Access
Custodial History note
Preferred Citation note
Biographical/Historical note
Scope and Content Note
Arrangement note
Title: William Levy Alexander papers
Identifier/Call Number: 0000199
Contributing Institution:
Architecture and Design Collection, Art, Design & Architecture Museum
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
18.42 Linear feet
(3 half record storage boxes, 2 oversize flat boxes and 3 flat file drawers)
Date (inclusive): circa 1934-circa 1990
Location note: Box 1-3/ADC - regular Boxes 4-5/ADC - oversize* 3 Flat File Drawers/ADC - flat files
creator:
Alexander, William Levy, 1909-1997
Access
Partially processed collection, open for use by qualified researchers.
Custodial History note
Gift of the William Levy Alexander Trust, 1998.
Preferred Citation note
William Levy Alexander papers, Architecture and Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California,
Santa Barbara.
Biographical/Historical note
William Levy Alexander (birth name Alexander Levy) was born in Brooklyn in 1909, the youngest of 15 children. In 1929 he enrolled
in architecture school at New York University (NYU) where the curriculum was a balance of traditional Beaux-Arts and European
modernism. During one summer, Alexander spent six weeks at Taliesin West but could not afford the tuition, so he decided return
to schooling at NYU. Alexander graduated from NYU with a degree in architecture in 1934. After school, he worked briefly for
Raymond Hood, Ely Jacques Kahn, and for the Works Progress Administration supervising a slum clearance project in Brooklyn.
In 1936, Alexander was commissioned to build a house for Richard Halliburton in Laguna Beach, California. After the Halliburton
project was completed, Alexander practiced independently in Los Angeles and New York, always working alone. In 1939, he was
commissioned to remodel Arnold Schoenberg’s Brentwood music studio. In 1940, Alexander completed several military commissions.
After the war, Alexander completed the Greggory house in Encino, built himself a house in the Hollywood Hills, and worked
on several commissions in Mexico (one of which was Hotel Las Cruces Palmilla). In the late 1950s, Alexander abandoned architecture,
became for a short time a character actor, and later a benefactor. William Levy Alexander died in 1997.
Scope and Content Note
The William Levy Alexander papers span 18.42 linear feet and date from circa 1934 to circa 1990. The collection consists of
architectural drawings, photographic prints, and manuscript material organized by project documenting the design, construction
and finished building for many architectural projects including the Las Cruces resort in Baja Califonia, the Richard Halliburton
house in Laguna Beach, the David Greggory house in Encino, Calif. and Alexander's own "House in Space" in Los Angeles, Calif.
The collection also includes some personal and professional correspondence, photographic prints, and articles, as well as
drawings and photographs relating to Alexander's furniture designs.
Arrangement note
The following arrangement scheme for this collection was imposed during processing in the absence of a usable original order.
The collection is arranged in 4 series: Correspondence, Articles, Photographs and negatives, and Architecture and design projects.
The Architecture and design projects series is organized by client or building name, and subsequently arranged by format (for
example: architectural drawings, photographs, and project files).
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Alexander, William Levy, 1909-1997
Adobe houses
Architect-designed decorative arts -- United States -- 20th century
Architect-designed furniture -- United States -- 20th century
Architectural drawings
Architectural photographs
Architecture -- California -- 20th century
Clippings (Books, newspapers, etc.)
Furniture design
Interior design
Letters
Negatives
Photographic prints
Presentation drawings (proposals)
Reprographic copies