17 Facts About Elmer Grey

Elmer Grey, FAIA was an American architect and artist based in Pasadena, California.

Elmer Grey is credited with being one of the pioneers in the development of the new American architecture in the early 20th century, with a focus on harmony with nature and eliminating features not belonging to the local climate and conditions.

Elmer Grey was a noted artist whose paintings are in the permanent collection of the Chicago Art Institute.

Elmer Grey was born in Chicago and educated in the Milwaukee public schools.

In 1890, the 18-year-old Elmer Grey won first prize in a competition for the design of a water tower and pumping station sponsored by a New York architectural publication.

When Elmer Grey went into practice on his own, he first attracted attention for his design of a summer home he built for himself on a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan at Fox Point, Wisconsin.

Elmer Grey's Fox Point house was a great hit, being published widely in magazines and leading to Elmer Grey's elevation to Fellow of the American Institute of Architects.

Elmer Grey abandoned his Milwaukee practice and traveled to Florida, Philadelphia and then to Las Vegas, seeking to regain his health.

Elmer Grey took up work on a ranch, hoping the hard work would build his strength.

Elmer Grey eventually moved to California, spending time swimming, rowing, playing tennis and fishing on Catalina Island.

In 1904, Elmer Grey became friends with a fellow Midwestern architect, Myron Hunt.

Yet, it was during his partnership with Hunt that Elmer Grey produced some of his finest work.

The church Elmer Grey designed for the First Church of Christ, Scientist in Los Angeles was later used by Jim Jones and his Peoples Temple immediately prior to the 1978 Jonestown tragedy.

Elmer Grey was an artist who painted in both oils and watercolors.

Elmer Grey painted Southern California landscapes, and his watercolors are on permanent exhibit at the Chicago Art Institute.

Elmer Grey moved his practice to Florida in 1941, where he was an instructor in mechanical drawing and painted a 35-foot frieze at the Naval Air Station in Jacksonville, Florida, depicting five episodes in the history and development of Florida.

Elmer Grey later returned to Pasadena in his retirement; he died in November 1963 at age 91 in the Pasadena mansion he had built for himself.