Cleo Baldon (June 1, 1927 – October 12, 2014) 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 ...

landscape architect A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water manage ...

, and furniture designer based in

Los Angeles 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, ...

, where she contributed to many well-known structures, especially pools. She worked as the design director of Galper-Baldon Associates, headquartered in

Venice, California Venice is a neighborhood of the City of Los Angeles within the Westside region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. Venice was founded by Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a seaside resort town. It was an independent city until 1926, whe ...

. Baldon is credited with having a profound effect on the California furniture industry with her outdoor furniture designs.

Biography

Baldon was born in

Leavenworth, Washington Leavenworth is a city in Chelan County, Washington, Chelan County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. It is part of the Wenatchee, Washington, Wenatchee−East Wenatchee, Washington, East Wenatchee Wenatchee-East Wenatchee metropolit ...

, but her family lived in the small community of

Peshastin, Washington Peshastin is a small unincorporated community in Chelan County, Washington, United States. The community's roots are found in the "Peshastin Ditch" dug by pioneers beginning in 1889. This ditch was an important part of the overall irrigation ...

. She moved to California, where she attended and graduated from

Woodbury University Woodbury University is a private university in Burbank, California. Founded in 1884 with initial campuses in Downtown Los Angeles, Downtown and Central Los Angeles, Woodbury University is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in Sout ...

. Baldon formed the partnership of Galper-Baldon Associates, a landscape architectural design firm, with Sid Grapher. Baldon oversaw virtually all the projects for Galper-Baldon Associates, with the exception of landscape plantings. In 1985, Baldon told the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' that "I don't understand plants." Her partner Sid Galper was the horticulturist. Baldon designed over 3,000

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming and associated activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built abo ...

s 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 ...

and held a design patent for the contour

spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa health treatments are known as balneotherapy. The belief in the curative powers of mineral waters and hot springs goes back to pre ...

with

ergonomic Ergonomics, also known as human factors or human factors engineering (HFE), is the application of psychological and physiological principles to the engineering and design of products, processes, and systems. Primary goals of human factors engi ...

underwater seating. She has been credited with the development of the

lap pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable swimming and associated activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built above ground (as a ...

, which she claimed to have introduced to

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

in 1970. Aside from her architectural work, Baldon designed furniture and formed the California company Terra with Galper-Baldon partner Sid Galper. The company manufactured and sold quality outdoor furniture. Baldon was married, for over 50 years, to

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

and

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

Ib Melchior Ib Jørgen Melchior (September 17, 1917 – March 14, 2015) was a Danish-American novelist, short-story writer, film producer, film director, and screenwriter of low-budget American science fiction movies, most of them released by American I ...

, with whom she co-authored the

non-fiction Non-fiction (or nonfiction) is any document or content (media), media content that attempts, in good faith, to convey information only about the real life, real world, rather than being grounded in imagination. Non-fiction typically aims to pre ...

books ''Reflections on the Pool: California Designs for Swimming'' and ''Steps & Stairways''. He was the son of operatic tenor and movie star

Lauritz Melchior Lauritz Melchior (20 March 1890 – 18 March 1973) was a Danish-American opera singer. He was the preeminent Wagnerian heldentenor of the 1920s through the 1940s and has come to be considered the quintessence of his voice type. Late in his car ...

. The couple lived in the

Hollywood Hills The Hollywood Hills is a residential neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. It borders Studio City, Universal City and Burbank on the north, Griffith Park on the north and east, Los Feliz on the southeast, Hollyw ...

. Baldon died on October 12, 2014. Melchior died five months later, on March 14, 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baldon, Cleo American landscape architects American furniture designers American landscape and garden designers 1927 births 2014 deaths American women landscape architects Architects from Los Angeles California people in design Swimming pools Woodbury University alumni People from Leavenworth, Washington People from Hollywood, Los Angeles People from Venice, Los Angeles 20th-century American architects 21st-century American architects 20th-century American women artists 21st-century American women artists People from Chelan County, Washington