Raphael Soriano

In 1930, he became an American citizen and, the following year, secured an internship at the practice of Richard Neutra, working alongside fellow interns Gregory Ain and Harwell Hamilton Harris.

With America in the throes of the Great Depression, Soriano managed to find work upon graduation with the County of Los Angeles on several WPA projects, such as the famous "Steel Lobster", and in a local architect's office.

With residential and commercial construction in the U.S. stalled by the country's involvement in World War II, Soriano took up lecturing at USC and began contributing proposals for post-war housing designs to various competitions and publications.

Once the war ended, Soriano had no trouble securing commissions, now garnering prizes for his built projects, such as the Katz House, in Studio City, a 1949 recipient of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Southern California Chapter Three Award.

In 1953, Soriano moved from Los Angeles to Tiburon, in Marin County, across the bay north of San Francisco, where he lived with his wife Elizabeth Stephens (Betty) and her two daughters, Margaret and Lucille Coberly.