George Washington Smith (architect)

He is known particularly for his work around Santa Barbara, California, and for popularizing the Spanish Colonial Revival style in early 20th Century America.

Later, he attended Harvard College to study architecture, but was unable to graduate due to his family's financial difficulties.

Establishing himself in New York, Smith began exhibiting with other painters of the era, including John Sloan and George Bellows.

In 1915, Smith traveled to California, where his paintings were to be on display in the Palace of Fine Arts at San Francisco's Panama Pacific Exposition.

[2] Images of it were used to sell cement and tiles among other goods, and Smith quickly found that his neighbors wanted to live in houses like it.

In his time, George Washington Smith was one of the most popular architects in the United States, his homes appearing in leading architecture and interior design magazines.

[3] The clubhouse at Cypress Point Club on the Monterey Peninsula was designed by George Washington Smith and opened in 1929.

Most of Smith's original sketches and drawings and much of his correspondence are held at the Architecture and Design Collection of the Art Museum at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Also listed on the National Register is Santa Barbara's Lobero Theater, completely rebuilt to Smith's design in 1924.

Smith primarily designed houses in the wealthy enclave of Montecito, with some commercial buildings in Santa Barbara, and a few projects in Carpinteria and Hope Ranch.