Ernest C. Wilson Jr.

Ernest Clifford Wilson Jr. was born on May 15, 1924, in Burbank, California.[1][2][3] He graduated from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, where he studied Architecture and played football with the Trojans.[4]

The Getty Villa in the Pacific Palisades.

In 1949, he partnered with fellow USC graduate in Architecture Robert E. Langdon Jr. to form an architectural firm.[4] Two years later, in 1951, they officially founded Langdon Wilson.[4] The firm had offices in Los Angeles and Newport Beach.[4] While Langdon oversaw design projects in the LA area, Wilson took care of projects in and around Newport Beach.[4] However, Wilson is credited with co-designing at least two buildings in Los Angeles County with Langdon: the Getty Villa in the Pacific Palisades and the Bank of America Building in Beverly Hills.[3][5]

Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum.

He designed high-rise buildings in San Diego and Orange County.[4] He was also the master planner of the Irvine Spectrum in Irvine and the Koll Center Financial Plaza in Newport Beach.[3][4] Moreover, he oversaw the designs of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda, named for U.S. President Richard M. Nixon.[4]

Additionally, he served as the President of Koll International, a real estate development firm.[3] He masterplanned and developed many hotels and golf resorts in Baja California, Mexico.[3]

He was a member of the American Institute of Architects.[6] He served on the board of directors of the Newport Harbor Art Museum.[3]

He was married to Shirley Wilson.[2] They had two sons, Peter Wilson and Ernest Wilson, III, and a daughter, Caroline (Wilson) Grazioli.[2] They resided in Newport Beach, where he was a member of the Newport Harbor Yacht Club.[3] He was also a pilot and yachtsman, competing in regattas aboard his yacht called Westerly.[3]

He died on August 18, 1992, at the Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach, California.[1][2] He was sixty-eight years old.[2]