Armet & Davis in Sacramento: Remembering Eldon Davis


Sad day in Googieland, my friends. Eldon Davis, of Armet, Davis, Newlove Architects in Los Angeles passed away last Friday. I've posted before about their work here in Sacramento and wanted to elaborate further today. More on that below but first a little history.

(Aside: I've been hobbling around post-surgery and became aware of Mr. Davis' passing via the personal and public Facebook pages of Alan Hess, Mid-Century Modern Fresno, John Crosse of Southern California Architectural History, MH of Modernesia, and SH of Modern Tulsa to name a few. Many thanks to them for alerting me to the news.)


"With architect Louis Armet, Davis opened a local firm in 1947 and developed a reputation for being willing to try almost anything to catch the attention of motorists who sped by.

The architects were chief proponents of Googie, named for a now-defunct cafe in West Hollywood, and derided by critics in the 1950s and 1960s 'who didn't think a lot of our work but we didn't care,' said Victor Newlove, a partner in the firm who started as an intern in the 1960s.

With their soaring and exaggerated roof lines, their buildings appeared to defy gravity, a structural innovation for which Davis was largely responsible....
Neon signs became a trademark, and they devised an animated sign for Pann's, a coffee shop in Westchester. Run by the same family since it opened in 1958, the restaurant is probably the best preserved example of Davis' work, Newlove said....

Other Davis designs include prototypes for local Denny's and Bob's Big Boy restaurants, blueprints that were exported across the country.

'They brought modern architecture to the daily life of the average Angeleno,' said Alan Hess, who wrote the 2004 book "Googie Redux."

'There's a great deal of interest and affection for their buildings,' Hess said. 'The work of Armet and Davis is as significant to Southern California as Richard Neutra or Rudolph Schindler.'"


During my microfilm searches, I've run across three buildings by Armet & Davis in Sacramento thus far. The following is by no means an exhaustive list but simply what I've verified to date.


1962: SAM'S BIG TOP RESTAURANT. (Note the similarities to Norm's in picture above!)

From my microfilm research, Sacramento Bee, February 11, 1962, page D12 -- "DOWNTOWN RESTAURANT -- Construction is scheduled to start at 16th and K Streets about March 1st on the Big Top, a restaurant to be operated by Pioneer Restaurants, Inc., headed by Sam Gordon. The facility will occupy the site of the former Stan's Drive in. Containing 3,650 square feet of floor space, the restaurant will feature 24 hour booth and counter service. It will have seating accommodations for 97 persons and parking space in the rear for 45 cars. The restaurant will be decorated in a circus theme."

Sadly, Sam's Big Top Restaurant at the corner of 16th & K Streets is no longer there. But thanks to the power of microfilm research, we can enjoy the pictures of it after it was newly constructed:



1964: EPPIE'S COFFEE SHOP. I've written about this still existing but unoccupied building before. But here are some "new" pictures from my microfilm research.


Rendering from the Sacramento Bee, Sunday Jan 19, 1964 p. C6 -- "Angular roof lines are key feature of Louis Armet's design for Eppie's Coffee Shop, a $250,000 development on which work has begun at 30th and N Streets"


Photo from my microfilm research - Sacramento Bee, Sunday June 21, 1964 p. D24 -- "OPERATING - Eppie's Restaurant and Coffee Shop, a $285,000 folded roof structure, opened last week at 30th and N Streets, a corner on which one motel was recently built and construction of another is about to begin. The restaurant is operated by Sacramento caterer Eppie Johnson under a lease from Edwin J. Bedell, former capital hotel man and restauranteur. The structure was designed by the Los Angeles architectural firm of Armet and Davis."

1968: EPPIE'S COFFEE SHOP #2


Photo from my microfilm research, Sacramento Bee, Saturday August 17, 1968 p. D5 -- "NEW AREA RESTAURANT - Eppie's Restaurant No. 2 opened last Thursday at 6431 Florin Road. The restaurant has a California modern decore (sic) in an orange color scheme. The Lawrence Construction Co. of Sacramento was the contractor for the 4,000 square foot building designe by the architect (sic)  firm of Armet & Davis of Los Angeles. The restaurant represents a total investment of $390,000."

I'll be keeping an eye out for more Armet & Davis designs in Sacramento. For more pictures and information on Googie architecture in Sacramento, please visit my incomplete and ever-expanding Flickr set.

Life at Dreyfuss & Blackford in 2011

I'm so happy to be sharing a fun video recently posted by Jason A. Silva et al. of Dreyfuss & Blackford Architects. It's a glimpse into their life and work at D&B in the present -- with a nod to their past, of course. Their firm put this together for an open house event with AIACV. Love this!


2011 Dreyfuss & Blackford Life from Jason A. Silva, AIA on Vimeo.

You can keep up with their current and future work by checking out Jason's other Vimeo postsDreyfuss & Blackford's Flickr photostream and website.



I've posted before about the work of Dreyfuss & Blackford in three separate posts (see 1 2 3). There is still so much to say about this Sacramento architectural firm who has been going strong for over 60 years!

Thanks for joining us at the Crocker Art Museum for Visual Acoustics

Introductions by Ian Merker, AIACV and Gretchen Steinberg, SacMod

Many, many thanks for those of you who joined us at the successful screening of Visual Acoustics at the Crocker Art Museum on Thursday, April 7, 2011. We were pleased and humbled to see the event almost sold out. Thanks to the Crocker Art Museum for collaborating with AIACV and SacMod and letting us use their new and beautiful state-of-the-art venue. Thanks also to Director Eric Bricker for making his wonderful film (his first!) and taking the time out of his busy schedule to join us.

Our educational display with photos taken by Julius Shulman in Sacramento
Eric Bricker, Director of Visual Acoustics and Gretchen Steinberg, SacMod
Dane Henas from SacMod being goofy -- doing his best Vanna White impression, ha ha!

We presented an educational display with several photos that Julius Shulman took in Sacramento in the early 1960s. We decided to seek them out and research them at the last minute so people could enjoy a special connection with him in our town. Many thanks to historian John Crosse (who was also a researcher for Visual Acoustics), JW and B for their contributions to our educational display. Thanks also to Ian Merker from AIACV (our colleague and co-presenter extraordinaire) for printing the images and providing the materials to display the images. Special thanks also to our former SacMod colleague Kris Lannin Liang who had to move away from Sacramento but initially worked on this event.

Jerry Blomberg and Dane Henas with an original copy of an ad featuring Jerry's Sacramento home

My favorite Shulman pictures taken in Sacramento are of a home in South Land Park Estates; these were featured in a 1961 ad for American Saint Gobain glass. The home was collaboratively designed by homeowner Jerry Blomberg and George Muraki, with George Muraki being the architect on record. Last year we printed the ad we had researched for the Sacramento Mid-Century Modern Home Tour display. Little did we know at the time that the images were taken by Julius Shulman. I invited Mr. Blomberg to join us at the event and was so pleased to see him show up -- with his own copy of the ad and another magazine article that I had been looking for but was unable to find in time!

Director Eric Bricker leading a post-screening discussion

Here are more photos taken at the event. Thanks again to everyone who made the event possible; and a shout-out to Midtown Monthly and to Sacramento area bloggers Davis Life Magazine, Mimomito, Rebecca Crowther of Sac History Happenings (Sacramento Bee), Capitol Creative Collective, Glitter and Grunge and our Twitter friends for helping spread the word.



Did you know that Julius Shulman photographed several Sacramento buildings?

We will be sharing some of these photographs with you in person at Crocker Art Museum's Film Frame: Visual Acoustics this Thursday evening. My favorite photos of the bunch are of a residence designed by Sacramento architect George Muraki for the Blomberg family. You may recall that Mr. Muraki's personal home was featured in the Sacramento Mid-Century Modern Home Tour last June.


Why not come directly to the Crocker after work? Remember -- admission includes access to the museum. Have a bite to eat at the Crocker Cafe and relax with a cocktail.

See Crocker's website for details on buying tickets. Hope to see you there.