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Douglas and Maggie Baylis Collection, 1938-1998(bulk 1943-1971)
1999-4
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Title: Douglas and Maggie Baylis collection,
Date (inclusive): 1938-1998
Date (bulk): (bulk 1943-1971)
Collection number: 1999-4
Creator:
Baylis, Douglas, 1915-1971
Baylis, Maggie, 1912-1997
Extent:
4 boxes and 5 flat file drawers
Repository:
Environmental Design Archives. College of Environmental Design.
University of California, Berkeley.
Berkeley, California
Abstract: Contains landscape architecture drawings, photographs, clippings, correspondence, and writings documenting Baylis landscape
design projects and publishing endeavors. Professional Papers contain correspondence, writings, graphics intended for publication,
and material for the production of the book California Houses of Gordon Drake (Douglas Baylis and Joan Parry. NY: Reinhold
Publishing Corporation, 1956). Office Records contains financial and other administrative records as well as photographs of
completed projects. Project Records contain project files, drawings, and photographs. Projects types include commercial, recreational,
religious, planning, governmental, educational, cultural, and funerary. Residential projects include Eichler's Highlands No.
3, Ping Yuen Housing Project, and many smaller-scale residential gardens. Other projects include Pacific Area Headquarters
of the American National Red Cross, landscape plans for Bay Area Rapid Transit, Candlestick Park, IBM Headquarters, and San
Francisco's controversial Portsmouth Square. The final series, Construction Details and Landscape Structures, contains sketches,
measured drawings, and notes for countless landscape details including vegetation structures, landscape structures, ground
plane treatments, garden furniture, and garden buildings.
Physical location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
Language:
English.
Collection is open for research.
All requests for permission to publish, reproduce, or quote from materials in the collection should be discussed with the
Curator.
[Identification of item], Douglas and Maggie Baylis Collection, (1999-4), Environmental Design Archives. College of
Environmental Design. University of California, Berkeley. Berkeley, California.
The collection was acquired in 1999.
Arrangement and description of this collection was funded by the Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning Department,
University of California, Berkeley.
Landscape architects -- California.
Landscape architecture -- California.
Landscape architecture, Modern -- 20th century -- California -- San Francisco Bay Area.
Gardens -- California
Dailey, Gardner
Esherick, Joseph
McCarthy, Francis Joseph
Bolles, John S.
San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (Calif.)
Online Archive of California
Douglas Baylis was born in 1915 in East Orange, New Jersey. In 1941, he graduated with a Landscape Architecture degree from
the University of California, Berkeley. Early influences in Berkeley included teacher Leland ("Punk") Vaughn and mentor Thomas
Church. Following graduation, Baylis worked in the Church office for about four years and then started his own firm. He is
often credited (with Church, Eckbo, and Royston) as one of the founders of the "California School" of modernism in Landscape
Architecture.
Maggie (Margaret) Hilbiber was born in 1912 in Tacoma, Washington. At age 16, she was one of three women in the University
of Pennsylvania's entering architecture class. After two years she was forced to return to Washington to look for work because
of the Depression. When she moved to San Francisco in the mid-1940s, Hilbiber and a partner opened a graphics studio.
When Doug Baylis responded to Maggie Hilbiber's advertisement of "hands for hire," a decades-long professional and personal
partnership began. Doug and Maggie Baylis married in 1948. Together they embraced conservation of the Northern California
landscape and the ideals of outdoor living. Maggie's drafting facility complemented Doug's disdain for drafting, and many
of the firm's design and publishing projects showcased their teamwork. Their earliest work included many modernist residential
garden designs. Many residential clients and friends included collaborators (architects, photographers, and others) from larger
public and commercial projects. These friends fondly recall gatherings at the Baylis home-office on Telegraph Hill in San
Francisco and their thoughtfully-situated Stinson Beach house.
Some of the most significant Baylis collaborations include work with the architect Gordon Drake. Doug Baylis worked with Drake
on a house/garden in Carmel and on the Unit House -- a house based on a 3' module with five distinct zones for California
indoor/outdoor living. After Drake's sudden death, Doug and Maggie Baylis both contributed to the book
California Houses of Gordon Drake.
In addition to specific site designs, the Baylis team produced many drawings of landscape structures and garden furniture.
Many of these details and sketches may be found in built projects, magazine articles, or as kits sold in magazines (such as
their plywood play equipment designs). Maggie and Doug Baylis are credited with pioneering a new "how-to" style of garden
article writing that was eventually adopted by many popular magazines across the U.S. Their prolific technical instructions,
handy tips, and clever ideas for the modern garden appeared - often anonymously - in
House Beautiful, Better Homes & Gardens, Sunset, McCall's, and
Family Circle.
After her husband's death in 1971, Maggie Baylis continued to illustrate "how-to" articles for magazines and some additional
publications including
The Purple Thumb and
Plant Parenthood. She also continued to be active in conservation of the Northern California landscape through many organizations from her
new home in Sonoma, CA until her death in 1997.
Note
- Baylis, Douglas and Joan Parry. California Houses of Gordon Drake. New York: Reinhold Publishing Corp., 1956.
- Baylis, Maggie: Correspondence & Memories of Doug Baylis. Douglas and Maggie Baylis Collection, (1999-4), Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley.
- Mann, William. Landscape Architecture: An Illustrated History in Timelines, Site Plans, and Biography. New York: John Wiley and Sons Inc., 1993.
- Obituary, Memorial, and Related Papers. Douglas and Maggie Baylis Collection, (1999-4), Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley.
- Pimsleur, J.L. "Obituary-Maggie Baylis." San Francisco Chronicle. (December 24, 1997).
The Douglas and Maggie Baylis Collection spans the years 1938-1998 (bulk 1943-1939). The collection contains records relating
to the Baylis firm's landscape design projects, publishing endeavors, and some personal items. The contents include personal
papers, office files, project files, drawings, photographs, and writings. The records describe the Baylis commitment to the
California landscape and its unique opportunities for indoor/outdoor living. The collection is useful for tracing the relationships
between significant Bay Area designers of the 1950s and 1960s since many of the Baylis collaborators were also clients and
friends. It is also a useful reference for research into modernism in landscape design, particularly the "California School"
and Bay Area regional style. The collection is divided into five series: Personal Papers, Professional Papers, Office Records,
Project Records, and a unique series containing Construction Details and Landscape Structures.
The Personal Papers contain Maggie Baylis's correspondence and memories of her husband, Doug Baylis's obituary and memorial
material, Doug Baylis's student work and a collection of poetry, and Baylis personal photographs.
The Professional Papers contain correspondence related to publishing, writings, presentation notes, certificates and awards,
reference files, graphics intended for, and material intended for the Baylis
California Houses of Gordon Drake project (including photographs, drawings, and reference files).
The Office Records contain some administrative records, office correspondence, and financial records. This series also includes
photographs of completed landscape design projects, reference photographs related to landscape design and construction details,
and photographs of built landscape structures (designed by Doug and Maggie Baylis). The Office Records contain clippings --
some of which are reference and many which were written or illustrated by (but not necessarily directly attributed to) the
Baylis team.
The Project Records contain a list of Doug Baylis's early projects, project files, drawings and photographs. In-progress and
site photograph locations are listed in manuscript column of Project Index, while photographs of finished projects are filed
in the Office Records series. The projects include residential, commercial, recreational, religious, transportation, humanitarian,
planning, governmental, educational, cultural, and funerary. Residential projects include Eichler's Highlands No. 3, Ping
Yuen Housing Project in San Francisco, and many smaller-scale residential gardens. Other projects include Pacific Area Headquarters
of the American National Red Cross, landscape plans for Bay Area Rapid Transit, Candlestick Park, IBM Headquarters, and San
Francisco's controversial Portsmouth Square.
The final series, Construction Details and Landscape Structures, contains sketches, measured drawings, and notes for countless
landscape details. These are divided into subseries based on type, including vegetation structures, landscape structures,
ground plane treatments, garden furniture, and garden buildings.
The following is a list of architectural projects from the Baylis Collection. For more complete information about collection
contents for each project, as well as shelf location and microfilming status, download the complete
Project Index in an Excel spreadsheet format by going to
http://www.ced.berkeley.edu/cedarchives/pindex/baylis.xls . For instructions on interpreting the Project Index, see
The Guide to the Project Index at
http://www.ced.berkeley.edu/cedarchives/pindex/guide.htm .
The project list below, derived from the Project Index, is arranged alphabetically by Project/Client Name and contains information,
where available, about the location, date, project type, collaborators, photographers, and formats for each project in the
collection.
Project/Client Name (location, date, project type) Collaborator (role), Photographer [Format - Ms=Manuscripts, Dr=Drawings, Ph=Photographs]
- * Alden, H.W. ( Woodside , CA ; 1952 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Almaden Country Club ( unknown , CA ; 1962 ; commercial ) [Dr]
- * American National Red Cross: Pacific Area Headquarters ( San Francisco , CA ; n.d. ; humanitarian ) Collaborator: Dailey, G.A. (architect); Steilberg, W.T. (consulting architect) [Dr]
- * Ames Research Center ( Moffett Field , CA ; 1965 ; commercial ) [Dr]
- * Bay Area Rapid Transit ( San Francisco Bay Area , CA ; 1968-1970 ; transportation ) Collaborator: Corlett & Spackman; Born, E. (architects) [Dr]
- * Baylis ( Stinson Beach , CA ; 1958-1964 ; residential ) Collaborator: Matthias Design (architect) [Dr]
- * Baylis (Baylis' Folly) ( Corte Madera , CA ; n.d. ; residential ) Collaborator: Lloyd, F.E. (architect) [Dr]
- * Benning, Arthur ( Ogden , UT ; 1955 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Bolinas Harbor Master Plan ( Stinson Beach , CA ; 1953 ; planning ) Collaborator: Volkmann & Stockwell (architects) [Ms]
- * Bolles, John S. ( San Francisco , CA ; 1951 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Brown & Kauffman: Prides Crossing ( Saratoga , CA ; 1962 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * California City Tree Planting ( California City , CA ; 1956 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * California Spring Home & Garden Show ( Oakland , CA ; 1957 ; exposition ) [Dr]
- * Candlestick Park ( San Francisco , CA ; 1970 ; commercial ) Collaborator: Bolles, J.S. (architect) [Dr]
- * Carver, G.W. Douglas ( Woodside , CA ; 1953 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Chase, Stephen ( Stinson Beach , CA ; 1964, 1968 ; residential ) [Ms, Dr]
- * Cherryhill West Homes ( Sunnyvale , CA ; 1958 ; residential ) Collaborator: Watt, D.M. (photographer) [Dr]
- * Christensen Nursery ( Fiesta , CA ; 1953 ; commercial ) [Dr]
- * Clinton, Vernon ( Twin Falls , ID ; 1966 ; residential ) [Ms, Dr, Ph]
- * Crowley, Sam ( Red Bluff , CA ; 1949 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Design: "Money Miser" house ( unknown ; n.d. ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Design: residence ( unknown ; n.d. ; residential ) [Ms]
- * Design: residence ( unknown , CA ; n.d. ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Design: residence ( unknown , CA ; n.d. ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Design: Unitarian Church ( unknown , CA ; n.d. ; religious ) [Dr]
- * Doty, Walter ( Belvedere , CA ; n.d. ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Doty, Walter, Memorial Project ( Palo Alto , CA ; n.d. ; funerary ) [Dr]
- * Egleston, William E. ( Contra Costa Co. , CA ; n.d. ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Eichler: Highlands No. 3 ( San Mateo , CA ; 1956 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * El Dorado College ( unknown , CA ; 1969 ; educational ) Collaborator: Chan/Rader (architects) [Dr]
- * Flynn, Dennis Memorial Project ( San Francisco , CA ; 1968 ; cultural ) Collaborator: Quesada Design [Dr]
- * Foothill Farms ( Sacramento , CA ; 1955 ; residential ) [Ms, Dr]
- * Gahagan ( Woodside , CA ; 1946 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Goldman ( unknown , CA ; 1950 ; residential ) Collaborator: Esherick, J. (architect) [Dr]
- * Halberstadt, M. ( San Anselmo , CA ; 1965 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Helen Spurrier Williams Memorial & Williams Memorial Grounds [see Williams, P.C.]
- * Heston, L.L. ( Stockton , CA ; 1948 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Hoeker, M. ( San Francisco , CA ; 1961 ; residential ) [Ms, Dr]
- * Howland, Joseph ( New Canaan , CT ; 1949, 1957 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Huey ( Torrance , CA ; 1951 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * IBM ( San Jose , CA ; 1957 ; commercial ) Collaborator: Bolles, J.S. (architect) [Dr]
- * Inyo Library & Office Building ( Bishop , CA ; 1952 ; governmental ) Collaborator: McCarthy, F.J. (architect) [Dr]
- * Jones Memorial Homes, Inc. ( San Francisco , CA ; 1972 ; residential-multi ) Collaborator: Chan/Rader (architects) [Dr]
- * Jones, Pirkle ( San Francisco , CA ; 1957-1959 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Kennedy, Don ( Menlo Park , CA ; 1958 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Lane, L.W. Jr. ( San Mateo , CA ; 1956 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Lyntton Plaza ( Palo Alto , CA ; 1954 ; recreational ) [Dr]
- * Marina Court ( San Mateo , CA ; 1952 ; residential ) Collaborator: Kooper & Maybach (architects) [Dr]
- * Marina Gardens [see Meyers Bros. Co., Inc]
- * Meyers Bros. Co., Inc.: Marina Gardens ( San Mateo , CA ; 1958 ; residential ) Collaborator: Kooper & Pollock (architects) [Dr]
- * Marshall, Houston ( WallaWalla , WA ; 1952 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Martin, Gully ( Stockton , CA ; 1952 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Masson, Paul (Paul Masson Winery) ( Saratoga , CA ; 1957 ; commercial ) Collaborator: Bolles, J. (architect); Adams, Ansel & Jones, Pirkle (photographers) [Dr, Ph]
- * McCleery, James ( Sacramento , CA ; 1956 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * McLaren Park Amphitheater ( San Francisco , CA ; 1970 ; cultural ) Collaborator: Yuill-Thornton, Warner & Levikow (architects) [Ms, Dr]
- * Meigs, Alice ( San Francisco , CA ; 1943 ; residential ) Collaborator: Eckbo, G. (landscape architect) [Dr]
- * Memory Gardens of Contra Costa, Inc. ( Contra Costa County , CA ; 1953 ; funerary ) Collaborator: Anshen & Allen (architects) [Dr]
- * Mourraille, Jean ( Hillsborough , CA ; 1959 ; residential ) [Ms, Dr]
- * Neiman, Aaron ( Chicago , IL ; 1952 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Newton, Frank ( Kent Woodlands , CA ; 1954 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Norris, Stewart ( Atherton , CA ; 1952 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Northridge Town House ( Los Angeles , CA ; 1964 ; residential-multi ) Collaborator: Welton Becket Associates (architects & engineers) [Dr]
- * O.M. Scott & Sons Co. ( Marysville , OH ; 1961 ; commercial ) [Dr]
- * Ohlson, Louis D. ( Oroville , CA ; 1951 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Oregon Ave. Expressway ( Palo Alto , CA ; 1963 ; transportation ) [Ms, Dr]
- * Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Co. ( various , CA ; 1947 ; commercial ) Collaborator: Clark & Beuttler (architects) [Dr]
- * Paganini House ( unknown ; n.d. ; residential ) Collaborator: Matthias Design (architect) [Dr]
- * Palmer, Richard ( San Francisco , CA ; 1951 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Park Lane ( Monterey , CA ; 1965 ; residential-multi ) Collaborator: Welton Becket Associates (architects & engineers) [Ms, Dr]
- * Paul Masson Winery [see Masson, Paul]
- * Peninsula Nurserymen ( Fiesta , CA ; 1953 ; commercial ) [Dr]
- * Peters & Wilson Nursery ( Fiesta , CA ; 1953 ; commercial ) [Dr]
- * Petri, Louis ( San Francisco , CA ; 1951 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Phillips, Mrs. John ( Fresno , CA ; 1969-1971 ; residential ) Collaborator: Matthias Design (architect) [Dr]
- * Philpott, George ( Hillsborough , CA ; 1953 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Philpott, George ( San Mateo , CA ; 1946 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Ping Yuen Housing Project ( San Francisco , CA ; 1959 ; residential-multi ) Collaborator: Bolles, J. (architect) [Dr]
- * Plath, Bert ( unknown ; n.d. ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Portsmouth Square ( San Francisco , CA ; 1960-1961 ; recreational ) [Ms, Dr]
- * Powelson, Harvey ( Walnut Creek , CA ; 1953 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Preston Meaders Corp. ( Dallas , TX ; 1962 ; commercial ) Collaborator: Broad & Nelson (architects) [Dr]
- * Price, Richard C. ( Atherton , CA ; 1953 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Price, W.F. ( Chicago , IL ; 1955 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Prides Crossing [see Brown & Kauffman]
- * Pynchon, Chas ( unknown , CA ; 1966 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Rancho Richmond/Riconada [see Stern & Price]
- * Redican ( Emerald Bay , CA ; n.d. ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Rickey's Rancho Rafael ( Marin County , CA ; 1957 ; commercial ) [Dr]
- * Salz, Ansley K. ( unknown ; 1954 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Sanderson, George ( Nantucket , MA ; 1956 ; residential ) [Ms, Dr]
- * Saviers, G.B. ( Sun Valley , ID ; 1956 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Sawyer ( Oakland , CA ; n.d. ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Schacter ( Belmont , CA ; 1950 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Schomer, L.M. ( Ross , CA ; 1951 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Sesnon, Porter ( Atherton , CA ; 1947 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Shasta College ( Shasta Joint Jr. College District , CA ; 1967 ; educational ) [Dr]
- * Siebenthaler's Garden Store ( Dayton , OH ; 1959 ; commercial ) [Dr, Ph]
- * Silver, E. ( Atherton , CA ; 1952 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Skelton, Robert ( Lafayette , CA ; 1951 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Smith, C. Souter ( Springfield , MO ; 1951 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Smith, H. Edward ( Denton , TX ; 1962 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Smith, John G. ( San Francisco , CA ; n.d. ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Soderling, Harold ( Woodside , CA ; 1952, 1954 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Soniat, Lucille ( New Orleans , LA ; 1950 ; residential ) [Ms, Dr]
- * St. Mark's Parish ( unknown ; n.d. ; religious ) [Dr]
- * St. Mary's College of California ( unknown , CA ; 1966 ; educational ) Collaborator: Felix Rosenthal Associates (architects) [Dr]
- * St. Peter the Martyr School ( Pittsburg , CA ; 1949 ; educational ) [Dr]
- * St. Stephen's Church ( Belvedere , CA ; 1958 ; religious ) [Dr]
- * Stalford, A.D. ( Beverly Hills , CA ; 1964 ; residential ) [Ms, Dr]
- * Stanford Hills Park Area ( San Francisco , CA ; 1959 ; recreational ) [Ms, Dr]
- * Stanford University: Freshman Dorms ( Palo Alto , CA ; n.d. ; educational ) [Dr]
- * Stanford University: Men's Dormitory ( Palo Alto , CA ; 1954 ; educational ) Collaborator: Spencer, E.T. & Ambrose, W.C. (architects) [Dr]
- * Starr, Allen ( Mission San Jose , CA ; 1952, 1954 ; residential ) [Ms, Dr]
- * Steadman ( unknown , CA ; n.d. ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Steinberg, Saul Sorbon ( Clayton Valley ; 1951 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Stern, A.J. ( Hillsborough , CA ; 1952 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Stern & Price: Rancho Richmond/Riconada ( unknown ; 1952 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Stiefvater ( Chico , CA ; 1958, 1963 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Stone, Edmund ( Hayward , CA ; 1953 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Stroh, G. ( Hillsborough , CA ; 1953 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Thal, Warren ( Santa Cruz , CA ; 1951 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Tredway ( Belvedere , CA ; 1952 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Truman, Mrs. Harry A. ( Red Bluff , CA ; 1952 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Turner, Arlo ( Modesto , CA ; 1955 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Turner, J.D. ( Stockton , CA ; 1949 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * University of California (UC) Statewide Office Building ( Berkeley , CA ; 1957 ; educational ) Collaborator: UC Berkeley architects & engineers [Dr]
- * UC: Natural Sciences Unit 1 ( Santa Cruz , CA ; 1965 ; educational ) Collaborator: Anshen & Allen (architects) [Dr]
- * Van Fleet, Wm. ( San Anselmo , CA ; n.d. ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Vaughn, F.D. ( Reno , NV ; 1947 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Ventura Town House ( San Buenaventura , CA ; 1963 ; residential & residential-multi ) Collaborator: Welton Becket Associates (architects) [Dr]
- * Washington Square ( San Francisco , CA ; 1956 ; recreational ) Collaborator: McCarthy, F.J. (architect) [Ms, Dr]
- * Weigel, M.J. ( Hillsborough , CA ; 1952 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Wells, D.A. ( Lindenwood , ; 1960 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Wessendorf Mortuary ( Santa Cruz , CA ; 1953 ; funerary ) [Dr]
- * Williams, Helen S., farm ( Marysville , OH ; 1967 ; planning ) [Dr]
- * Williams, P.C. ( Marysville , OH ; 1968 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Williams, P.C.: Helen Spurrier Williams Memorial & Williams Memorial Grounds ( Marysville , OH ; 1967 ; funerary ) [Dr]
- * Wolf, Robert ( Fairfax , CA ; 1960 ; residential ) [Ms, Dr]
- * Work, James ( Palo Alto , CA ; 1949 ; residential ) [Dr]
- * Zellerbach, John D. ( Sonoma , CA ; 1951 ; residential ) [Dr]
Gardner Dailey Collection,
Identifier/Call Number: (1988-1),
Contributing Institution: Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley.
Joseph Esherick Collection,
Identifier/Call Number: (1974-1),
Contributing Institution: Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley.
Francis Joseph McCarthy Collection
Identifier/Call Number: (1985-1)
Contributing Institution: Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley.