William Turnbull Jr.,

FAIA Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (FAIA) is a postnominal title or membership, designating an individual who has been named a fellow of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). Fellowship is bestowed by the institute on AIA-membe ...

, (April 1, 1935 – June 26, 1997) was an American

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

architect whose unique building designs challenged the more traditional architecture of California's West Coast. His design style is most closely associated with the

Sea Ranch Sea Ranch is an unincorporated community in Sonoma County, California, United States that was developed as planned community beginning in the 1960s. It is known for its distinctive timber-frame structures designed by several noted American arc ...

community in

Sonoma County, California Sonoma County () is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, its population was 488,863. Its county seat and largest city is Santa Rosa, California, Santa Rosa. It is to the n ...

. The Baker House (1968), within that community, is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

Career

Born in New York City in 1935, Turnbull was raised in

Far Hills, New Jersey Far Hills is a borough in Somerset County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States census, the population was 919,George B. Post George Browne Post (December 15, 1837 – November 28, 1913) was an American architect trained in the Beaux-Arts tradition. He was recognized as a master of modern American architecture as well as being instrumental in the birth of the skyscrap ...

, who designed the

New York Stock Exchange Building The New York Stock Exchange Building (also the NYSE Building), in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City, serves as the headquarters of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). It is composed of two connected structures occupyin ...

, Turnbull studied architecture at

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ni ...

, graduating in 1956. Upon completion of college, he moved to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

and was employed at

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) is an American architectural, urban planning and engineering firm. It was founded in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Owings in Chicago, Illinois. In 1939, they were joined by engineer John Merrill. The firm ...

. Turnbull worked on a

Big Sur Big Sur () is a rugged and mountainous section of the Central Coast of California between Carmel and San Simeon, where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean. It is frequently praised for its dramatic scenery. Big S ...

revitalization project, which may have had a factor in developing his lifelong connection to California. Turnbull's professional start was in the early 1960s with the development of the iconic Sea Ranch community in Sonoma County. Turnbull's co-design team included Charles Moore,

Donlyn Lyndon Donlyn Lyndon is an American Third Bay Tradition architect and the Eva Li Professor Emeritus of Architecture and Urban Design at the University of California, Berkeley. Lyndon was a co-designer of Sea Ranch, California. Education M.F.A. Archit ...

, and Richard Whitaker, all of whom Turnbull knew from his days at Princeton, as well as

Lawrence Halprin Lawrence Halprin (July 1, 1916 – October 25, 2009) was an American landscape architect, designer and teacher. Beginning his career in the San Francisco Bay Area, California, in 1949, Halprin often collaborated with a local circle of modernist a ...

and Joseph Esherick. Turnbull had a long-term association and friendship with the architectural photographer

Morley Baer Morley Baer (April 5, 1916 – November 9, 1995), an American photographer and teacher, was born in Toledo, Ohio. Baer was head of the photography department at the San Francisco Art Institute, and known for his photographs of San Francisco's " P ...

who photographed many of his projects, including Sea Ranch. In addition to the Sea Ranch development, Turnbull was a contributor to

Kresge College Kresge College is one of the residential colleges that make up the University of California, Santa Cruz. Founded in 1971 and named after Sebastian Kresge, Kresge college is located on the western edge of the UCSC campus. Kresge is the sixth of t ...

, the

University of California, Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of California system. Located on Monterey Bay, on the edge ...

, the Foothill Student housing complex at

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, and St.Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Sonoma County, the latter of which he worked on with his wife and fellow architect Mary Griffin.

Personal life

Turnbull was married twice and fathered four children. In 1985 he married Mary Griffin, his second wife, who remained with him until his death. Turnbull designed his own winery

vineyard A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vine ...

, ''Johnson-Turnbull'', which culminated after years of interest in wine-making. Turnbull died of cancer in his home in

Sausalito, California Sausalito ( Spanish for "small willow grove") is a city in Marin County, California, United States, located southeast of Marin City, south-southeast of San Rafael, and about north of San Francisco from the Golden Gate Bridge. Sausalito's ...

on June 26, 1997. His wife, along with fellow architect Eric Haesloop, assumed operations of the "William Turnbull Associates" firm upon his death and continue to practice under the corporate name "Turnbull Griffin Haesloop".

Selected bibliography

*''William Turnbull Jr: buildings in the landscape'' (with William Stout, Dung Ngo, and Lauri Puchall) William Stout Publishers (2000) *''The poetics of gardens'' (with Charles W. Moore and William J. Mitchell) MIT Press (1993)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turnbull, William Jr. 1935 births 1997 deaths Architects from New York City Postmodern architects Fellows of the American Institute of Architects Princeton University School of Architecture alumni Architecture in the San Francisco Bay Area Architects from San Francisco 20th-century American architects