Earl Nisbet Collection 2011.-05
Emily Vigor
University of California, Berkeley. College of Environmental Design. Environmental Design Archives
2011
230 Bauer Wurster Hall #1820
Berkeley, CA 94720-1820
designarchives@berkeley.edu
Contributing Institution:
University of California, Berkeley. College of Environmental Design. Environmental Design Archives
Title: Earl Nisbet Collection
Creator:
Nisbet, Earl, 1926-2013
Identifier/Call Number: 2011.-05
Physical Description:
9 Linear Feet:
6 document boxes, 1 flat box, 1 flat file drawer
Date (inclusive): 1931-2007
Language of Material:
English
.
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research
Conditions Governing Use
All requests for permission to publish, reproduce, or quote from materials in the collection should be discussed with the
Curator.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of Item], Earl Nisbet Collection, [2011-05] Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley.
Biographical / Historical
Earl Nisbet was born on June 17, 1926 in San Jose, California. Nisbet joined the army after high school and served in WWII.
Upon returning to civilian life, he enrolled in an architecture and engineering college in San Francisco, where he was inspired
by the designs of Frank Lloyd Wright. After college, he worked as a carpenter's apprentice and assisted in the construction
of the Midglen residence in Woodside, a home that was being built by apprentices of Frank Lloyd Wright. This experience influenced
him to apply for a fellowship studying with Frank Lloyd Wright and in 1950 he was accepted as a Fellow at Taliesin in Wisconsin.
Nisbet spent three years at Taliesin and Taliesin West before pursing an independent career designing homes in Northern California.
In 1958, following an extended stay in Tahiti, he moved to Hawaii and established a practice in Waikiki. During this period,
Nisbet built the Doo House. He returned to California in the early 1960s where he continued to design residential and commercial
buildings. Nisbet's architectural drawings reflect the influence of Frank Lloyd Wright throughout his career. He passed away
in Aptos, CA in 2013.
Sources:
Nisbet, Earl. Taliesin Reflections: My Years Before, During, and After Living with Frank Lloyd Wright. Petaluma, CA: Meridian
Press, 2006.
Arrangement
This collection is organized into four series: Personal Papers, Professional Papers, Office Records, and Project Records.
Scope and Contents
Personal and Professional Papers consist primarily of correspondence with friends and colleagues, as well as personal photographs.
A scrapbook that Nisbet created during his life that contains numerous clippings on Frank Lloyd Wright is also included in
the Personal Papers series. Office records include photographs from two exhibitions on Taliesin Fellows that Nisbet was included
in, as well as publication clippings on the Doo House and Tanglewood House.
The Project Records consist of built and unbuilt projects, mostly residential. They include construction drawings of Gene
Masselink's abstraction for Frank Lloyd Wright's Frank Sander House in Stamford, Connecticut, a decorative wood screen for
the current owner, Erik Gavriluk. This collection also includes a drawing that Nisbet completed for Frank Lloyd Wright of
a tent while at Taliesin with Wright's own sketch in the bottom right corner.
Personal Papers
1945-2007
Scope and Contents
Box 1-3
This collection consists primarily of personal correspondence received by Nisbet, and Holiday cards that Nisbet created. Personal
photographs include images of Earl at Taliesin and photographs that he took during his apprenticeship.
A. Correspondence
B. Writings
C. Travel
D. Photographs
E. Awards
F. Sketches
G. Scrapbook
Box 1, Folder 4
Nisbet designed and sent holiday cards
1987-2001
Box 1, Folder 5-6
Holiday cards received
1959-2007, n.d.
Box 2, Folder 7
Essay "On Frank Lloyd Wright"
n.d.
Box 2, Folder 9
International Date Line certificate
1957
Box 2, Folder 11
Taliesin Photographs
n.d.
Box 2, Folder 12
Unidentified photographs
1945-1956
Box 2, Folder 14
Dietary Service, Stanford Hospital Center
1963
Box 2, Folder 15
Drawings and sketches
n.d.
Box 3, Folder Unknown
Clippings related to Frank Lloyd Wright
n.d.
Professional Papers
1931-2003
Scope and Contents
Box 4
The correspondence in this collection includes architects that Nisbet met while at Taliesin and correspondence from both the
Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and the Taliesin Fellowship and Preservation, Inc.
A. Correspondence
B. Reference Files
Box 4, Folder 1
Alvin Badenhop correspondence
1958-1997
Box 4, Folder 2
Chuck Bass correspondence
1959-1988
Box 4, Folder 3
Jackson Wong correspondence
1988-2001
Box 4, Folder 4
Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation correspondence
1984-2003
Box 4, Folder 5
Taliesin Fellowship correspondence
1950
Box 4, Folder 6
Taliesin Preservation, Inc. correspondence
1987-2002
Box 4, Folder 9
Lecture notes on architectural perspective - George M. Allen
1931
Office Records
1954-1995
Scope and Contents
Box 5
Photographs are from the Taliesin Fellows Exhibition at the Marin Civic Center and an exhibition at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
of the Taliesin Fellows Northern California chapter.
A. Photographs
B. Clippings
C. Forms & Stationary
Box 5, Folder 1
Taliesin Fellows Exhibition, Marin Civic Center
1995
Box 5, Folder 2
TFNC Cal Poly Exhibition
n.d.
Box 5, Folder 3
Doo House publication clippings
1958-1965
Box 5, Folder 4
Tanglewood House publication clippings
1954, n.d.
Box 5, Folder 5
Various projects publication clippings
1958-1968
Project Records
1953-2011
Scope and Contents
Box 5-6, Flat files
Arranged by project.
This series includes project files, drawings, and photographs of projects both completed and envisioned by Nisbet.
Baird, Robert: Hidden River Ranch Salt Lake City UT
2011
flat-file-drawer W 14.13, Flat-File 24
Blois, R.M. Portola Valley CA
1955
flat-file-drawer W 14.13, Flat-File 2, Box 5, Folder 1
Box 6, Folder 13, Box 7, Folder 2a
Brookside Park Woodside CA
1954
flat-file-drawer W 14.13, Flat-File 3
Buchea, William Newport OR
1956
flat-file-drawer W 14.13, Flat-File 4
Canyon House Woodside CA
1954
flat-file-drawer W 14.13, Flat-File 5
Design: Furniture studies
n.d.
Design: Hidden River Ranch Salt Lake City UT
2011
flat-file-drawer W 14.13, Flat-File 24
Design: house Woodside CA
1956
flat-file-drawer W 14.13, Flat-File 21
Design: Maple Ave House Sunnyvale CA
1956
Design: Small bungalow
n.d.
Design: Studio Apartment
n.d.
Design: Valley National Bank
n.d.
Designs: Various buildings
n.d.
Doo, S.C. Honolulu HI
1959
Box 5, Folder 3, 7, 2b, flat-file-drawer W 14.13, Flat-File 6
Elwood, Wayne Palo Alto Hills CA
1965
flat-file-drawer W 14.13, Flat-File 7
Falconer, D.W. Soquel CA
1955
flat-file-drawer W 14.13, Flat-File 8-9
Falconer, D.W. Scheme 1 Soquel CA
1955
Gores, Joseph San Anselmo CA
1978
flat-file-drawer W 14.13, Flat-File 10
John, Harry Oconomowoc WI
n.d.
Larry's Snack Counter Honolulu HI
1960
flat-file-drawer W 14.13, Flat-File 22
Longevar Prefab Honolulu HI
1958
flat-file-drawer W 14.13, Flat-File 12
McCord, Glenn Arlington NJ
n.d.
McNemey, Michael and Debbie light deck design
n.d.
flat-file-drawer W 14.13, Flat-File 25
Meija, F. pool cover design Santa Cruz CA
n.d.
Moore residence Felton CA
Newman, Jack La Honda CA
1953
Box 6, Folder 22, flat-file-drawer W 14.13, Flat-File 13
Nisbet, Earl Anderson Island WA
1990
flat-file-drawer W 14.13, Flat-File 1
Nisbet, Earl Santa Cruz CA
1978
flat-file-drawer W 14.13, Flat-File 22
Nisbet, Earl Aptos CA
1976
flat-file-drawer W 14.13, Flat-File 22a
Nisbet, Earl House Studies Aptos CA
1976
flat-file-drawer W 14.13, Flat-File 14
Nisbet, Earl Scheme 1 Aptos CA
1976
flat-file-drawer W 14.13, Flat-File 15
Nisbet, Earl Scheme 2 Aptos CA
1976
flat-file-drawer W 14.13, Flat-File 16
Nisbet, Earl Portola Studio Portola Valley CA
1955
flat-file-drawer W 14.13, Flat-File 22
Nisbet, Earl: Drafting Studio Portola Valley CA
1955
flat-file-drawer W 14.13, Flat-File 22
Nisbet, Earl: Frank S. Sander House decorative wood screen Stamford CT
2011
flat-file-drawer W 14.13, Flat-File 24
Nisbet, Earl: Kalakawa Office Honolulu HI
1958
flat-file-drawer W 14.13, Flat-File 11
Nisbet, Earl: Mini Storage Building Santa Cruz CA
1976
flat-file-drawer W 14.13, Flat-File 22
Nisbet, Earl: Nisbet Associates Office Los Altos CA
n.d.
Nisbet, Earl: Sunridge House Pebble Beach CA
1965
flat-file-drawer W 14.13, Flat-File 19
Nisbet, Earl: Taliesin Tent Scottsdale AZ
1952
flat-file-drawer W 14.13, Flat-File 23
Nisbet, Earl: Tanglewood Felton CA
1953
flat-file-drawer W 14.13, Flat-File 20
Palo Alto Hills Project Palo Alto CA
1965
Pescadero Heights Pebble Beach CA
1965
Sedgwick Pharmacy Capitola CA
1955
flat-file-drawer W 14.13, Flat-File 22
Smith, Roscoe Los Altos CA
1955
Box 6, Folder 22, flat-file-drawer W 14.13, Flat-File 17
Spade, H.V. Alpine Hills CA
1955
flat-file-drawer W 14.13, Flat-File 18
Tanglewood [see Nisbet, Earl] Felton CA
1953
Unidentified architectural drawings
flat-file-drawer W 14.13, Flat-File 26
Winn Residence Kalamazoo MI