Allen George Siple (July 9, 1900 – January 10, 1973) was an American architect, working in Southern California from the 1930s to 1960s.

Early life

Siple was born on July 9, 1900 in

Otsego, Michigan Otsego is a city in Allegan County, Michigan, Allegan County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 4,120 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The city is within Otsego Township, Michigan, Otsego Township, but is administrat ...

.Pacific Coast Architecture Database
/ref>Alan Hess, ''Forgotten modern: California houses 1940–1970'', Layton, Utah: Gibbs Smith, 2007, pp. 262-26

/ref> His father, George H. Siple, was Canadian and his mother, Jessie, was from Michigan. In 1924, his father retired to Southern California and they moved into a house located at 972 Arapahoe Street, Los Angeles, California. He graduated from the University of Southern California and the

École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in nor ...

in Paris, France.

Career

In Los Angeles, Siple worked as an architect for the

Janss Investment Company The Janss Investment Company was a family-run, Los Angeles–based real estate development company that operated from 1895 to 1995. First generation The Janss Investment Company was founded by Peter Janss, an immigrant doctor from Denmark. Pet ...

. They were developing the community of Westwood in Los Angeles.

1930s

In 1930, Siple designed the W.R. Balsom Jr. House in Westwood Hills. In 1932, he designed "The Grove," also known as the "Grove Bungalow Court," located at 10669-10683 Santa Monica Boulevard in Westwood, Los Angeles.Pacific Coast Architecture Database: Grove Bungalow Court
/ref>Robert Winter (ed.), ''An Architectural Guidebook to Los Ángeles'', Layton, Utah: Gibbs Smith, 2003, p. 14

/ref> In 1940,

Edla Muir Edla Muir (January 23, 1906 – November 5, 1971) was an American architect, best known for designing residences in Southern California. Early life and education Muir was born in 1906 in San Francisco, California. Her father was Joseph Muir, a th ...

(1906-1971) added two rear cottages. The property became a

Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments are sites which have been designated by the Los Angeles, California, Cultural Heritage Commission as worthy of preservation based on architectural, historic and cultural criteria. History The Historic-Cul ...

in 1987. In 1935, he designed the residence of actress

Jane Withers Jane Withers (April 12, 1926 – August 7, 2021) was an American actress and children's radio show hostess. She became one of the most popular child stars in Hollywood in the 1930s and early 1940s, with her films ranking in the top ten list fo ...

(1926–2021) in Westwood Hills.Pacific Coast Architecture Database: Jane Withers House
/ref> He designed the private residence of actor and producer Jack Conway (1887-1952) and his wife Virginia at All Hollows Farm in Pacific Palisades, California.Pacific Coast Architecture Database: All Hollows Farm
/ref> The house was called All Hollows Farm. After Jack Conway's death in 1952,

Debbie Reynolds Mary Frances "Debbie" Reynolds (April 1, 1932 – December 28, 2016) was an American actress, singer and entrepreneur. Her acting career spanned almost 70 years. Reynolds performed on stage and television and in films into her 80s. She was nom ...

(born 1932) and

Eddie Fisher Edwin Jack Fisher (August 10, 1928 – September 22, 2010) was an American singer and actor. He was one of the most popular artists during the 1950s, selling millions of records and hosting his own TV show, '' The Eddie Fisher Show''. Actress E ...

(1928-2010) purchased the property.

1940s

From 1940 to 1941, Siple designed the Minnezawa Bell House located on Linda Flora Drive Bel Air for Monnezawa Bell (1911-1983), daughter of

Alphonzo Bell Alphonzo Edward Bell Sr. (September 29, 1875 – December 27, 1947) was an American oil multi-millionaire, real estate developer, philanthropist, and champion tennis player. The westside Los Angeles residential community of Bel Air is na ...

(1875-1947), who developed Bel Air, California.Pacific Coast Architecture Database: Minnezawa Bell House
/ref> It is a 10-room,

Colonial Revival Style The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture. The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exposition, Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened A ...

mansion. Later in the 1940s, he designed the "Knot Garden House," a Regency Revival mansion with

Colonial Revival architecture The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture. The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the arch ...

interiors.Pacific Coast Architecture Database: Knot Garden House
/ref> The property came with front gardens designed by locally renowned landscape architect Edward Huntsman-Trout (1889-1974). Also in the 1940s, he designed the "South Lanai House," a Monterey Colonial style house. During 1946 and 1947, Siple designed the model home for the Tahquitz River Estates, a neighborhood development in Palm Springs, California, by real estate developer

Paul Trousdale Paul Whitney Trousdale Jr. (1915 – April 9, 1990) was an American real estate developer. He is best known for developing the Trousdale Estates in Beverly Hills, California. He built over 25,000 homes in Southern California. Early life Paul Whi ...

(1915-1990). Siple also designed houses in Westdale, Los Angeles, another neighborhood developed by Trousdale.

1960s

By the 1960s, Siple was the supervising architect for

Trousdale Estates Trousdale Estates is a neighborhood of Beverly Hills, California, located in the foothills of the Santa Monica mountains. It was developed in the 1950s and 1960s and is named after Paul Trousdale, a real estate developer. , the average sale price ...

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 ...

, another neighborhood developed by Trousdale, on the former Doheny Ranch on the east of

Greystone Mansion The Greystone Mansion, also known as the Doheny Mansion, is a Tudor Revival architecture, Tudor Revival mansion on a landscaped estate with distinctive formal English gardens, located in Trousdale Estates of Beverly Hills, California, United Sta ...

. He also designed Paul Trousdale's private residence in

Palm Springs, California Palm Springs (Cahuilla language, Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Rivers ...

.Huntington Digital Library
Huntington.org. Accessed March 28, 2024.

Death

Siple died at the age of 72 on January 10, 1973 in

Los Angeles County, California Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the List of United States counties and county equivalents, most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 202 ...

References

External links

LA Curbed: residences by Allen Siple
{{DEFAULTSORT:Siple, Allen Architects from Los Angeles Historicist architects Spanish Colonial Revival architects People from Otsego, Michigan 1900 births 1973 deaths USC School of Architecture alumni American alumni of the École des Beaux-Arts 20th-century American architects People from Mandeville Canyon, Los Angeles