\“One of the unclassifiable originals in American\narchitecture–along with Frank Furness, Bruce Goff, and, today,\nFrank Gehry–Bernard Maybeck (1862-1957) devised a completely\npersonal vocabulary of building, assembling a harmonious whole from\nan unlikely array of unusual forms and inventive details… Richard\nBarness ravishing photographs are the first to convey in color the\ncomplex splendors of Maybecks inimitable achievement, and they\nsucceed with appropriate vigor and warmth. Likewise, Sally B.\nWoodbridges sympathetic text shows considerable understanding of\nthis Whitmanesque figure.\” – Martin Filler, New York Times Book\nReview

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Gracefully written and brilliantly illustrated, this handsome\nnew volume captures the vision, the wit, and the down-to-earth\ninventiveness of one of the most influential and beloved architects\nof the early twentieth century.

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Raised in Greenwich Village and trained in Paris, Maybeck spent\nmost of his long career in northern California. An irrepressible\nbohemian with no desire to run a large office, he spent much of his\ntime designing houses for friends and family, as well as for other\npatrons so loyal that they often hired him to design more than one\nhouse. Maybeck also created two of the most beautiful buildings in\nall of California: the exhilarating Church of Christ, Scientist, in\nBerkeley, and the gloriously romantic Palace of Fine Arts, in San\nFrancisco.

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This incisive overview—the first to feature color reproductions\nof Maybecks exquisite interiors and exteriors—analyzes every aspect\nof his life and work. Not only his architecture but also his\nfurniture, his lighting designs, and his innovations in\nfire-resistant construction are thoroughly discussed and\nillustrated. The book is also enlivened by documentary photographs,\nby clearly drawn plans, and by several of Maybecks dazzling,\npreviously unpublished visionary drawings.

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Bernard Maybeck is a major study of an internationally\nsignificant architect whose environmentally responsive work has\nmuch to offer todays designers and whose houses have given enormous\npleasure to those fortunate enough to visit or dwell in them.

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