First Bay Tradition facts for kids

The First Bay Tradition was a special way of designing buildings in the San Francisco Bay Area from the 1880s to the early 1920s. Think of it as a unique "look" for houses and other buildings that grew right out of the California landscape. It was different from the fancy, formal styles popular at the time, like Beaux-Arts architecture. Instead, it focused on connecting buildings to nature and using materials found nearby.

What Was the First Bay Tradition?

The First Bay Tradition was an architectural style that became popular in the Bay Area between the 1880s and the early 1920s. It was a local answer to other building styles that were popular back then. While some people saw it as a regional version of the Shingle Style from the East Coast, it really stood out on its own.

A Style Connected to Nature

This building style was a reaction against the very formal and grand Beaux-Arts architecture. Instead of big, classical designs, the First Bay Tradition wanted buildings to feel like they belonged in their natural surroundings. It focused on making buildings fit in with the land around them.

Local Materials and Craftsmanship

A big part of this style was using materials found right in the area. For example, builders often used local redwood for houses. There was also a strong focus on good craftsmanship, meaning things were built with great skill and care. The designs often played with the volume (how much space a building takes up), its form (its overall shape), and asymmetry (not being perfectly balanced on both sides).

Who Started and Popularized This Style?

The First Bay Tradition began in San Francisco and the wider Bay Area. It grew thanks to the ideas and work of several talented people.

Early Ideas and Key Designers

A minister named Joseph Worcester, who was also a mystic and loved designing buildings, is thought to have started the First Bay Tradition. Later, two famous architects, Bernard Maybeck and Willis Polk, helped make the style very popular.

Other important architects who worked in this tradition included A. Page Brown, Ernest Coxhead, John Galen Howard, Julia Morgan, Louis Christian Mullgardt, and A. C. Schweinfurth. Interestingly, Polk, Maybeck, and Schweinfurth all worked in A. Page Brown's office before becoming well-known themselves.

How Did It Influence Later Designs?

The First Bay Tradition had a lasting impact on how buildings were designed in the area. It helped shape later styles, including the Modernists who created the Second Bay Tradition. Architects like Henry Higby Gutterson and John Hudson Thomas helped bridge the gap between these two important traditions.

If you want to see drawings and plans from this time, you can find many of them at the Environmental Design Archives at the University of California, Berkeley.