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Male, US, born 1882-07-19, died 1952-10-28
Associated with the firms network
Johnson and Kaufmann, Architects; Johnson, Kaufmann, and Coate, Architects; Johnson, Reginald D., Architect; Johnson, Wilson, Merrill, and Alexander, Architects; Winslow and Johnson, Associated Architects
Résumé
Partner, Johnson, Kaufmann and Coate, Architects, Pasadena, CA, 1921-1925.
Principal, Reginald D. Johnson, Architect, Pasadena, CA, 1925-1934. In 1942, Johnson listed his place of business as 3717 South Sycamore Avenue in Pasadena, CA. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation: The National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; World War II Draft Cards (4th Registration) for the State of California; Record Group Title: Records of the Selective Service System, 1926-1975; Record Group Number 147, accessed 09/24/2018.
Professional Activities
Johnson was elected as a Director, Allied Architects Association of Los Angeles. This group was formed c. 1920.
Professional Awards
Fellow, American Institute of Architects (FAIA).
Johnson received a citation for the "Best One-Story Home Built in America," during 1929 from the Better Homes in America organization.
Archives
Approximately 6 linear feet of archival material by Johnson has been preserved by the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), Architecture and Design Museum. In the Reginald Johnson Papers, Collection #0000146, the Online Archive of California has indicated this about the collection: "The Reginald Johnson papers span 6 linear feet and date from circa 1912 to circa 1950. The collection consists primarily of black-and-white interior and exterior photographs of the Chase H. Residence in Hope Ranch as well as presentation boards of residences in the Santa Barbara and Pasadena areas. The collection also contains architectural drawings and reprographic copies of residential and commercial designs by Johnson." (See UCSB, Architecture and Design Collection, Art, Design & Architecture Museum, "Finding Aid for the Reginald Johnson papers, circa 1912-circa 1950," accessed 04/21/2016.)
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. Architecture Collections, also maintains a collection of Johnson's papers, the Reginald D. Johnson Collection, covering materials from c. 1906-1947. The Huntington's scope and contents notes for the collection stated: "The Reginald D. Johnson Collection spans the years 1906 to 1947 and consists primarily of plans, photographs and drawings of Johnson's architectural projects in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, California. The collection includes material that was acquired as two separate donations between 1988 and 1993: an album of photographs and drawings of the Baldwin Hills Village planned residential community in the Baldwin Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles; an album of photographs of residential projects in Pasadena and Santa Barbara, and three drawings for buildings in San Marino, Pasadena, and Alhambra. An additional donation made in 2011 includes blueprints and photographs of “Penjerrick,” the residence of Pierre E. Letchworth in Covina, California, built in 1915. Credited photographers represented in the collection include William M. Clarke, E. M. Pratt, the Padilla Company, and the Gill Engraving Company." (See the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. Architecture Collections, "Reginald D. Johnson Collection: Finding Aid," accessed 04/21/2016.)
Relocation
Reginald Davis Johnson was born in Northern Westchester County, New York State in 1882. He moved his family to Los Angeles to become the first Episcopal Bishop of Los Angeles in 1895. His parents lived in a large Shingle Style residence at 415 S. Grand Avenue, Pasadena, CA until Bishop Johnson's death in 1928.
According to the 1920 US Census, Reginald Johnson, his wife, and three children lived at 415 South Hill Avenue in Pasadena. At this time, the Johnson household contained his mother-in-law, Ada M. Leupp (born c. 1851 in NY), Ethel L. Leupp (born c. 1881 in NY), and three servants: Lucinda Houser (born c. 1864 in Canada), Carrie E. Kerns (born c. 1875 in PA), and Elizabeth White (born c. 1885 in Ireland). (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1920; Census Place: Pasadena, Los Angeles, California; Roll: T625_117; Page: 6B; Enumeration District: 525; Image: 944,accessed 04/21/2016.)
A decade later, the 1930 US Census reported that the Johnsons lived at 1380 Lombardy Road in Pasadena, in a residence worth a sizeable $40,000. All three children still lived at home at this time, along with two servants, Emma Hanson (born c. 1881 in IL) and Irene Wells (born c. 1904 in MN). This area contained houses of substantial size and value; the ten neighboring houses listed on Johnson's 1930 US Census page had an average value of $63,000. The mean house price in Los Angeles County in 1930 was $4,850. (See Gary D. Libecap, Owens Valley Revisited: A Reassessment of the West's First Great Water Transfer, [Stanford, CA: Stanford Economics and Finance, c. 2007], p.
Following his father's death, Reginald designed a new house for his mother at 1590 Lombardy Road in Pasadena, nearby to his own house at 1380 Lombardy. He resided here in 1942, according to his World War II draft registration card.(See Ancestry.com, The National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; World War II Draft Cards (4th Registration) for the State of California; Record Group Title: Records of the Selective Service System, 1926-1975; Record Group Number: 147, accessed 09/24/2018.)
Toward the end of his life, Johnson resided atat 525 South Grand Avenue in Pasadena. His son, Joseph, lived next door.
He died in Pasadena, Los Angeles County, CA, at the age of 70.
Parents
Reginald was an only child. His father, Joseph Horsfall Johnson (1847-1928), served as the first Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, CA, between 1895-1928, and was a leading member of the clergy regionally during his 33 years in office. His father had been born in Schenectady County, NY, attended Williams College, and died in Los Angeles on 05/16/1928. His mother was Isabel Davis (1851-1940).
Spouse
He married Kathleen Leupp Johnson (1885-1975).
Children
Son, Joseph Leupp Johnson (1911-1987), became a notable architect in California, working for William W. Wurster (1895-1973), San Francisco, CA, in the 1930s. He later practiced with the Los Angeles architect, Gregory Ain (1908-1988).
Biographical Notes
His World War II draft registration card described Johnson at age 59 as standing 6-feet tall, weighing 180 pounds, with brown hair, brown eyes, and a light complexion. (See Ancestry.com, The National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; World War II Draft Cards (4th Registration) for the State of California; Record Group Title: Records of the Selective Service System, 1926-1975; Record Group Number: 147, accessed 09/24/2018.)
Member, Flintridge Riding Club, Flintridge, CA, c. 1942.
Johnson's obituary in the Architectural Forum, (01/1953, p. 53), noted that the architect quit his practice in 1934 when he saw the squalid conditions of Washington D.C.'s slums, and "...spent most of the rest of his life battling for public housing, slum clearance, urban rehabilitation, and became a convert to contemporary design." An obituary composed by the architect Robert Evans Alexander focused on Johnson's metamorphosis into a social activist and public housing expert. (See Robert E. Alexander, "Reginald Davis Johnson, F.A.I.A., 1882-1952," Journal of the American Institute of Architects, vol. XIX, no. 2, 02/1953, p. 81-85.)
PCAD id: 610
