Finding Aid for the Cliff & Lou Sawyer papers, circa 1930-circa 1979
0000174
Finding aid prepared by Chris Marino and Julia Larson (2019 revision)
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
10/1/2012
Title: Cliff and Lou Sawyer papers
Identifier/Call Number: 0000174
Contributing Institution:
Architecture and Design Collection, Art, Design & Architecture Museum
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
13.0 Linear feet
(2 record storage box and 3 flat file drawers)
Date (inclusive): circa 1930-circa 1979
Location note: Box 1-2/ADC - regular 3 Flat File Drawers/ADC - flat files
creator:
Cliff and Lou Sawyer.
creator:
Sawyer, Cliff, (Clifton Howard), 1896-1966
creator:
Sawyer, Lou, 1905-1995
Access
Partially processed collection, open for use by qualified researchers.
Custodial History note
Gift of Henry Mazur, 1996.
Preferred Citation note
Cliff and Lou Sawyer papers, Architecture and Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California,
Santa Barbara.
Biographical/Historical note
Cliff and Lou Sawyer were a husband and wife design team whose work consisted primarily of designing and decorating food and
beverage establishments in southern California. Lou Sawyer was born in the Basque country in the Pyrenees between France and
Spain in 1905. Cliff Sawyer was born in Boston in 1896. Lou met her husband Cliff Sawyer in Paris, where he was studying art
and design. The two left France for California in the early 1930s. Once in California, the two began an interior design business
together. In 1966, Cliff Sawyer died and Lou Sawyer carried on the business, completing her 368th job by 1968. Lou Sawyer
died in 1995. Over the course of their careers some of their more notable projects include: the original Luau in Beverly Hills,
Don the Beachcomber in Palm Springs, Pago Pago in Long Beach and Tucson, Arizona, and the Reef in Casper, Wyoming.
Scope and Content note
The Cliff and Lou Sawyer papers span 13 linear feet and date from circa 1930 to circa 1979. The collection is primarily composed
of architectural drawings and reprographic copies of restaurants designed by the Sawyers as well as project notes, ephemera,
newspaper clippings, small sketches of restaurant exteriors, and disbound scrapbook pages which document the many restaurants
designed by the husband and wife team.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Cliff and Lou Sawyer.
Sawyer, Cliff, (Clifton Howard), 1896-1966
Sawyer, Lou, 1905-1995
Architectural drawings
Photographic prints
Presentation drawings (proposals)
Scrapbooks
Sketches
Personal Papers I.
1963-1995
Physical Description:
1.0 Linear feet
creator:
Cliff and Lou Sawyer.
creator:
Sawyer, Cliff, (Clifton Howard), 1896-1966
creator:
Sawyer, Lou, 1905-1995
Scope and Contents note
This series contains articles and clippings on Lou Sawyer, photographs, and multiple large dis-bound scrapbooks featuring
photographs, letters, and advertisements for Sawyers' work.
Box 2, Folder 1
Advertisements - Cliff & Lou Sawyer
1963-1964
Box 2, Folder 2
Articles and Clippings
1966, 1984, 1995
Box 2, Folder 3
Correspondence
1968, 1980-1981
Box 2, Folder 4
"Happenings ... in Real Estate" The Desert Sun (Palm Springs, Calif.)
undated
Box 2, Folder 5
Pacific Coast Record
1968
Box 2, Folder 6
Lou Sawyer Photographics advertisement
1982
Box 2, Folder 7
Sawyer, Lou portraits
circa 1967-1968
Box 2
Scrapbooks- disbound
circa 1979
Projects II.
1936-1979
Physical Description:
12.0 Linear feet
creator:
Cliff and Lou Sawyer.
creator:
Sawyer, Cliff, (Clifton Howard), 1896-1966
creator:
Sawyer, Lou, 1905-1995
Scope and Contents note
This series contains architectural drawings and renderings of restaurant and beverage establishment alterations and additions,
with a few residential projects. The drawings are primarily original drawings (graphite on tracing paper), with few reprographic
copies. It also contains photographs and clippings for some of the projects.
Drawer 279, FlatFile 14
AFL-CIO Union Culinary Workers & Bartenders Local / Alfredo Restaurant 13425 Ventura Blvd. (Los Angeles, Calif.)
1956
Ahn, Philip / Moongate Restaurant 8632 Van Nuys Blvd. (Panorama City, Calif.)
1963
Box 1, Folder 2
Andres Coronet / The Roundup (Hollywood, Calif.)
1947
Drawer 280, FlatFile 2
Asbell, William / The Reef Cocktail Lounge (Casper, Wyo.)
1961
Drawer 279, FlatFile 15
Bellon, John house 1641 Woods Dr. (Los Angeles, Calif.)
1956
Drawer 280, FlatFile 3
Bennett, Lew & Doris / Lew's Tahiti Restaurant 4119 E. Indian School Rd. (Scottsdale, Ariz.)
1962
Drawer 280, FlatFile 4
Brooks, Bob / Seven Seas Restaurant 6904 Hollywood Blvd. (Hollywood, Calif.)
1936, 1956
Drawer 280, FlatFile 5
Captain's Table restaurant alteration 301 S. La Cienega (Los Angeles, Calif.)
1955
Drawer 280, FlatFile 6
Cartier, Michel / Cafe de Paris 7038 Sunset Blvd. (Los Angeles, Calif.)
1964
Box 1, Folder 4
Chi Chi bar (Palm Springs, Calif.)
undated
Drawer 280, FlatFile 7
Don the Beachcomber Restaurant-Cafe Via Lola (Palm Springs, Calif.)
1962
Drawer 280, FlatFile 8
Escobar, John / Casa Escobar Tropical Restaurant 13321 Moorpark Blvd. (Sherman Oaks, Calif.)
undated
Drawer 280, FlatFile 9
Fairchild, Peter supper club /Fairchild Golf Course S. El Cielo (Palm Springs, Calif.)
1979
Drawer 280, FlatFile 10
Firestone, Stanley house alterations 910 N. Whittier (Beverly Hills, Calif.)
undated
Fremont, William / Matador Restaurant 10948 W. Pico Blvd. (Los Angeles, Calif.)
1960
Drawer 280, FlatFile 12
Gordon Holding Company restaurants / Naughty Dolphin / Naughty Ninties / Naughty Wahine Ventura Blvd. (Sherman Oaks, Calif.)
1960-1961
Drawer 280, FlatFile 13
Hugg, Fred / Swiss Cafe alterations 450 N. Rodeo Dr. (Beverly Hills, Calif.)
1958
International Resort Hotel / California Innkeepers 1800 E. Palm Canyon (Palm Springs, Calif.)
1979
Drawer 278, FlatFile 25
Jay's Broiler cocktail lounge
1962
Drawer 279, FlatFile 17
Jenkins, B / Sans Gene restaurant Hwy 99 (Indio, Calif.)
1960
Box 1, Folder 6
Jordan & Leipertz / Everglades (San Clemente, Calif.)
undated
Box 1, Folder 8
Lea Lea / Mission Inn (Riverside, Calif.)
undated
Box 1, Folder 9
Ley, Isillings? / Baroque Salon (Hollywood, Calif.)
undated
Box 1, Folder 10
Lipsett, Dr. chinese restaurant
undated
Drawer 279, FlatFile 18
Luau restaurant (Beverly Hills, Calif.)
undated
Drawer 279, FlatFile 19
Luau restaurant (Las Vegas, Nev.)
1956
Drawer 279, FlatFile 20
Luau Macao restaurant / Hotel Presidente (Acapulco, Mexico)
1957
Box 1, Folder 13
Morris / M&M Restaurant (Oceanside, Calif.)
1946
Drawer 279, FlatFile 21
Murfee, Emerson / El Picador restaurant 2550 El Camino Real (Redwood City, Calif.)
1962
Drawer 279, FlatFile 22
Murfee, Emerson & Coffman / The Flame restaurant El Camino Real (San Mateo, Calif.)
1956
Murfee, Emerson / Lanai Cocktail Lounge 4070 El Camino Real (San Mateo, Calif.)
1956
Box 1, Folder 14
Pago Pago restaurant (Portland, Ore.)
undated
Box 1, Folder 15
Pago Pago restaurant (Tucson, Ariz.)
undated
Drawer 278, FlatFile 26
Port O 7 Seas restaurant
undated
Drawer 278, FlatFile 27
Ramada carport and cabana
1960
Reynolds, K. / Broken Drum Restaurant 720 Wilshire Blvd. (Santa Monica, Calif.)
1955
Box 1, Folder 16
Sarong restaurant and dance hall
undated
Drawer 278, FlatFile 29
Ship's Cafe and Spec O' Spice Seafood Restaurant
1957
Smith, Martin / Tradewinds Restaurant (Oxnard, Calif.)
1963
Box 1, Folder 17
South Seas restaurant (Anchorage, Alka.)
undated
Box 1, Folder 18
Stable Gallery (Scottsdale, Ariz.)
undated
Drawer 279, FlatFile 24
Steakeaters Inn (Yucaipa, Calif.)
1964
Drawer 278, FlatFile 31
Tahi Tahi restaurant (Palm Desert, Calif.?)
undated
Box 1, Folder 18
Teague, Woodrow house (Palm Springs, Calif.)
1978
Box 1, Folder 20
Trails restaurant (Los Angeles, Calif.)
undated
Drawer 278, FlatFile 32
Unidentified house (Androsetti?)
undated
Drawer 278, FlatFile 33
Undentified ranch home (Palm Springs, Calif.?)
1962
Box 1, Folder 21
Unidentified residences
undated
Drawer 278, FlatFile 34
Unidentified restaurant interior sketch
undated
Box 1, Folder 22
Unidentified Restaurants
undated
Box 1, Folder 23
Vagabond House restaurant Wilshire Blvd. (Los Angeles, Calif.)
undated
Drawer 278, FlatFile 35
Warner Products Inc. 9320 Santa Monica Blvd. (Beverly Hills, Calif.)
undated
Drawer 278, FlatFile 36
Willden, Robert / Polynesian restaurant, coffee shop, cocktail lounge, motel (Fresno, Calif.)
1959
Drawer 278, FlatFile 37
Young, J. & H. Boyd / Chesnut Room Coffee Shop 14th & Santa Monica Blvd. (Santa Monica, Calif.)
1960
Box 1, Folder 24
Zamboanga restaurant (Los Angeles, Calif.)
undated
creator:
Loomis and Fisher.