Collection Guide
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Mullgardt, Louis Christian collection
1952.-2
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Contributing Institution:
University of California, Berkeley. College of Environmental Design. Environmental Design Archives
Title: Louis Christian Mullgardt collection
Creator:
Mullgardt, Louis Christian, 1866-1942
Identifier/Call Number: 1952.-2
Physical Description:
7 Linear Feet:
25 rolls, 3 FF
Date (inclusive): 1907-1927
Language of Material:
English
.
The Louis Christian Mullgardt collection consists of specifications and drawings for the Evans residence in Mill Valley, drawings
and a photograph of the Court of the Ages (from the Panama Pacific International Exposition), drawings of a commercial building
in Honolulu, and photographs of an unidentified residence in Piedmont, California. The collection also includes photographs
and photocopies of specifications and correspondence for the Stevens residence in San Jose. These documents are reference
copies of privately held materials, and the Environmental Design Archives does not hold copyright on the records.
The Mullgardt collection is comprised of numerous individual donations. Records of the Evans residence were donated in 1952
and 1970, and the Stevens residence materials were donated in 1989.
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], Louis Christian Mullgardt Collection, (1952-2), Environmental Design Archives, University of California,
Berkeley.
Louis Christian Mullgardt was born in Washington, Missouri in 1866. At fifteen years old, Mullgardt apprenticed with architectural
firms in St. Louis. Six years later, he went to work for the firm of Shepley, Rutan, and Coolidge in Boston, Massachusetts,
where he worked on plans for Stanford University. In 1889, Mullgardt enrolled as a special student at Harvard College for
a brief period of formal training that was cut short by illness after a semester. By 1891, he was back to work in Chicago
for Henry Ives Cobb, where Mullgardt was responsible for the exterior of the Newbury Library and detailing the Fisheries Building
at the World Columbian Exposition.
Mullgardt formed his first partnership—Stewart, McClure, and Mullgardt—in Chicago in 1892, and the firm lasted for two years.
He then went on a year long European tour. In 1899 he formed a short-lived partnership with John M. Dunham. From 1903 to 1904
Mullgardt worked as a structural consultant in England, where he encountered the Arts and Crafts style. In 1905, Mullgardt
arrived in San Francisco opening his own office in early 1906. Surprisingly rather than engaging in the commercial reconstruction
of San Francisco following the earthquake and fire designed residences in the Oakland, Berkeley, and Piedmont Hills. These
houses were in the bungalow style using natural materials and a sensitivity to the topography.
In addition to residences, Mullgardt designed the San Francisco Juvenile Court and Detention Home (1914-1916), a 9-story reinforced
concrete building, and the Durant School in Oakland. In 1912, Mullgardt was appointed to the board of the Panama Pacific International
Exposition. For the Exposition, he designed the "Court of the Ages," an ornate courtyard that included an "altar tower" on
one side. Mullgardt designed the President's house for Stanford University (1915-1918), the M. H. de Young Memorial Museum
in Golden Gate Park (1916-1921), and a block-long business center in Honolulu (1919-1921). After a world tour in 1922-1923,
Mullgardt returned to San Francisco. It was a difficult period, and he did not adapt well to the new architectural trends.
Mullgardt died in a state hospital in Stockton, California, in 1942. Most of his drawings were reputedly destroyed after his
death.
Source: Clark, Robert Judson. Louis Christian Mullgardt: An Exhibition Marking the Centennial Year of the Architects Birth.
Santa Barbara and San Francisco, 1966