M. Eugene Durfee

M. Eugene Durfee (1885-1941) was an American architect prominent in Orange County, California.

Morien Eugene Durfee
Born1885
Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin
Died1941
Long Beach, California
NationalityAmerican
OccupationArchitect
PracticeBresemann & Durfee; M. Eugene Durfee
BuildingsGrand Theatre; Chapman Building; Kraemer Building, Georgian Hotel
Grand Theatre, Douglas, Arizona, 1918.
Chapman Building, Fullerton, 1923.
Kraemer Building, Anaheim. 1923.
Georgian Hotel, Santa Monica, 1930.

Life and career

Morien Eugene Durfee was born in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin in 1885. In 1897 his family moved to Seattle, Washington, where Durfee was educated. Around 1903, at the age of 18, Durfee went to San Francisco to work for architects Shea & Shea, who were known for their commercial buildings. Three years later he returned to Seattle. In 1909 he formed a partnership in Seattle with Emmanuel J. Bresemann, whom he had known in San Francisco.[1] In late 1913, Durfee took an extended trip to Southern California to visit his wife's family. Interested in the opportunities that it offered, Bresemann & Durfee was dissolved and Durfee moved south to Los Angeles. By early 1914 he was living and practicing in Anaheim.[2]

As an architect, Durfee had a major impact on the physical character of Anaheim, plus the nearby cities of Fullerton and Santa Ana. However, most of downtown Anaheim (and thus Durfee's buildings) was destroyed by urban renewal in the 1980s.

Durfee relocated to Tucson, Arizona in 1921, but returned only a few months later.[3] Other than that, he remained in Anaheim until 1927, when he moved to Los Angeles, with offices in the Commercial Exchange Building. By the time of his death on December 26, 1941, he was working in Long Beach.[1]

Selected works

Bresemann & Durfee, 1909-1913
  • 1909 - Pemberton Bros. Houses, 4711-4715-4719 Whitman Ave N and 917 N 48th St, Seattle, Washington[4]
  • 1910 - Nemias B. Beck Houses, 5800-5804 15th Ave, Seattle, Washington[5]
  • 1910 - Westlake Hotel, 2008 Westlake Ave, Seattle, Washington[4]
  • 1911 - St. James Hotel, 640 Johnson St, Victoria, British Columbia[1]
  • 1912 - First Congregational (Central Presbyterian) Church, 1170 Thurlow St, Vancouver, British Columbia[6]
  • 1913 - Commercial Hotel, 121 Bastion St, Nanaimo, British Columbia[1]
  • 1913 - First Congregational Church, 1600 Quadra St, Victoria, British Columbia[7]

M. Eugene Durfee, 1914-1941
  • 1914 - Yungbluth Building, 145 W Center St, Anaheim, California[8]
    • Demolished.
  • 1915 - Hotel Valencia, 182 W Center St, Anaheim, California[9]
    • Burned in 1977.
  • 1916 - First National Bank Building, Center St, Anaheim, California[10]
    • Demolished.
  • 1918 - Grand Theatre, 1139 N G Ave, Douglas, Arizona[11]
  • 1918 - Liberty Theatre, 110 Jerome Ave, Jerome, Arizona[12]
    • Facade altered beyond recognition.
  • 1922 - Anaheim City Hall, 204 E Center St, Anaheim, California[13]
    • With Theodore C. Kistner of San Diego. Demolished.
  • 1922 - California Hotel (Villa del Sol), 305 N Harbor Blvd, Fullerton, California[14]
    • With Frank K. Benchley of Fullerton.
  • 1923 - Chapman Building, 110 E Wilshire Blvd, Fullerton, California[15]
  • 1923 - Kraemer Building, 76 S Claudina St, Anaheim, California[16]
  • 1926 - Pickwick Hotel, 225 S Anaheim Blvd, Anaheim, California[17]
    • Demolished in 1988.
  • 1927 - Amphitheatre, Pearson Park, Anaheim, California[18]
  • 1927 - Builder's Exchange Building, 1505 4th St, Santa Monica, California[19]
  • 1928 - El Cortez Apartments, 475 S New Hampshire Ave, Los Angeles, California[20]
  • 1929 - Central Tower Building, 1424 4th St, Santa Monica, California[21]
  • 1929 - Fox Tucson Theatre, 17 W Congress St, Tucson, Arizona[22]
  • 1930 - Georgian Hotel, 1415 Ocean Ave, Santa Monica, California[21]

References
  1. "Bresemann, Emmanuel J". http://dictionaryofarchitectsincanada.org/. n.d.
  2. The Central Tower Building: City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report. City of Santa Monica: http://www.smgov.net/, Feb. 2010.
  3. Architect and Engineer Aug. 1921: 106. San Francisco.
  4. "Summary for 4711 WHITMAN AVE / Parcel ID 9521101280 / Inv # 0". Seattle Department of Neighborhoods: http://web6.seattle.gov/, 2009.
  5. "Summary for 5800-5804 15TH AVE / Parcel ID 0641000200/064100100 / Inv # 0". Seattle Department of Neighborhoods: http://web6.seattle.gov/, 2014.
  6. Engineering Review May 1912: 53. New York.
  7. "1600-02 Quadra Street". http://www.victoriaheritagefoundation.ca/. 2015.
  8. Southwest Contractor 10 Oct. 1914: 23. Los Angeles.
  9. Southwest Contractor 29 May 1915: 18. Los Angeles.
  10. Southwest Contractor 13 May 1916: 13. Los Angeles.
  11. Hayostek, Cindy. Images of America: Douglas. 2009.
  12. "115 Early Arizona Architects List (1880-1930)". http://azmemory.azlibrary.gov/. n.d.
  13. Journal of Electricity and Western Industry 1 Jan. 1922: 39.
  14. Building and Engineering News 28 Jan. 1922: 15.
  15. Building and Engineering News 30 Dec. 1922: 16.
  16. Engineering News-Record 1923: 39.
  17. Western Machinery and Steel World 1926: 227.
  18. Faessel, Stephen J. Images of America: Early Anaheim. 2006.
  19. Gebhard, David and Robert Winter. An Architectural Guidebook to Los Angeles. 2003.
  20. Western Machinery World March 1928: 144. San Francisco.
  21. Cooper, Suzanne Tarbell, Amy Ronnebeck Hall, and Frank E. Cooper, Jr. Images of America: Los Angeles Art Deco. 2005.
  22. Nequette, Anne M. and R. Brooks Jeffrey. A Guide to Tucson Architecture. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2002.
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