Walker and Eisen, Architects (Partnership)

click to open gallery Aerial view of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, Beverly Hills, c. 2018; from Google Maps/Street View
view all images ( of 19 shown)

Partners: network

Clifford A. Balch, William Glenn Balch, John E. Costello, Percy Augustus Eisen, Charles Milton Hutchison Sr., Burt William Johnson, Albert Raymond Walker

Active 1919-1941

Firm Notes

Walker and Eisen based their architectural partnership in Los Angeles, CA.

Their firm was founded as an association among Albert Raymond Walker (1881-1958), Percy Augustus Eisen (1885-1946) and Charles M. Hutchison, Sr., (1881-1969), in late 1919. The journal American Architect and Architecture reported in its issue of 12/17/1919: "Albert R. Walker, P.A. Eisen, Charles M. Hutchison, associated architects, of Los Angeles, Calif., have formed a partnership for practice under the firm name of Walker and Eisen." (See American Architect and Architecture, vol. 116, no. 2295, 12/17/1919, p. 763.) Hutchison left the association in 1921.

In the 1920s and 1930s, Walker and Eisen worked on many theatre designs with Clifford A. Balch (1880-1963).

PCAD id: 70

map

Buildings and other works

NameDateCityState
1st National Bank of Fullerton, Spadra Road Branch, Fullerton, CA1930-1931FullertonCA
537 South Broadway Office Building, Downtown, Los Angeles, CA1931Los AngelesCA
Alameda Theatre, East Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CAEast Los Angeles, Los AngelesCA
Ambassador Hotel, Los Angeles, CA 1919-1921Los AngelesCA
Bay City Guaranty Building and Loan Association, Santa Monica, CA1929-1930Santa MonicaCA
Beverly-Wilshire Apartment Hotel, Beverly Hills, CA1926-1928Beverly HillsCA
Breakers Hotel, Long Beach, CA1925Long BeachCA
Chamber of Mines and Oil Building, Los Angeles, CALos AngelesCA
City of Upland, City Hall and Police Station, Upland, CA1930UplandCA
El Cortez Hotel, San Diego, CA1926San DiegoCA
El Mirador Hotel, Palm Springs, CA 1927-1928Palm SpringsCA
Empire Theatre, Long Beach, CA 1922Long BeachCA
Farmer's Insurance Company, Office Building, Los Angeles, CA1930Los AngelesCA
Fine Arts Building, Downtown, Los Angeles, CA1927Los AngelesCA
Four Star Theatre, Los Angeles, CA1931-1932Los AngelesCA
Hollywood Plaza Hotel, Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA1924-1925Los AngelesCA
Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), Humphreys Avenue School, East Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA1924-1925Los AngelesCA
McCarty, Walter G., Office Building and Hotel Project, Los Angeles, CA1923Beverly HillsCA
Mid-Wilshire Office Building, Los Angeles, CA1936Mid-Wilshire, Los AngelesCA
National Bank of Commerce, Los Angeles, CA1929-1930Los AngelesCA
Normandie Hotel, Los Angeles, CA1925Los AngelesCA
Oviatt, James, Building, Los Angeles, CA1927-1928Los AngelesCA
Plaza Hotel, Los Angeles, CA1922-1924Los AngelesCA
Roosevelt Theatre, Los Angeles, CA1921El CentroCA
Saint Andrews Golf and Country Club Project, San Pedro, Los Angeles, CA1926Los AngelesCA
South Basin Oil Company Store and Office Building, Los Angeles, CALos AngelesCA
Sunkist Growers, Incorporated, Headquarters Building, Downtown, Los Angeles, CA 1935Los AngelesCA
Taft Building, Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA1923Los AngelesCA
Title Insurance and Trust Company, Office Building #3, Downtown, Los Angeles, CA1928Los AngelesCA
Torrance Public Library, Central Library #2, Torrance, CA1936TorranceCA
United Artists Building, Downtown, Los Angeles, CA1927Los AngelesCA
United Artists Pasadena Theatre, Old Pasadena, Pasadena, CA1931-1932PasadenaCA
United Artists Theatre, 5112 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CALos AngelesCA
United Artists Theatre, Berkeley, CA1931-1932BerkeleyCA
United Artists Theatre, Downtown, Los Angeles, CA1927Los AngelesCA
United Artists Theatre, El Centro, CA1930-1931El CentroCA
Valley National Bank, Tucson, AZ1929TucsonCA

Publications

Abercrombie, Stanley, "The Regent Beverly Wilshire", Interior Design, 61: 9, 192-201, 1990-06. Breeze, Carla, American Art Deco Architecture and Regionalism, 241, 2003. Naylor, David, American Picture Palaces The Architecture of Fantasy, 114-116, 218, 1981. "United Artists Theater and Office Building", Architect & Engineer, 94: 35-50, 67-71, 8/1928. Hadley, Homer, "New Home of the California Fruit Growers Exchange", Architect & Engineer, 8-14, front cover, 2/1936. "Fine Arts Building", Architectural Digest, 6: 4, 37, "Beverly Wilshire Apartment Hotel, Los Angeles", Architectural Digest, 6: 4, 87, 1930. "Good Buildings Deserve Good Hardware Corbin", Architectural Record, 68: 3, 97, 09/1930. "Sunkist Building Murals", California Arts and Architecture, 14-17, 2/1936. "Sunkist Building Murals, 02/1936", California Arts and Architecture, 16-17, 02/1936. "Maintaining a Legacy", Downtown News--Downtown Landmarks, 12, 11/07/2005. Livernois, Joe, Hetzel the Photographer : Impressions of Imperial Valley, 30, 1982. Schippers, Donald J., "Walker and Eisen: twenty years of Los Angeles architecture, 1920-1940", Historical Society of Southern California Quarterly, 46: 379, Schippers, Donald J., "Walker and Eisen: twenty years of Los Angeles architecture, 1920-1940", Historical Society of Southern California Quarterly, 46: 379, Schippers, Donald J., "Walker and Eisen: twenty years of Los Angeles architecture, 1920-1940", Historical Society of Southern California Quarterly, 46: 389, Schippers, Donald J., "Walker and Eisen: twenty years of Los Angeles architecture, 1920-1940", Historical Society of Southern California Quarterly, 46: 371-394, Gebhard, David, Winter, Robert, Los Angeles An Architectural Guide, 230, 1994. Gebhard, David, Winter, Robert, "Beverly-Wilshire Hotel", Los Angeles An Architectural Guide, 128, 1994. Gebhard, David, Winter, Robert, Los Angeles An Architectural Guide, 27, 1994. Gebhard, David, Winter, Robert, Los Angeles An Architectural Guide, 233, 1994. Gebhard, David, Winter, Robert, "86. Texaco / United Artists Building, 1927", Los Angeles An Architectural Guide, 236, 1994. Gebhard, David, Winter, Robert, Los Angeles An Architectural Guide, 203, 1994. Gebhard, David, Winter, Robert, Los Angeles An Architectural Guide, 68, 1994. "Constructor of Sunkist Building will raze it", Los Angeles Times, Section K: 11, 11/7/1971. Hebert, Ray, "Sunkist Building being torn down", Los Angeles Times, Part II: 1+, 1/19/1972. "How 'Sunkist' Building will look when completed", Los Angeles Times, part I: 14, 04/21/1935. Rasmussen, Cecilia, "Opulent building brought the arts to downtown", Los Angeles Times, B4, 03/14/2004. "Plan Normandie Hotel", Los Angeles Times, F6, 1925-03-22. "Large New Apartment Opens Soon", Los Angeles Times, F4, 1927-12-25. "Applications Filed for New Constructions", Los Angeles Times, 13, 12/24/1933. "Increased Demand for Business Space Tempts Builders", Los Angeles Times, V1, 4 col. 3, 12/23/1923. "Actress to Start Work on Theatre", Los Angeles Times, A2, 02/25/1927. "Hotel Assured for Flintridge", Los Angeles Times, 10. Vincent, Roger, "L.A.'s Oviatt Building Sells for $9 Million", Los Angeles Times, C1, C7, 1/13/2004. "Record for Speed Seen in Building", Los Angeles Times, E4, 07/17/1927. A, "Hotel Corner-Stone To Be Laid Saturday", Los Angeles Times, 14, 1927-04-13. "Many Playhouses Built", Los Angeles Times, D1, 09/13/1931. "New Playhouse Building Done", Los Angeles Times, A11, 12/06/1927. "Building Front Will Be Unique", Los Angeles Times, E5, 04/03/1927. "Benedict, Noted Designer Furnishes Plaza Hotel", Los Angeles Times, 12, 1925-10-15. "Theatres of Los Angeles including Hollywood and more.", Marquee, 30: 1, 4-29, 1998. Swope, Christopher, "Family Values, Posterity's Loss", Preservation, "United Artists Theatre 06/05/1931, El Centro, CA", Southwest Builder and Contractor, 53, col 1, 06/05/1931. "United Artists Theatre 06/19/1931, El Centro, CA", Southwest Builder and Contractor, 56, 06/19/1931. "Humphreys Avenue School plans", Southwest Builder and Contractor, 54, 11/14/1924. "Architects Walker and Eisen prepare plans for new buildings", Southwest Builder and Contractor, 50, 07/04/1924. "United Artists Theatre 12/11/1931, El Centro, CA", Southwest Builder and Contractor, 49, col 1, 12/11/1931. "United Artists Theatre 01/15/1932, El Centro, CA", Southwest Builder and Contractor, 60, col 2, 01/15/1932. "United Artists Theatre 03/11/1932, El Centro, CA", Southwest Builder and Contractor, 41, col 3, 03/11/1932. Kim, Queena sook, "Fate of Faded Ambassador Hotel Divides Korean Groups", Wall Street Journal, B1, B8, 01/08/2003.
Pacific Coast Architecture Database (PCAD) — © 2005-Alan Michelson

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