22 Facts About Irving Gill

Irving Gill did most of his work in Southern California, especially in San Diego and Los Angeles.

Irving Gill is considered a pioneer of the modern movement in architecture.

Irving Gill's father was a farmer, and later a carpenter.

Long after his death it was claimed that Irving Gill never saw the end of that project due to illness.

Once Irving Gill settled in San Diego, his health improved, and he began an architectural practice of his own.

In 1894, Irving Gill partnered with Joseph Falkenham, who had built a successful practice of his own.

Falkenham left San Diego in 1895, and Irving Gill began to take on large residential projects for important figures in San Diego.

Irving Gill worked on the Granger Hall for Ralph Granger, a local musician.

In 1907, Irving Gill was accused of unauthorized work on a sewer line, causing a clog.

Irving Gill denied the accusations, but his partnership with Hebbard was damaged beyond repair.

Irving Gill designed the Broadway Fountain, known as the Electric Fountain, in 1908, for the center of Horton Plaza Park, in downtown San Diego.

Irving Gill's design was chosen in a competition among professional architects, and was one of the first projects in the country to combine water and colored electrical light effects.

Irving Gill did work for a time as an associate of Goodhue, including the design of the Balboa Park Administration Building, Balboa Park's first structure, which is located just outside the California Quadrangle.

Today, it is known as the Irving Gill Administration Building of the San Diego Museum of Man, and houses offices and the Irving Gill Auditorium.

Irving Gill was commissioned by Ellen Browning Scripps in 1913 to design the La Jolla Woman's Club.

Irving Gill returned to live in North San Diego County in the 1920s, but his pace of work slowed considerably due to lingering illness, changing public tastes, and his diminishing willingness to compromise with clients.

Irving Gill's work was described as "cubist" in publications of the time.

Irving Gill's interiors were concerned with removing most unnecessary detailing, partly for reasons of economy and hygiene.

Irving Gill's houses are known for minimal or flush mouldings; simple fireplace mantles; coved, and therefore fluid, floor-to-wall transitions; enclosed-side bathtubs; plentiful skylights;, plastered walls with only occasional, but featured, wood elements; flush five-piece doors; concrete or Sorel cement floors; and a general avoidance of dividing lines, ledges, and unnecessary material changes.

Irving Gill designed ten churches, of which the best known is the Christian Science Church at Second and Laurel Streets in San Diego.

On May 28,1928, at the age of 58, Irving Gill married for the first and only time.

Irving Gill was alone on his wife's family ranch in Carlsbad, California when he died on October 7,1936.