Gordon Drake

Gordon Drake is a forgotten figure in the history of 20th century architecture. During his brief life he helped give birth to the California house idiom of the modernist movement. Born in 1917 in a small town in Texas, his family moved to Fresno, a town in California's Central Valley a few months later, where he grew up.

He graduated from the University of Southern California School of Architecture in 1941, after which he went to work for the architect Harwell Hamilton Harris. A few months later, war was declared, and Drake entered as a combat engineer officer in the Marine Corps. After years of service in the Pacific, he was given one final order before his discharge: to build a theater for servicemen on Maui, within three weeks. He accepted the challenge, and, working day and night, built the Haleakala Theater in 21 days.

Upon returning to California, Drake immediately set to work on projects he had been planning during the war. He purchased a small, steep lot in southern California and, using fellow former Marines as construction workers, built his first house. It was designed on the open plan, with sliding partitions and screens of various translucent materials that allowed the house to be opened to the outside. The structure was left exposed inside and there were deep overhangs to provide shade. Elements of the house were reminiscent of traditional Japanese architecture, but that was more coincidence than intention; the design was simply what was most appropriate for the program. Progressive Architecture magazine awarded the house first prize in its annual competition. The magazines Form and L'Architecture d'Aujord'hui also featured the project. Drake was 29.

Over the next five years Drake designed about 70 buildings, of which only eight were built. His second project, the Spillman house, won second place in House & Garden magazine's annual competition (first place went to Richard Neutra). Drake's third project, the Presley house, received an honorable mention from Progressive Architecture. He taught architecture at his alma mater for a year, hoping to impart to the students the virtues of what he believed were the hallmarks of good modern design: "indoor-outdoor continuity, modular construction, architecturally-used light, and a sense of restraint".

Sunset magazine, which was then the arbiter of taste for families in the western US, hired Drake to produce designs for publication. These were not directly built, but were intended to inspire Sunset's readers to accept the new design aesthetic. This it did, and Drake's influence can still be seen in many of the homes, remodels and vacation houses that have been built all over the west. One can readily imagine a Sunset reader showing their architect a clipping of one of Drake's drawings, and saying "I want something like this".

His goal was simple: to provide low-cost homes that took full advantage of their environment. He was young and idealistic enough to believe that through architecture, he could improve the life of the average person. He was never to be disillusioned of that belief. In January of 1952, while skiing in the Sierras, he fell and died on the slopes. He was 34 years old.