The Spanish Colonial House

The Spanish Colonial house is one of my favorites.  From California to Sea Island, Georgia and from Texas to Florida, there are some excellent examples of Spanish Colonial architecture.

In California architects such as George Washington Smith, Wallace Neff, Bertram Goodhue, Lillian Rice, and Reginald Johnson created in the 1920s and 30s an enormous number of Spanish eclectic homes that became the reigning choice of Santa Barbara, Los Angeles and San Diego.  These homes were the perfect fit for the landscape and everyone from Hollywood stars to the wealthy families sought this style.  Here are some examples of George Washington Smith's work.

Addison Mizner was THE architect of the Spanish eclectic homes of Florida.  The wealthiest of wealthy commissioned him to build their second homes in Florida.  Many have cri

ticized his work for being too over done, however the details and scale of his work cannot be overlooked as a major influence on the style.  Many of his homes include Spanish and Italian architecture with a mix of both in the details, from over the top hand carving of cast stone (he built his own cast stone plant), massive use of beams, intricate hand painting, exquisite flooring, hand made roof tiles -- he did it all.  He built a real estate empire in the Palm Beach area although his architecture can be found throughout Florida and up the Eastern Coast including Sea Island, Georgia where he was commissioned to design The Cloister.

Here are some pictures I took of his work while I was in Sea Island this summer along with one that is my favorite old house on the island:

In Texas, we had great architects in the 1920s and 30s who loved this style as well.  These homes can be found throughout the state with many being in the obvious place, San

 Antonio.  The firm of Ayres & Ayres, most notably Atlee Ayres, became very proficient in the design after traveling extensively to California.  

In Dallas, the firm of Fooshee & Cheek designed many great Spanish style homes.  In my city, Fort Worth there are some great examples of this style.  Here is one of my favorites found in Westover Hills: