A. E. Hanson (1893–1986) was an American landscape architect and real estate developer in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

. He designed gardens on the campus of the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

as well as in Bel Air. He developed two gated communities near

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

: Rolling Hills and

Hidden Hills ''Hidden Hills'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on NBC from September 24, 2002, to January 21, 2003, during the 2002 fall line-up. Based on the book ''Surviving Suburbia'', the series was created by Peter Segal and Ric Sw ...

Early life

Archibald Elexis Hanson was born on December 20, 1893, in

Chino, California Chino ( ; Spanish for "Curly") is a city in the western end of San Bernardino County, California, United States, with Los Angeles County to its west and Orange County to its south in the Southern California region. Chino's surroundings ha ...

.Pacific Coast Architecture Database
/ref>Online Archive of California
/ref>The Cultural Landscape Foundation
/ref> His father was a Canadian who migrated to the United States in 1885 and worked as a real estate developer, selling orange groves to Midwesterners. He only attended high school for two years, before he started working.

Career

Hanson started his career by working for landscape architects

Theodore Payne Theodore Payne (June 19, 1872 - May 6, 1963), was an English horticulturist, gardener, landscape designer, and botanist. His best known work was done over his adult life in Southern California. Biography Payne was born at Manor Farm, Church Bramp ...

and, by 1915, Paul Howard. In 1916, he started his own architectural firm. In 1921, Hanson designed the gardens of the

Getty House The Getty House is the official residence of the mayor of Los Angeles, California. It is located at 605 South Irving Boulevard in Windsor Square, a historic district east of Hancock Park, about west of the Los Angeles City Hall. History The ...

in Los Angeles, which serves as the

official residence An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless of whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority (either their own or that of th ...

of the

Mayor of Los Angeles The mayor of Los Angeles is the head of the executive branch of the government of Los Angeles and the chief executive of Los Angeles. The office is officially Non-partisan democracy, nonpartisan, a change made in the 1909 charter; previously, ...

. From 1925 to 1929, he designed the 4.75-acre gardens of the

Harold Lloyd Estate The Harold Lloyd Estate, also known as Greenacres, is a large mansion and landscaped estate located in the Benedict Canyon section of Beverly Hills, California. Built in the late 1920s by silent film star Harold Lloyd, it remained Lloyd's home ...

Beverly Hills, California Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hills ...

. In 1927, he designed the Hawaii garden of the

Hannah Carter Japanese Garden The Hannah Carter Japanese Garden is a private Japanese garden located in Bel Air, Los Angeles, California. Known as Shikyo-en when completed in 1961, it emphasizes water, stones, and evergreen plants. The naturalistic hillside site features strea ...

Bel Air, Los Angeles Bel Air (or Bel-Air) is a residential neighborhood on the Los Angeles Westside, in the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains in the U.S. state of California. Together with Beverly Hills, California, Beverly Hills and Holmby Hills, Bel Air fo ...

for oilman

Gordon G. Guiberson Gordon may refer to: People * Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters * Gordon (surname), the surname * Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War * Gordon Heucke ...

. In 1929, he designed the grounds of the H.C. Lippiatt-F.M.P. Taylor House in Bel Air, Los Angeles. That year he also designed the a formal English garden for the Gertrude K. and Gerald C. Young House built by

Roland Coate Roland Coate (December 5, 1890 – October 17, 1958) was an American architect. He designed many houses and buildings in California, three of which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Early life Coate was born on December ...

Hancock Park, Los Angeles Hancock Park is a neighborhood in the Mid-Wilshire, Wilshire area of Los Angeles, California. Developed in the 1920s, the neighborhood features architecturally distinctive residences, many of which were constructed in the early 20th century. Ha ...

. In 1928–1929, he designed the gardens of the Archibald Young House designed by architect George Washington Smith in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...

. In 1930, Hanson designed the gardens of the Monterey Colonial style mansion of D.C. Norcross designed by architect

, located at 673 Siena Way in

. He also designed the gardens of the

Doheny Library The Edward L. Doheny Jr. Memorial Library is a library located in the center of the University of Southern California (USC) campus. History After the shooting of his son, the Irish American oil tycoon Edward L. Doheny donated $1.1 million ...

on the campus of the

. In the 1930s, Hanson developed two gated communities,

Rolling Hills, California Rolling Hills is a city on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Rolling Hills is a gated community with private roads with three entry gates. Homes are single-story 19th century California ranch or Span ...

, as well as

Hidden Hills, California Hidden Hills is a city and gated community in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California. It is located next to the cities of Los Angeles and Calabasas. The population was 1,725 as of 2020. History The earliest inhabi ...

. From 1932 to 1944, he served as President of the Palos Verdes Corporation. He also worked with architect Charles H. Cheney (1884-1943) to design a highway surrounding the

Palos Verdes Peninsula The Palos Verdes Peninsula () is a peninsular subregion of the Los Angeles metropolitan area, located within southwestern Los Angeles County, California. It is often called simply "Palos Verdes", and is made up of a group of cities in the Palos ...

Death

Hanson died on February 21, 1986.

References

Bibliography

Primary sources

*''Rolling Hills: The Early Years, February 1930 Through December 7, 1941'' (1978). *''Yesterday's Gardens'' (1979).Google Books
/ref>

Secondary sources

*David Gebhard, Sheila Lynds, ''An Arcadian Landscape. The California Gardens of A.E. Hanson'' (Hennessey & Ingalls, 1985).

Citations

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hanson, A.E. American landscape and garden designers Architects from Los Angeles Businesspeople from Los Angeles American real estate and property developers 1893 births 1986 deaths California people in design Hidden Hills, California Palos Verdes Peninsula People from Chino, California 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American architects Real estate and property developers from California