The Rocks at 20 Vicente Rd until it burned in the firestorm and the property reunited with 227 Tunnel. His broad design palette is most impressive. So happy so much of his work is standing today.
Hi Ryan – thanks for sharing! What a great place to grow up!
Hi Susan, In 2001 I photographed at least 75 JHT homes with Hiro Moromoto. We loved his buildings and did a fair amount of research on his work. I love to speak with you and give you copies of the pictures I have, which include many interiors.
Foster Goldstrom
7133 Chabot Rd.
Oakland, Ca 510-406-0495
The Bernard Maybeck Guy Hyde Chick House.
Hi: I’m Maureen Daggett from the John Hudson Thomas house at 1427 Hawthorne Terrace in Berkeley. He was friends with my Grandfather, Stuart Daggett,Sr. , from UC., who organized several architects to redo the neighborhood after the large Berkeley fire in 1924. Our family still lives here and we love the place! We were a BAHA house. Maureen Daggett
Hi Foster –
I came about this post in a very roundabout way, but see your comment about JHT. After living for years in one of his Vallejo bungalows, I
m now in Healdsburg and am told there’s a JHT home here. Are you aware of one, and, if so, would you mind sharing address and any details?
Thanks!
Joan