Morgan, Walls & Clements was an architectural firm based in

Los Angeles, California 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, ...

and was responsible for many of the city's landmarks, dating back to the late 19th century.

History

Morgan, Walls & Clements earliest precursor, Kysor & Hennessy, consisted of partners Ezra F. Kysor and John F. Hennessy, then in 1880, Hennessy left and the firm's draftsman Octavius Morgan was promoted to partner, creating Kysor & Morgan. John A. Walls joined in 1886 to create Kysor, Morgan and Walls, and Kysor retired in 1890, resulting in Morgan and Walls. Around 1910, Morgan's son O.W. Morgan was promoted, creating Morgan, Walls and Morgan, then the elder Morgan retired and designer Stiles O. Clements was promoted, resulting in Morgan, Walls and Clements. Morgan, Walls and Clements hit its stride with a series of theaters and commercial projects around

MacArthur Park MacArthur Park (originally Westlake Park) is a park dating back to the late 19th century in the Westlake, Los Angeles, Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. In the early 1940s, it was renamed after General Douglas MacArthur, and la ...

. Clements often worked in Spanish Colonial revival and Mayan revival styles, but their major project was the black

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

Richfield Tower, a commanding presence in downtown from its 1928 completion to its 1969 destruction. Walls did not live to see the completion of the building, as he had died in 1922. Clements left the firm in 1937 to start his own practice, Stiles O. Clements & Associates, where he remained until his retirement in 1965.

Works

National Register of Historic Places

* Adamson House, Malibu, California, 1930 *

Pellissier Building and Wiltern Theatre The Pellissier Building and adjoining Wiltern Theatre is a 12-story, Art Deco landmark at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Western Avenue in Los Angeles, California. The entire complex is commonly referred to as the Wiltern Center. Clad i ...

, Los Angeles, California, 1931 * Professional Building, Phoenix, Arizona, 1932

Broadway Theater and Commercial District contributing properties

* Bumiller Building, 1906 * Eshman Building, 1909 * Walter P. Story Building, Broadway and 6th Street, 1909 * Arcade Theater, 500 block of S. Broadway, 1910 * Bullock's-Hollenbeck, 639 S. Broadway, 1912 * Title Guarantee Block, now Jewelry Trades Building, 500 S. Broadway, 1913 * Blackstone Department Store, 1939 renovation

Hollywood Boulevard Commercial and Entertainment District contributing properties

El Capitan Theatre El Capitan Theatre is a fully restored movie palace at 6838 Hollywood Boulevard in the Hollywood neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, United States. The theater and adjacent Hollywood Masonic Temple (now known as the El Capitan Entert ...

, 1926 * Hallmark Building, 1931 remodel *

Julian Medical Building Julian Medical Building, also known as Owl Drug Store Building, is a historic two-story building at 6384 W. Hollywood Boulevard, on the corner of Hollywood and Cahuenga Boulevard, in Hollywood, California. History Julian Medical Building was ...

, 1934 * Bank of America Building, 1935 remodel

Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monuments

Highland Towers Apartments Hollywood from northwest 2015-05-25

* Arcade Theater, 500 block of S. Broadway, 1910 * Artisan's Patio Complex, 1918 *

, Los Angeles, 1926 * Belasco Theater, 1926 *

Mayan Theater The Mayan Theater in Los Angeles, California, is a landmark former movie palace and current nightclub and music venue. History The Mayan Theater opened in August 1927 as a performance arts theater specializing in musical comedy. Leon Hefflin ...

, 1927 * Chapman Plaza, 3400 Block W. 6th St., 1929 * Highland Towers Apartments *

, 1931

Long Beach City Landmarks

* Famous Department Store, 1928-9

Other Works

Los Angeles

* Grand Opera House, 110 S. Main St., 1884 (Octavius Morgan and Ezra F. K) * Bullard Block, housing The Hub department store, 154-160 N. Main St., 1895 (demolished 1925) * Parmelee-Dohrmann Building, 436–444 S. Broadway, 1906 (demolished) * Van Nuys Apartments, 1913 * Haas Building, S. Broadway, 1915 * Olive J. Cobb Building, 1924 * Hollywood Storage Company Building, 1925 * Hollywood Post Office, Hollywood and Vine, 1925 (demolished) *

Hollywood Chamber of Commerce The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce is a chamber of commerce located in Hollywood, Los Angeles. As a local chamber, the organization promotes business interests in its area, but it is best known for holding the trademarks and licensing rights for ...

Building, 1926 *

Music Box Theater The Music Box Theatre is a Broadway theatre, Broadway theater at 239 West 45th Street (George Abbott Way) in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Opened in 1921, the Music Box ...

, 1926 * Ninth & Hill Building, 1926 * Downtown Shopping News, Printing & Distribution Building, 1927 * Richfield Tower, 1929 (demolished) * Security First National Bank, 1929 * 900 N. La Brea Ave, 1930 (demolished) * Leimert Theatre,

Leimert Park Leimert Park (; ) is a neighborhood in the South Los Angeles region of Los Angeles, California. Developed in the 1920s as a mainly residential community, it features Spanish Colonial Revival homes and tree-lined streets. The Life Magazine/Leim ...

, 1931 * Dominguez-Wilshire Building (5410 Wilshire Boulevard), 1931 * Brooks Clothing Co. (after 1947:

Harris & Frank Harris & Frank was a clothing retailer and major chain in the history of retail in Southern California, which at its peak had around 40 stores across Southern California and in neighboring states and regions. Its history dates back to a clothing ...

, Miracle Mile, 5450–4

Wilshire Boulevard Wilshire Boulevard ( wɪɫ.ʃɚ is a prominent boulevard in the Los Angeles area of Southern California, extending from Ocean Avenue (Santa Monica), Ocean Avenue in the city of Santa Monica, California, Santa Monica east to Grand Avenue (Lo ...

at Cochran, 1936.

Elsewhere in southern California

* Santa Clara Roman Catholic Church, Oxnard, 1903 * First National Bank, Orange, 1928 * Adams Square Building (1100 E. Chevy Chase Dr), Glendale, 1928 * Samson Tire and Rubber Factory (now

Citadel Outlets The Citadel Outlets are an outlet mall in the City of Commerce, California, along the Santa Ana Freeway southeast of Downtown Los Angeles, which features the Exotic Revival architecture of a tire factory, whose partial remnants the complex occ ...

Commerce Commerce is the organized Complex system, system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions that directly or indirectly contribute to the smooth, unhindered large-scale exchange (distribution through Financial transaction, transactiona ...

, 1929-30.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Walls and Clements 01 Defunct architecture firms based in California Architects from Los Angeles