Roland E. Hill

Roland Everett Hill (February 5, 1895 – November 10, 1986) was an American art director, set designer, and architect active in Los Angeles, California in the 1920s through 1950s. His best known work is the Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland.

Biography Early life Roland E. Hill was born on February 5, 1895. He served as a pilot in the Army Air Service during World War I, where, according to his grandson, he was injured in a crash, then chauffeured officers in France and Germany, during which time he sketched the many castles he saw. Hill also met Walt Disney during this time and they formed a friendship over his drawings.

Career Hill graduated from art school in 1924 He was considered a specialist in ships and French medieval architecture.

Hill began his film career as a set designer for National Studios, then moved to Warner Brothers when they took over National, then joined Walt Disney Pictures in the early 1950s. and several other fantasy-inspired homes in the Hollywood Hills and elsewhere.

Hill also painted with watercolors. and they had two sons together, and the other, Jack Hill, was a director. Hill died on November 10, 1986 at age 91.

List of works Set designer and art director The Jazz Singer (1927) Queen Kelly (1929) Captain Blood (1935) Action in the North Atlantic (1943) Captain Horatio Hornblower (1951) 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)

Architect Roland E. Hill House (1926), Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument No. 917 Sleeping Beauty Castle (1955)