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Train & Williams was an architecture partnership in Los Angeles, California. A major contributor to the Arts and Crafts movement, several of the firm's works are listed as Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments and/or in the National Register of Historic Places.

Partners

Robert Farquhar Train

Robert Farquhar Train was born in 1869 in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England to John Farquhar Train, a commercial traveler, and Elizabeth (Hood) Train. John died in 1872 and Elizabeth in 1883. Robert had one older brother, and also grew up living with two aunts and one servant.

Train immigrated to the United States in 1884, first living in Illinois and Nebraska, then in Denver and Colorado Springs, Colorado, where he worked as a draughtsman. He studied architectural engineering at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he helped design the World's Columbian Exposition.

Train moved to Los Angeles in 1894, where he started a partnership with G. A. Howard Jr. Train became a naturalized citizen in 1895 and in 1897, he married Vera May Creeth.

According to Los Angeles voter rolls, Train was six feet tall, had blue eyes and light-colored hair, and was a lifelong Republican.

Robert Edmund Williams

Robert Edmund Williams was born in 1874 in Hespeler, Ontario, Canada to William Williams, a clergyman, and Mary Burman Williams. Robert moved to Los Angeles, California in 1895, one year after his brother and four years before his parents.

Robert married Annie Pierce, year unknown, and by 1930 he was married to Jean K. Williams. Robert and Jean had one daughter, born in 1925. Robert died in Tustin, Orange County, California in 1960.

Partnership

In 1894, Train partnered with G. A. Howard Jr. Williams joined in 1901 and Howard left two years later, resulting in the partnership Train & Williams. Train & Williams was located in the Rindge Building on Broadway in downtown Los Angeles. In 1910, Train & Williams opened a branch office in Taft, California. The partnership is considered one of the major contributors to the Arts and Crafts movement.

Selected works

Train and Williams's most notable works were done during their partnership. These works include:

Los Angeles

Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments

• Robert Edmund Williams House (1905), LAHCM #411
• Angels Flight redesign (1910), NRHP #00001168, LAHCM #4
• Holmes-Shannon House (1911), NRHP #08000202, LAHCM #885

• Judson Studios (1911), NRHP #99000370, LAHCM #62
• Lucy E. Wheeler Residence (1917 additions), LAHCM #991

Other

• Conservative Life Insurance Company Office Building (with Howard) (1901-1902)
• First Congregational Church (1902), demolished early 1930s
• Allen House (1902)
• Los Angeles Furniture Company Building (1904)

• Victor Clothing Company Building (1906), contributing property in the NRHP-listed Broadway Theater and Commercial District
• Carlton Building (1907)
• Pythian Castle Hall (1908)
• University of Southern California's Administration Building and first general campus plan (1910)
• Woodley Theatre (1913), demolished 1925
• Arroyo Seco Branch Library (1914)
• Diamond Laundry Company Building (1917)
• Plaza Methodist Church (1925-1926)
• Los Angeles Stock Exchange

Elsewhere in California

• Masonic Building, Esperanza Lodge No. 339 (with Howard), Fullerton (1901-1902)

• First National Bank of Long Beach (1906), NRHP #90001432
• Kern County Hall of Records, Bakersfield (1908-1909)
• J.W. Jamieson Hotel, Taft (1910)
• Frank A. Forster House, San Juan Capistrano (1910), NRHP #86002405
• Strand Theatre, Pasadena (1914)
• Cawston Ostrich Farm Administration Building, Pasadena (1920)

Train also designed Bell High School in Bell, California, in 1925.

See also

• List of American architects
• List of people from Los Angeles

References

1. ^ Michelson, Alan. "Robert Farquhar Train (Architect)". University of Washington Pacific Coast Architecture Database. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
2. ^ "Historic-Cultural Monument Application for the Shannon Holmes House" (PDF). City of Los Angeles. Retrieved February 6, 2007.
3. Michelson, Alan. "Robert Edmund Williams (Architect)". University of Washington Pacific Coast Architecture Database. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
4. ^ Michelson, Alan. "Train and Williams, Architects (Partnership)". University of Washington Pacific Coast Architecture Database. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
5. "Los Angeles Citywide Historic Context Statement - Architecture and Engineering - Arts and Crafts Movement" (PDF). City of Los Angeles. June 2016.
6. ^ "Historical Cultural Monuments List" (PDF). City of Los Angeles. Retrieved October 24, 2024.
7. "California SP Angels Flight Railway". United States Department of the Interior - National Park Service. August 30, 2000.
8. "Holmes-Shannon House". United States Department of the Interior - National Park Service. February 13, 2008.
9. "Judson Studios". United States Department of the Interior - National Park Service. February 25, 1999.
10. "Lucy E. Wheeler Residence". Los Angeles Conservancy. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
11. ^ Michelson, Alan. "Howard, Train and Williams, Architects (Partnership)". University of Washington Pacific Coast Architecture Database. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
12. "Image / First Congregational Church". University of California - Calisphere. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
13. "Allen House". Pica+Sullivan Architects Ltd. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
14. "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form - California SP Broadway Theater and Commercial District". United States Department of the Interior - National Park Service. May 9, 1979.
15. "Landscape Information". University of Southern California. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
16. Vogel, Joe. "Mission Theatre". Cinema Treasures. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
17. "Historic Resource - Diamond Laundry Company 747 E 8th St". City of Los Angeles. August 22, 2016.
18. "Plaza Methodist Church". City of Los Angeles. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
19. Theer, Ulrik (May 2008). "West Adams Matters - The Preservation Month Issue" (PDF). West Adams Heritage Association.
20. "First National Bank of Long Beach". United States Department of the Interior - National Park Service. August 13, 1990.
21. "Forster, Frank A., House". United States Department of the Interior - National Park Service. August 15, 1986.

• Defunct architecture firms based in California
• Companies established in 1903
• Architects from Los Angeles