John Byers

John Winford Byers (22 March 1875 – 22 May 1966) was a Santa Monica architect and builder noted for use of the Spanish Colonial revival style.

Early life Byers was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Byers, a graduate from Harvard University, was employed as a schoolteacher, teaching Spanish and French, at San Rafael High School and Santa Monica High School. Self-trained as a builder and architect, Byers completed his first commission, a house at 510 Lincoln Boulevard for W.F. Barnum, the principal of the Santa Monica High School in 1916.

Importance Byers designed and built dozens of homes in Brentwood, Pacific Palisades, and Santa Monica from 1916 through 1946. He was fascinated with the native California architecture and its Mexican and Spanish roots. He was most notable for his "Adobe" designed buildings, having written several articles in the 1920s and 1930s on adobe construction and its influence in California architect. He studied the native building traditions of Hispanic cultures and went through a phase where he built houses of adobe and stucco. He established his own workshop, employing Mexican craftsmen who were masters at creating and installing the adobe brick, the decorative tile, wrought iron and woodwork that he used in his houses.

Selected projects

Project DateAddress Location Stevenson Residence

Albert Ahern Residence 1926 1926 2126 La Mesa Drive

1707 San Vicente Santa Monica Santa Monica Donald Armstrong Residence 1717 San Vicente Santa Monica J.B. Nethercott Residence 500 25th Street Santa Monica Speers Residence 270 18th Street Santa Monica Byers Residence 1917 2034 La Mesa Drive Santa Monica Byers Residence 1917 547 7th Street Santa Monica Fuller Residence 1920 304 18th Street Santa Monica MacBennel House 1921 404 Georgina Avenue Santa Monica Bradbury House (NRHP listed) 1923 102 Ocean Way Pacific Palisades Gorham-Holiday Residence 1923 326 Adelaide Drive Santa Monica Zimmer Residence 1924 2101 La Mesa Drive Santa Monica Laidlaw Residence 1924 217 17th Street Santa Monica Thompson House 1924 2021 La Mesa Drive Santa Monica Tinglof Residence 1925 2010 La Mesa Drive Santa Monica Bundy Residence 1925 2133 La Mesa Drive Santa Monica E.J. Carrillo Residence 1925 1602 Georgina Santa Monica Residence 1925 1650 Amalfi Drive Pacific Palisades Byers Office 1926 246 26th Street Santa Monica Barclay Residence 1927 1425 Monaco Drive Pacific Palisades Miles Memorial Playhouse 1929 1130 Lincoln Boulevard Santa Monica John Byers (Third) Residence 1929 2034 La Mesa Drive Santa Monica Residence 1929 1744 Reedvale Lane Brentwood Kerr Residence 1930 428 N Carmelina Avenue Brentwood Hamilton Residence 1931 193 N Carmelina Avenue Brentwood Joel McCrea Ranch 1933 4500 N. Moorpark Rd. Thousand Oaks Murray Residence 1935 436 N Carmelina Avenue Brentwood Stedman Residence 1935 363 N Carmelina Avenue Brentwood Temple Residence 1935 231 N Rockingham Avenue Brentwood Kenaston Residence 1936 914 Corsica Drive Pacific Palisades Taylor Residence 1937 2650 Lake View Ave Los AngelesResidence19392401 Mandeville Canyon RdBrentwood

Other dwellings were constructed in Coachella, Victorville, Bel Air, and Beverly Hills. Byers also constructed an adobe memorial recreation hall (Miles Playhouse) in Santa Monica, a clubhouse at Brentwood Park, and a building at the John Thomas Dye School.

He was also responsible for the adobe wall surrounding the landmarked Pascual Marquez Family Cemetery in Santa Monica Canyon.

Family life When John Byers died in Santa Monica, at the age of 91 in 1966, he was based out of this Spanish Colonial Revival compound at 246 26th Street. Byers and his family lived in the house at 2034 La Mesa Drive for almost thirty years.