Hiawatha Thompson Estes (January 26, 1918 – May 8, 2003) was a

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 ...

-based

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 ...

, author, and founder of the Nationwide House Plan Book Company. He was best known for designing a large number of variations of the ubiquitous post-war ranch home,

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plans of them, and publishing a number of books dealing with residential architecture. A

Chickasaw The Chickasaw ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, United States. Their traditional territory was in northern Mississippi, northwestern and northern Alabama, western Tennessee and southwestern Kentucky. Their language is ...

Indian Nation member, in 2019 he was inducted posthumously into the Chickasaw Hall of Fame.

Early life and education

He attended the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

Career

He served in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

as a captain in the Army Air Corps 37th Fighter Squadron. After the war, Estes founded "Architectural House and Plan Business, Nationwide Plan Book", which was to evolve into Hiawatha Estes and Associates. Estes was a resident of

Northridge, California Northridge is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the Los Angeles, City of Los Angeles. The community is home to California State University, Northridge, and the Northridge Fashion Center. Originally named List of minor biblica ...

, a neighborhood of

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, and remarkable for the number and diversity of ranch homes, some of which are Hiawatha Estes designs. His most well-known book, ''Ranch and Country Homes'', was published jointly with the Southern California Building Permit Service.

Personal life

Estes was related to Senator Helen TeAta Cole, his cousin, also of

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

. In 2019, his sons accepted his Chickasaw Hall of Fame Award on his behalf.

Published books

* Homes by Hiawatha 1974 * Prize homes 1978, 1981 eds * Ranch & modern homes 1978

References

1918 births 2003 deaths 20th-century American architects 20th-century American artists 20th-century Native American writers 20th-century Native American artists Chickasaw people University of Oklahoma alumni United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II United States Army Air Forces officers 21st-century American writers 21st-century Native American writers 21st-century American artists 21st-century Native American artists {{Oklahoma-stub