Male, US, born 1862-02-07, died 1957-10-03
Associated with the firms network
Brown, A. Page, Architect; Carrere and Hastings, Architects; Maybeck and White, Architect and Engineer; Maybeck, Bernard R., Architect; Maybeck, Howard and Mathison, Architects; Maybeck, Howard and White, Architects
Résumé
Draftsman, Carrère and Hastings, Architects, New York, NY.
Draftsman, A. Page Brown, Architect, San Francisco, CA, 1890-1894.
Principal, Bernard R. Maybeck Architect, Berkeley, CA, 1894- . In 1903, Maybeck maintained his office at 307 Sansome Street in San Francisco. (See Crocker-Langley San Francisco City Directory, 1903, p. 2001.)
Partner, Maybeck, Howard and White, Architects, San Francisco, CA, -1909, 1921.
Partner, Maybeck and White, Architects, San Francisco, CA, c. 1914-1918, 1930s. From at least 1916 until 1920, Maybeck and White operated in the Lick Building in San Francisco, CA. (See San Francisco, California, City Directory, 1916, p. 2068 and San Francisco, California, City Directory, 1920, p. 1676.)
Teaching
Instructor, Mark Hopkins Institute of Art, San Francisco, CA.
Instructor, Descriptive Geometry, University of California, Department of Industrial and Decorative Art, Berkeley (UCB), Berkeley, CA, c. 1896-1897. While an Instructor at Berkeley, Maybeck facilitated the campus redesign project bankrolled by Phoebe Apperson Hearst (1842-1919), mother of newspaper mogul, William Randolph Hearst (1863-1951). This program predated the more formalized architectural program set up by John Galen Howard (1864-1931) after 1903.
Professional Awards
Recipient, American Institute of Architects (AIA) Gold Medal, 1951; this award was the institute's highest individual prize.
College
Dipl., École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris, France, 1882-1886. Maybeck studied in the atelier of Louis-Jules André (born 06/24/1819 - d/. 01/30/1890), who himself was a disciple of the architectural innovator with iron, Henri Labrouste (1801-1875).
Relocation
Bernard R. Maybeck was born in Brooklyn, NY, to German parents.
In 04/1881, Maybeck listed an address of 209 East 42nd Street in New York, NY, on a US passport application. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington D.C.; NARA Series: Passport Applications, 1795-1905; Roll #: 239; Volume #: Roll 239 - 01 Mar 1881-19 Apr 1881, accessed 08/11/2025.)
In 1896, Maybeck resided on the west side of Grove Street, between Gilman and Rose Streets in Berkeley. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation California State Library; Sacramento, California; Great Registers, 1866-1898; Collection Number: 4-2A; CSL Roll Number: 4; FHL Roll Number: 976450, accessed 08/11/2025.) He lived at 1300 Grove Street in 1904. John E. Maybeck resided at 1423 Grove. (See Ancestry.com, (See Source Citation California State Library; Sacramento, California; Great Register of Voters, 1904, accessed 08/11/2025.)
Maybeck, his wife and two children dwelled on Buena Vista Way in 1910. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1910; Census Place: Berkely, Alameda, California; Roll: T624_72; Page: 8a; Enumeration District: 0040; FHL microfilm: 1374085, accessed 08/11/2025.) Ten years later, they inhabited a dwelling at 2601 Buena Vista Way. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1920; Census Place: Berkeley, Alameda, California; Roll: T625_93; Page: 1A; Enumeration District: 193, accessed 08/11/2025.)
Bernard, Annie and Kerna lived at 2701 Buena Vista Way by 1930, in a residence valued at $10,000. This was about average for the neighborhood which consisted of several rented houses. Son Wallin lived nearby in a rented house at 1471 La Loma Way with his wife Jacomean and their two daughters. They likely rented it from his father for $1. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1930; Census Place: Berkeley, Alameda, California; Page: 8B; Enumeration District: 0320; FHL microfilm: 2339846, accessed 08/11/2025.)
Bernard and Annie Maybeck lived at 2745 Buena Vista Way in Berkeley, as per the 1950 US Census. This census listed his occupation as a "painter and designer." (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Berkeley, Alameda, California; Roll: 3222; Page: 3; Enumeration District: 61-34, accessed 08/11/2025.)
The architect died in Berkeley, CA, at the age of 95, and was buried at the Mountain View Cemetery, Oakland, CA.
Parents
His mother's maiden name was Kern.
Spouse
Maybeck married Annie White (b. 06/22/1867 in MO- d. 04/22/1956 in Berkeley, CA) in Kansas City, Jackson County, MO, on 10/29/1890. They obtained their marriage license on 10/27/1890. (See Ancestry.com,Source Information: Missouri, U.S., Jackson County Marriage Records, 1840-1985 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data: Marriage Records. Jackson County Clerk, Kansas City, Missouri, accessed 08/11/2025.)
Children
He and Annie had the following children: Kerna McKeehan Maybeck Gannon (born 08/27/1903 in Berkeley, CA-d. 03/07/1987 in San Diego County, CA) and Wallin White Maybeck (born 09/15/1898 in Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium-d. 07/26/1962 in Cloverdale, CA).
Biographical Notes
Maybeck applied for a US passport on 04/12/1881. He intended to travel to France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland according to this document. It described him at age 19 as being 5-feet, 7-inches tall, and having brown eyes and hair, a "full" nose, "medium" mouth, "round" chin, and a "round and full" face. He was Caucasian with a “dark” complexion. It indicated that Maybeck had slight scars on both temples. A New York notary public, James H. Fitch, forwarded Maybeck's US passport application at the same time as that of Henry Beineix (born 1860 in New York, NY), to the Assistant UW Secretary of State in Washington, DC. Beneix may or may not have been acquainted with Maybeck. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington D.C.; NARA Series: Passport Applications, 1795-1905; Roll #: 239; Volume #: Roll 239 - 01 Mar 1881-19 Apr 1881, accessed 08/11/2025.) He worked as an upholsterer in New York City, and he may have been related to Adrien L. Beineix, who became an architect practicing in New York during the 1940s and 1950s.
Bernard Maybeck joined the elite Bohemian Club on 11/10/1904. (SeeThe Bohemian Club San Francisco, Certificate of Incorporation, Constitution, By-Laws and Rules, Officers, Committees, and Members, [San Francisco: Bohemian Club, 1907], p. 100.)
Eight of Maybeck's buildings have been placed on the National Register of Historic Places, as of 03/02/2006. The Los Angeles Times noted of Maybeck in its "Californians" column of 05/08/1904: "Bernard Maybeck of Berkeley, popular as a clubman and architect in the bay cities, has come out as an enthusiastic advocate of the 'the simple life.'" (See "Californians" Los Angeles Times, 05/04/1904, p. A5.)
Maybeck traveled from San Francisco, CA, to Honolulu, HI, aboard the Matson Navigation Company's S.S. Wilhelmina, arriving on 06/13/1922. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington, D.C.; Series Title: Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving At Honolulu, Hawaii, Compiled 02/13/1900 - 12/30/1953; NAI Number: A3422; Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787 - 2004; Record Group Number: RG 85, accessed 08/11/2025.)
PCAD id: 749