11/6/2003

Constance Colthorp, Rosalie Ehrlich, Alan Michelson, School of Information, University of Michigan

From the endnotes, written by Alan Michelson: Early in his career, before traveling to Europe, Willeke worked on details of Trowbridge and Livingston's new B. Altman Department Store (NY, NY, 1905-1906). He worked at nights and on weekends at the Atelier Hornbostel, a Beaux-Arts-styled architectural studio, run by the important architect Henry Hornbostel (1867-1961), where he met a number of talented young architects, including Otto Eggers (1882-1964) and Raymond Hood (1881-1934). For Trowbridge and Livingston in San Francisco, he drafted large portions of the important New Palace Hotel (San Francisco, CA, 1906-1909), the first of which was destroyed in the great earthquake of 1906. Shortly thereafter, Willeke began work for the San Francisco firm of Sellon and Hemmings. Sellon assumed the position of State Architect of California between 1907-1909. In this position, Willeke completed a number of major commissions for public buildings; these included the Folsom State Prison Maingate and Tower, Building for the Criminally Insane and Warden's Residence, San Quentin Prison layout, Main Cell Building, and Guard's Cottages'state mental hospital buildings at Agnew, Mendocino, Napa, Patton, and Stockton, and state normal schools at San Jose (now San Jose State University) and San Diego.