Access
Custodial History note
Preferred Citation note
Biographical/Historical note
Scope and Content Note
Arrangement Note
Title: Robert Henry Ainsworth papers relating to the Ward Kimball house (San Gabriel, Calif.)
Identifier/Call Number: 0000217
Contributing Institution:
Architecture and Design Collection, Art, Design & Architecture Museum
Language of Material:
English
Container: 553
Physical Description:
4.0 Linear feet
(2 record storage boxes and 1 flat file folder)
Date (inclusive): 1937-1941
Abstract: Robert Ainsworth was a California architect who worked in several popular styles. Drawings, photographs and specifications
document the Ward Kimball house, a California ranch style house, designed and built in 1937 in San Gabriel, California.
creator:
Ainsworth, Robert Henry
Access
Open for use by qualified researchers.
Custodial History note
Gift of Ward and Betty Kimball, 2010.
Preferred Citation note
Robert Henry Ainsworth papers relating to the Ward Kimball house (San Gabriel, Calif.), Architecture and Design Collection.
Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara.
Biographical/Historical note
Robert Henry Ainsworth was born on June 2, 1895, in Wisconsin. He achieved a B.S.A. from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor,
in 1921 and joined the United States Navy in 1917, where he stayed for one year. He worked as a draftsman at various architectural
firms from 1922 to 1926 and established his own firm in 1932. He based his practice in Los Angeles, California, and designed
many residences in Pasadena. In addition to these private homes, Ainsworth headed the architectural projects at Grover Cleveland
Elementary School and the Pasadena Human Society Building in Pasadena. Robert Henry Ainsworth died in Los Angeles on April
18, 1970.
Scope and Content Note
Records, including drawings, sketches and technical drawings in blueprints, specifications, and black-and-white photographic
prints, document the Ward Kimball house, built in 1936-1937, in San Gabriel. The house was located at 8910 Ardendale Avenue
until its demolition. The drawings and photographs describe a "ranch style" house though the presentation drawings emphasize
the rustic charm of a rural cottage. The clients, Betty and Ward Kimball, were animators who were working on Disney's
Snow White at the time the house was designed, which may account for some of the presentation drawings looking like "Snow White's cottage."
The final design, however, was a "California rancho." Specifications include some additional lists and invoices. The photographs
date from the early 1940s and show exterior and interior views. Information from the heirs indicates that the beams were hand
hewn on the site and that a local blacksmith forged the hardware for doors, cupboards and some fixtures. The materials in
this collection provide one example of the various popular styles in which Robert Ainsworth worked.
Arrangement Note
Arranged in one series
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Ainsworth, Robert Henry
Architectural drawings
Photographic prints
Reprographic copies
Sketches
Specifications