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William F. Cody Papers
MS 007
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Table of contents
Title: William F. Cody Papers
Date (inclusive): 1924-1975
Date (bulk): 1950-1975
Collection number: MS 007
Creator:
Cody, William Francis, 1916-1978
Extent:
51 boxes (25 linear feet),
50 flat file drawers,
18 tubes,
1 artifact
Languages: English, Spanish
Repository:
Special Collections, Robert E. Kennedy Library
California Polytechnic State University
San Luis Obispo, California 93407
Abstract: The papers of California architect William Francis Cody, Fellow, American Institute of Architects, contain student work, architectural
drawings and plans, office records, marketing and public relations materials for his practice, presentation drawings, photographs,
correspondence, and project files from the architect's estate. Architectural plans and drawings, which date primarily from
1946 when Cody began working in Palm Springs to the mid-1970s, are predominant in the collection.
Given to the library by an anonymous donor in 1984.
Collection is open to researchers by appointment only. For more information on access policies and to obtain a copy of the
Researcher Registration form, please visit the Special Collections Access page. Advance notice for use required.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
In order to reproduce, publish, broadcast, exhibit, and/or quote from this material, researchers must submit a written request
and obtain formal permission from Special Collections, Cal Poly, as the owner of the physical collection.
Photocopying of material is permitted at staff discretion and provided on a fee basis. Photocopies are not to be used for
any purpose other than for private study, scholarship, or research. Special Collections staff reserves the right to limit
photocopying and deny access or reproduction in cases when, in the opinion of staff, the original materials would be harmed.
William F. Cody Papers, Special Collections, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.
Abbreviations Used:
c.: circa
l.f.: linear feet
FF: flat file
AIA: American Institute of Architects
FAIA: Fellow, American Institute of Architects
CSU: California State University
USC: University of Southern California
MPI: McCulloch Properties, Inc.
William Francis Cody, Fellow, American Institute of Architects (1916-1978) was an influential Desert Modern architect who
practiced in Palm Springs at the peak of the Modernist movement. Between 1946 and 1973, Cody maintained a diverse practice
in California's Coachella Valley, designing country clubs, residences, hotels, library, and church projects in the local communities
of Palm Springs, Indian Wells, Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, and in southern California, Arizona, Mexico, and Cuba.
Cody was born on 19 June 1916 in Dayton, Ohio, to William F. Cody, Sr., who owned a haberdashery and Anna Elizabeth Shadle,
an interior designer. Cody and his brother John were both influenced by their mother's passion for art and architecture.
By 1923, the Codys had relocated to Los Angeles. While attending Beverly Hills High School, Cody designed and built stage
sets for school plays with the son of Warner Bros. founder Jack L. Warner. Cody graduated from high school in April 1934 and
began work the following year for architects Heath Warton and Asa Hudson while attending Santa Monica Junior College, graduating
in 1940.
In 1940, Cody enrolled in the College of Architecture and Fine Arts at the University of Southern California, earning a Bachelor's
degree in Architecture in 1942. At University of Southern California Cody was exposed to the Bauhaus style of art, architecture,
and interior design, which emphasized a minimalist Modernism that would come to define Cody's own work. Another influence
during this time was Cody's work for Cliff May, a leading southern California licensed contractor and developer. According
to a résumé found in the collection and his Fellow, American Institute of Architects nomination, Cody worked in 1944 on May's
influential Pace-Setter House, a modernized, low-cost California ranch house design.
Cody married Winifred Smith on July 31, 1943, with whom he had three daughters: Diane Louise (b. 1944), Winifred Lynne (b.
1948), and Catherine Louise (b. 1954).
In 1943, he worked for an Oakland engineering firm on a Kaiser steel plant in Fontana, California. That same year, he also
worked for the San Francisco firm of Blanchard, Maher and Ward on Navy installations on Treasure Island. The following year,
he worked for Marsh, Smith and Powell in Los Angeles, primarily on National Design Award-winning elementary and high school
buildings in California and Arizona.
In May of 1946, Cody was licensed to practice architecture in California and secured his Arizona license in December 1946.
In 1948, he applied for membership in the American Institute of Architects, listing his office location on Santa Monica Blvd.
in Los Angeles.
In 1945, Cody was retained to alter the Desert Inn, his first commission in Palm Springs. In 1947 he completed the Del Marcos
Hotel, his first independent commercial project in Palm Springs, which was recognized by the American Institute of Architects
Southern California Chapter with an honorable mention.
Post-World War II Palm Springs was becoming a fashionable weekend and winter retreat for the rich and famous, and Cody's career
flourished along with the city. He moved his practice and his family to Palm Springs. In 1950, he was retained to lead the
successful conversion of the Thunderbird Dude Ranch into the Thunderbird Country Club, which led to commissions to design
or alter clubhouses, recreational facilities, and residential developments at Eldorado Country Club (with Ernest J. Kump),
Tamarisk Country Club, the Racquet Club, and the Tennis Club. In 1960, he began almost a decade of work altering and expanding
the Palm Springs Spa Hotel.
Cody's specialization in country club clubhouses with related residential developments led to additional commissions in California,
Arizona, Texas, Cuba, and Mexico. His residential projects emphasized key elements of Modernism: simplicity of form, natural
light, and large windows offering a seamless connection between residential interiors and the outdoors.
A member of American Institute of Architects since 1948, Cody was elevated to Fellowship in the American Institute of Architects
in 1965, with the following projects cited on his nomination as Achievements in Architectural Design:
William Francis Cody Residence Palm Springs, CA 1946
Del Marcos Hotel Palm Springs, CA 1947
Levin Residence Palm Springs, CA 1948
Haines Office Building Beverly Hills, CA 1949
Mission Valley Country Club San Diego, CA 1953
Jorgensen Residence Palm Springs, CA 1954
Springs Restaurant Palm Springs, CA 1956
El Dorado Country Club Palm Desert, CA 1958
Spa Bathhouse Palm Springs, CA 1958
Clare Residence Palm Springs, CA 1959
Nicoletti Residence Palm Springs, CA 1960
Palo Alto Hills Golf and Country Club Palo Alto, CA 1961
Roundhill Country Club Alamo, CA 1961
Sloane Residence La Quinta, CA 1961
Western Savings & Loan Tempe, AZ 1961
Cannon Residence Palm Desert, CA 1962
Driggs Residence Phoenix, AZ 1962
Spa Bathhouse - Hotel Palm Springs, CA 1962
Abernathy Residence Palm Springs, CA 1963
Shamel Residence Palm Desert, CA 1963
Western Savings & Loan Phoenix, AZ 1964
Cody also worked extensively with Robert P. McCulloch, an industrialist who parlayed his racing-engine manufacturing fortune
into diverse business interests, including oil and gas exploration, electronics, and land and real estate development. When
McCulloch founded Lake Havasu City, Arizona, Cody designed, altered and added to McCulloch Corporation chain saw plants there.
For McCulloch Properties, Inc., Cody designed Arizona residential developments in Lake Havasu City and Fountain Hills in Scottsdale,
and an Eldorado tract in Indian Wells, California. He also designed a McCulloch corporate complex near LAX and alterations
and an addition to a house for McCulloch and his wife at Thunderbird Country Club in 1972.
Cody's last notable commissions were located in Palm Springs: St. Theresa Catholic Church and Convent (1966-68) and buildings
for the Palm Springs Planning Collaborative, including the Palm Springs Public Library (1973) in the Brutalist style. A stroke
then limited his career until his death on 29 August 1978 in Palm Springs.
Sources
The American Institute of Architects Archives, Record Group 803, Membership Files. "Application for Membership," 1948, "Application
for Corporate Membership," 1948, and "Nomination for Fellowship — Case Record," 1964.
The Architecture of William F. Cody: A Desert Retrospective. Palm Springs: Palm Springs Preservation Foundation, 2004.
Cygelman, Adéle.
Palm Springs Modern: Houses in the California Desert. New York: Rizzoli International Publications, 1999.
"Experience Record of William F. Cody," Box 2 Folder 2, William F. Cody Papers, Special Collections, California Polytechnic
State University, San Luis Obispo, circa 1948
Hess, Alan and Andrew Danish. Palm Springs Weekend: The Architecture and Design of a Midcentury Oasis. San Francisco: Chronicle
Books, 2001.
Hess, Alan.
Forgotten Modern: California Houses 1940-1970. Santa Barbara: Gibbs Smith, 2007.
The papers of California architect William Francis Cody, Fellow, American Institute of Architects, contain student work, architectural
drawings and plans, office records, marketing and public relations materials for his practice, presentation drawings, photographs,
correspondence, and project files from the architect's estate. Architectural plans and drawings, which date primarily from
1946 when Cody began working in Palm Springs to the mid-1970s, are predominant in the collection.
At the time that Cody closed his office, family members split the records and drawings of the practice and stored them in
various locations. Researchers are strongly advised to consult the guide to a second, separate, and substantial gift of Cody
drawings and papers given to Cal Poly in 2009 (William F. Cody Papers 2 MS 163).
The earliest piece in the collection is a 1924 photograph of Cody at his prep school. The collection contains a project file
regarding Richard Neutra's iconic Kaufmann Desert House. In 1963, Cody was hired to remodel the residence by the new owners
Joseph and Nelda Linsk, and Neutra wrote to express his concern. There is one additional donation to the collection, consisting
of plans for the James and Madge Abernathy residence in Palm Springs.
The collection is housed in 50 flat file drawers and 51 Hollinger containers. The collection is divided into five series:
1. Personal Papers, 1924, 1940, 1942, including student work completed at University of Southern California;
2. Professional Papers and Office Records, 1948-1975, including office records, project portfolios, and résumé and brief job
list Cody compiled circa 1948;
3. Project Records, 1943-1973, including files, photographs, plans and drawings on residential, recreational, and commercial
commissions
4. McCulloch Project Records, 1960s, including extensive project plans for industrialist Robert P. McCulloch and his related
companies;
5. Additional Donations, 1962, including one subseries of drawings on the Palm Springs Abernathy house
The most significant portions of the collection — project records for a wide variety of Cody commissions in the Coachella
Valley, Arizona, and Havana — are located in Series 3. A. Project Files and 3. C. Project Drawings. Some of the plans in the
collection are Ozalids, a monochromatic copying process producing diazo prints, common to the mid-twentieth century. Some
drawings, primarily preliminary sketches or mechanical drawings produced in consultation, have been left in project files,
when relocation would have deterred research. Job numbers from Cody's practice are given, when known, but some errors in duplicate
numbering have been found.
Images in the 3.B. Project Photographs subseries are often the work of noted architectural photograph Julius Shuman. His job
numbers have not been included in the guide but are available on request. Dates on photograph and file subseries reflect the
contents of the folder; dates on project drawings reflect start date of project, not the start of construction.
Where possible, the provenance, or original organization, of the papers has been preserved. However, in order to simplify
access to the collection for researchers, some materials in specific formats and subject areas were reorganized and refoldered
to more accurately reflect their contents.
The National Endowment for the Humanities has generously funded the arrangement and description of this collection, along
with matching funds from California Polytechnic State University.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Architecture--1950-1980
Architecture--20th century
Architecture--America
Architecture and climate--California
Architecture and recreation--United States
Architecture--Arizona
Architecture--California
Architecture--California--Indian Wells
Architecture--California--Los Angeles--1940-1990
Architecture--California--Los Angeles Region--History--20th century
Architecture--California--Palm Springs--History--20th century
Architecture--California, Southern
Architecture--California--Rancho Mirage
Architecture, Domestic--Arid regions--California--Palm Springs
Architecture, Modern--20th century
Cody, William F., 1916-1978
Modernism (Architecture)
Palm Springs (Calif.) Buildings, structures, etc
Palm Springs, Calif. Kaufmann Desert House
Modern movement (Architecture)--Palm Springs--Catalogs
Nineteen Sixties
Nineteen Seventies
Shulman, Julius, 1910-2009
Architectural drawings and plans
Presentation drawings
Correspondence
Business records
Photographs
Project portfolios
Related Collections:
Special Collections, Cal Poly:
William F. Cody Papers 2, 1918-1980 (bulk 1950-1975) (MS 168)