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In his article, "The American Colonial Revival in the 1930s," architectural historian David Gebhard used the Townley House as an exemplar of the California Ranch house beginning to proliferate in the 1930s in all parts of the state. (See David Gebhard, "The American Colonial Revival in the 1930s," Winterthur Portfolio, vol. 22, no. 2/3, Summer-Autumn 1987, p. 139.) In general, the house contained some of the same characteristics displayed earlier at William W. Wurster's Gregory Farmhouse, (Scotts Valley, CA, 1927), including the absence of ornamentation, multiple living porches, projecting living room, and rambling L-shaped plan. The Townley House represented the suburbanization of the ranch house during the 1930s, when open and simple weekend houses like the Gregory House were formalized with specialized rooms--breakfast room, dressing rooms, enclosed dining room and playroom--and enclosed to the outside to a greater degree. The multi-purpose, external corredor of the Gregory Farmhouse was notably absent in the posh San Marino environment. According to an article in the Architect and Engineer, the Townley House had "An unusual, rambling floor plan which includes child's play room and breakfast room...[and cost] approximately $7,000 to build..." The author indicated that it had been highly publicized: "... this Callforiia residence has attracted wide architectural interest." (See "House for Richard Townley, San Marino, California, Harold O. Sexsmith, Architect," Architect and Engineer, 12/1937.)

PCAD id: 19260