Fate of Ambassador Hotel Will Bear on Architect's Legacy

Crisis, The, Jul/Aug 2005 by Britt, Bruce

In a 1937 issue of American magazine, Williams wrote: "Occasionally, I encountered irreconcilables who simply refused to give me a hearing, but, on the whole, I have been treated with an amazing fairness."

But he betrays a sadness when, in that same article, he writes of a client's home in a prestigious community. "Sometimes I have dreamed of living there. I could afford such a home. But this evening, leaving my office, I returned to my own small, inexpensive home in an unrestricted, comparatively undesirable section of Los Angeles...because...I am a Negro."

Gail Kennard is president of the Kennard Design Group (KDG) in Los Angeles, the oldest continuously operated, Black-owned architecture firm in the West. KDG was founded in 1957 by her father, Robert Kennard, who met Williams and, encouraged by the elder architect's trailblazing success, entered the field a generation later.

Kennard, who took the helm of KDG after her father's death in 1995, says Williams is remembered for his remarkable vision and stamina. (It is estimated that his firm handled more than 3,000 projects.) "We can only imagine what he went through in order to practice back in those days," Kennard says. "Often, a firm like ours is able to get work... because of political pressure from Black elected officials. But he didn't have that."

Williams was a revivalist who worked in a mind-bending variety of styles, including English Tudor, French Regency, European Gothic, Colonial, Byzantine, Pueblo and Roman. Despite his contempo-traditionalist bent, he was also capable of modern design, as evidenced in much of his residential work after 1945, including his own home in the Lafayette Square area of LA. in 1951. Though it maintained traditional elements, according to Hudson's book, the modernity of Williams's residence was exhibited in its "open, flowing plan and in the extensive glass doors that provided a strong link between the interior and the secluded garden."

"He was in the same company as Frank Lloyd Wright," Kennard says. "He was part of a generation that approached architecture more as an artist."

Noting that a "Paul Williams-inspired" estate recently listed for $7.2 million, Beverly Hills realtor Crosby Doe says Williams's influence cannot be overstated. He says the architect's name adds value to properties. (A Williams-designed residential property on Sunset Boulevard was recently on the market for $15 million and sold in March for $19.5 million.)

"His work has broad international appeal," says Doe. "I find that people from Europe, Japan, the Middle East - many, many people I have sold houses to in the past know of, and appreciate, Williams's work and are willing to pay a premium for it."

Though many of Williams's structures remain, including the First AME Church in Los Angeles, where he was a lifelong member, some significant sites have been demolished. (The Long Beach Naval Station was razed after Congress transferred the land for redevelopment in 1996.) In a debate that echoes the Ambassador controversy, the Williams-designed Morris Landau residence was recently purchased by Harvard-Westlake School.