Birge Malcolm Clark (April 16, 1893 – April 30, 1989) was an American

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

, called “

Palo Alto Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...

's best-loved architect” by the

Palo Alto Weekly The ''Palo Alto Weekly'' is a weekly community newspaper in Palo Alto in the U.S. state of California. Owned by Embarcadero Media Foundation, formerly Embarcadero Media, it serves Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Atherton, Portola Valley, Stanford, E ...

; he worked largely in the

Spanish Colonial Revival The Spanish Colonial Revival architecture (), often known simply as Spanish Revival, is a term used to encompass a number of revivalist architectural styles based in both Spanish colonial architecture and Spanish architecture in general. Thes ...

style.

Biography

Early life

Clark was born April 16, 1893, in the Women’s and Children’s Hospital in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, California, though his birth certificate was destroyed in the

San Francisco earthquake At 05:12 AM Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (''Extreme''). High-intensit ...

. He was the son of Hanna Grace Birge and

Arthur Bridgman Clark Arthur Bridgman Clark (1866–1948) an American architect, printmaker, author, and professor, as well as the first mayor of Mayfield, California (1855–1925), and first head of Art and Architecture Department at Stanford University. He taught cla ...

, a professor of art and architecture at

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

and the first mayor of

Mayfield, California Mayfield was a historic town in Santa Clara County, California. It was one of the oldest towns, predating the establishment of nearby Palo Alto and Stanford University. In 1853, prior to its becoming a town, Elisha Oscar Crosby acquired a parce ...

, later part of Palo Alto. He graduated from

Palo Alto High School Palo Alto Senior High School (commonly referred to locally as "Paly") is a comprehensive public high school in Palo Alto, California. Operated by the Palo Alto Unified School District, the school is one of two high schools in the district, the ...

in 1910. He received an A.B. degree in Graphic Design from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

in 1914, and received a Bachelors degree in Architecture from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

in 1917. He served in the United States Army, as an observation balloon pilot in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

; he was shot down by a German pilot and won the

Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against a ...

for gallantry. Clark's younger sister, Esther Clark, became one of the first women physicians in the country, and was a prominent local pediatrician and a founder of the Palo Alto Medical Clinic.

Career

His principal architectural works at Stanford University are the Lou Henry Hoover House (assisting his father and now the residence of the university President), the three John Stauffer laboratories (1960’s), and the

Seeley G. Mudd Seeley Greenleaf Mudd, M.D. (April 18, 1895 – March 10, 1968) was an American physician, professor, and major philanthropist to academic institutions. Early life Mudd was born in Denver, Colorado in 1895, and was the son of noted mining engine ...

Chemistry Building (1977). His principal works in Palo Alto include the old Police Station and Fire station (now the senior citizen’s center), the Lucie Stern Community Center, the President Hotel, the Palo Alto Post Office (1932), the Palo Alto Medical Clinic, and much of the 500 block of Ramona Street in downtown Palo Alto. Some of the notable and historic homes Clark built in Palo Alto include the

Norris House The Norris House is a historic house located at 1247 Cowper St. in Palo Alto, California. The house was built in 1927 for Kathleen Norris, a novelist and columnist who was once the highest-paid female author in the United States, and her husban ...

at 1247 Cowper Street, the Dunker House at 420 Maple Street and Lucie Stern’s house at 1990 Cowper Street.

Personal life

He was married to the former Lucile Townley, daughter of Stanford mathematician and astronomer

Sidney Dean Townley Sidney Dean Townley (April 10, 1867 – March 18, 1946) was an American astronomer and geodeticist. He was a professor at Stanford University from 1911 until 1932. Among many other posts, Townley served as an instructor of astronomy at the Un ...

, for sixty-three years, until her death in 1986. They had four sons: Richard Townley Clark, Dean Townley Clark, Birge Gaylord Clark, and Malcolm Mallory Clark, along with 18 grandchildren.

Notable buildings by Birge Clark

Publications

* *

References

External links

*
Sound recording of Birge Clark
(May 1984), from the Stanford University audio collection
Birge Clark Oral History
(October 1985), fro
Palo Alto Historical Association
Moving Image and Audio Collection

Research resources

Birge Malcolm Clark Papers, 1914-1985
(5 linear ft.) are housed in th

a
Stanford University Libraries
** XM
catalog
of correspondence with

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was the 31st president of the United States, serving from 1929 to 1933. A wealthy mining engineer before his presidency, Hoover led the wartime Commission for Relief in Belgium and ...

.
Guide to the Birge Malcolm Clark, Lou Henry Hoover House Papers, 1921- 1949
from the

Online Archive of California In computer technology and telecommunications, online indicates a state of connectivity, and offline indicates a disconnected state. In modern terminology, this usually refers to an Internet connection, but (especially when expressed as "on lin ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Birge 1893 births 1989 deaths 20th-century American architects Palo Alto, California Recipients of the Silver Star People from Palo Alto, California Architects from the San Francisco Bay Area Palo Alto High School alumni Stanford University alumni