John Elgin Woolf (1908 in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

– 1980 in

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 ...

), was an American architect noted for the

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

homes he created with partner and adopted son Robert Koch Woolf.

Career

After receiving his bachelor's degree in architecture from

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public university, public research university and Institute of technology (United States), institute of technology in Atlanta, ...

in 1929, Mr. Woolf (known as Jack) moved to Hollywood, hoping to pursue a career in film. Hoping his Southern background might prove an asset in filming ''

Gone with the Wind Gone with the Wind most often refers to: * Gone with the Wind (novel), ''Gone with the Wind'' (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell * Gone with the Wind (film), ''Gone with the Wind'' (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel Gone with the Wind ...

'', he met the film's first director,

George Cukor George Dewey Cukor ( ; July 7, 1899 – January 24, 1983) was an American film director and film producer, producer. He mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO Pictures, RKO when David O. Selzn ...

, who was instrumental in helping Woolf meet other influential people in Hollywood who later became his clients. In the late 1940s, Woolf met Robert Koch, an interior designer. They became partners and together built or renovated homes for many of the wealthy and famous Los Angeles area residents of the 1950s and 1960s.

They "established a new vocabulary for glamorous movie-star living; they synthesized 19th-century French, Greek Revival and Modernist touches into a heady mixture that has since been christened Hollywood Regency, which foreshadowed aspects of postmodernism."

One of their most notable renovations was Case Study House No. 17, the largest and most technology-enhanced of the

Case Study Houses The Case Study Houses were experiments in American residential architecture sponsored by '' Arts & Architecture'' magazine, which commissioned major architects of the day to design and build inexpensive and efficient model homes for the United Sta ...

sponsored by '' Arts & Architecture'' magazine, designed by Craig Ellwood and originally built in 1955. Woolf and Koch purchased the house in 1962 and transformed it from its original

utilitarian design Utilitarian design is an art concept that argues for the products to be designed based on the utility (as opposed to the "contemplated pleasure" of beauty). For example, an object intended for a narrow and practical purpose does not need to be aest ...

to their own more glamorous architectural style, which they used for their own residence.

Legacy

Woolf designed homes for clients

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, Jean Howard,

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and

Spencer Tracy Spencer Bonaventure Tracy (April 5, 1900 – June 10, 1967) was an American actor. He was known for his natural performing style and versatility. One of the major stars of Classical Hollywood cinema, Hollywood's Golden Age, Tracy was the ...

. Bob and Dolores Hope hired John Elgin Woolf in the 1950s to remodel and update their 1939 Robert Finkelhor-designed house in Toluca Lake. Additionally, many Hollywood builders of the same era imitated the style created by Woolf, which typically featured his "Pullman doors" front entry, leaded oval glass window, mansard roofline and Doric columns.

Family

Robert Koch Woolf was Jack's partner and lover. In 1971, after being diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease, Woolf adopted Koch and Gene Oney Woolf, who had come to reside with them, in order to legalize their relationship and formally establish a family. A later household member, William Capp, was included as a "brother," although never formally adopted. This became known to friends as the "Woolf Pack" and is still present in Hollywood vernacular.

Significant projects

, 9966 Beverly Grove Drive, Los Angeles *

, 7740 Mulholland Drive, Los Angeles *

Vincente Minnelli Vincente Minnelli (; born Lester Anthony Minnelli; February 28, 1903 – July 25, 1986) was an American Theatre director, stage director and film director. From a career spanning over half a century, he is best known for his sophisticated innovat ...

and

, 8850 Evanview Drive, Los Angeles *

, 273 South Glen Boulevard, Los Angeles * Ira and Leonore Gershwin, 1021 North Roxbury Drive, Beverly Hills *

, 312 North Faring Road, Los Angeles *

, 10346 Moorpark Street, North Hollywood *

, 1023 North Roxbury Drive, Beverly Hills *

, 1003 Summit Drive, Beverly Hills * Charles K. Feldman and Jean Howard, 2000 Coldwater Canyon, Los Angeles *

, Trancas Beach, Malibu *

, 332 St. Cloud Road, Bel Air *

, 103 Robin Drive, Los Angeles *

, 10664 Bellagio Road, Los Angeles * Ricardo and Georgiana Montalbán, 9256 Robin Drive, Los Angeles *

, 8313 Fountain Avenue, Los Angeles *

and Spencer Tracy, 9191 St. Ives Drive, Beverly Hills

References

External links

Robert Koch Woolf, 81, Decorator for the Stars, Is Dead
''New York Times''

''Los Angeles Times''
Glamour Begins at Home
''Vanity Fair'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Woolf, John Elgin 1908 births 1980 deaths Architects from California Architects from Atlanta Georgia Tech alumni Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) 20th-century American architects LGBTQ people from California LGBTQ architects 20th-century American LGBTQ people