Finding Aid for the Robson Chambers papers, 1946-1981
0000116
Finding aid prepared by Chris Marino
The processing of this collection was made possible through generous funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, administered
through the Council on Library and Information Resources “Cataloging Hidden Special Collections and Archives” Project.
Architecture and Design Collection, Art, Design & Architecture Museum
Arts Building Room 1434
University of California
Santa Barbara, California, 93106-7130
805-893-2724
adc@museum.ucsb.edu
Title: Robson Chambers papers
Identifier/Call Number: 0000116
Contributing Institution:
Architecture and Design Collection, Art, Design & Architecture Museum
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
4.0 Linear feet
(1 record storage box, 1 flat file folder)
Date (inclusive): 1946-1981
Location note: Box 1/ADC - regular 1 Flat File/ADC - flat files misc.
creator:
Chambers, Robson C., 1919-1999
Access
Partially processed collection, open for use by qualified researchers.
Custodial History note
Gift of Robson Chambers, 1999.
Preferred Citation note
Robson Chambers papers, Architecture and Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa
Barbara.
Biographical/Historical note
Robson Cole Chambers was born in Los Angeles on March 4, 1919. He attended the University of Southern California and in 1941
graduated with his Bachelor of Architecture degree. During WWII, Chambers helped design Camp Pendleton in Oceanside during
his service in the US Marine Corps. In 1946, Robson began working for John Porter Clark and Albert Frey at their Palm Springs
office. Six years later, Chambers became a partner and the firm was renamed Clark, Frey, & Chambers. Once Chambers joined
the firm, Clark, Frey, & Chambers took on their largest project to date, the Palm Springs City Hall. In 1956, Clark left the
firm, leaving Frey & Chambers. Six years later in 1966, Chambers left Palm Springs for a job at University of California Santa
Barbara, where he worked as the campus architect into the early 1980s. Robson Cole Chambers died in 1999, at the age of 80.
Scope and Content note
The Robson Chambers papers span 4 linear feet and date from 1946 to 1981. The collection contains correspondence regarding
architectural projects and employment at the University of California Santa Barbara, newspaper clippings, greeting cards,
Chambers’ business cards, black-and-white photographs shot by Julius Shulman of the Chambers’ residence in Palm Springs, a
three-ring binder of color photographs of Chambers’ residential projects, architectural drawings and reprographic copies of
houses Chambers’ designed in Palm Springs, as well as his personal residence designed in Borrego Springs, California.
Related Archival Materials note
Albert Frey papers, Architecture and Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa
Barbara.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Chambers, Robson C., 1919-1999
Architectural drawings
Architecture -- California
Photographic prints
Reprographic copies
Box 1, Folder 1
Chambers, Robson resumes and job list
1965-1982
Box 1, Folder 2
"Robson Chambers, AIA: Last of the Campus Architects, 1966-1981"
1981
Box 1, Folder 3
Chambers, Robson retirement from UCSB
1981
Box 1, Folder 4
Scrapbook of promotion to UCSB campus architect, dis-bound
1973
Box 1, Folder 5
UCSB campus architect materials
1970-1978
Box 1, Folder 6
City of Palm Springs, letter from
1963
Box 1, Folder 7
Hope Ranch Architectural Review Board, correspondence
1981
Box 1, Folder 8
E.C.S. Jones and A. Quincy Jones, letter from and clipping
1981
Box 1, Folder 9
La Cumbre Golf and Country Club, letter to
1981
Box 1, Folder 10
Southern California Edison Co. All-Electric building of the month award
April 1966
Chambers, Robson house (Palm Springs, Calif.)
1946-1956
McKee, Betty & Bob house (Borrego Springs, Calif.)
1986-1988, 1993
Box 1, Folder 13
Palm Springs Art Museum clipping (Palm Springs Calif.)
1957
Box 1, Folder 14
Palm Springs School District (Palm Springs, Calif.)
1965
Box 1, Folder 15
Palm Springs Unified School District of Riverside County (Palm Springs, Calif.)
1965
Sperberg/Strong house (Borrego Springs, Calif.)
1992
St. Barnabas Episcopal Church (Borrego Springs, Calif.)
1985, 1994
Tackett Trust, Pamela / Anderson house (Borrego Springs, Calif.)
1987
Box 1, Folder 22
Taylor house (Borrego Springs, Calif.)
circa 1997
Box 1, Folder 23
Unidentified house
undated
Wheat, Francis house (Borrego Springs, Calif.)
1984-1985