Résumé

Draftsman, A. Page Brown, Architect, San Francisco, CA, 12/1891-1896. Brown died prematurely on 01/21/1896.

Draftsman, F.O. Van Trees, Architect, San Francisco, CA, 1897-1898.

Principal, Sylvain Schnaittacher, Architect, San Francisco, CA, 1899, 1901-1926. In 1913, his office was in the 1st National Bank Building in San Francisco. (See "Schnaittacher, Sylvain, Architect," Who's Who on the Pacific Coast: A Biographical Compilation of Notable Living Contemporaries West of the Rocky Mountains, 1913, Franklin Harper, ed., [Los Angeles: Harper Publishing Company, 1913], p. 502.)

Professional Activities

Sylvain Schnaittacher was elected an Associate Member of the AIA during the last quarter of 1905. (See "Membership," American Institute of Architects Quarterly Bulletin, vol. VI, no. 4, 01/1906, p. 236.)

Schnaittacher was elected Secretary/Treasurer of the American Institute of Architects, San Francisco Chapter, 11/1907. he also served as the Secretary/Treasurer of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), San Francisco Chapter, in 1914-1915. (See "With the Architects and Engineers," Architect and Engineer of California, vol. XXXVIII, no. 2, 09/1914, p. 114 and "With the Architects and Engineers," Architect and Engineer of California, vol. LXI, no. 1, 04/1915, p. 106.)

Member, California State Board of Architecture, Sacramento, CA, 1910. He was appointed to this post by the Republican Governor James Gillett (1860-1937).

Secretary, California State Board of Architecture, Northern District, Boards, 1912. He was the Secretary-Treasurer of the California State Board of Architecture, Northern District, in 01/1919. He served with President Edgar A. Mathews and members John Bakewell, Jr., and Joseph Cather Newsom. (See Architect and Engineer, vol. LVI, no. 1, 01/1919, p. 112.)

Schnaittacher was the President of the American Institute of Architects, San Francisco Chapter, in 1920. (See "San Francsico Chapter," Architect and Engineer, vol. LXIII, no. 2, 11/1920, p. 116.)

High School / College

Graduate, Boys' High School, San Francisco, CA, 1891.

Coursework in Architecture, Mark Hopkins Institute of Art, San Francisco, CA, six years.

Relocation

Architect Sylvain Schnaittacher was born in San Francisco, CA, on 11/30/1874 to an Irish father and a Philadelphia-born mother. Working as a draftsman in 1898, Schnaittacher lived at 1913 Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation California State Library; Sacramento, California; Great Registers, 1866-1898; Collection Number: 4-2A; CSL Roll Number: 116; FHL Roll Number: 977277, accessed 07/08/2022.)

He dwelled in an apartment at 1770 Pacific Avenue in San Francisco in 1910. He and his wife employed to household staff members: May G. Lyons (born c. 1874 in NY) and Henry Meiji (born c. 1886 in Japan). They had an infant son at the time. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1910; Census Place: San Francisco Assembly District 41, San Francisco, California; Roll: T624_101; Page: 6B; Enumeration District: 0269; FHL microfilm: 1374114, accessed 07/08/2022.)

In 1913, he listed his place of residence as San Francisco's Keystone Apartments. (See "Schnaittacher, Sylvain, Architect," Who's Who on the Pacific Coast: A Biographical Compilation of Notable Living Contemporaries West of the Rocky Mountains, 1913, Franklin Harper, ed., [Los Angeles: Harper Publishing Company, 1913], p. 502.)

In 1920, Schnaittacher and his family lived at 3513 Jackson Street in San Francisco. The architect lived at this address with his wife Cecilia, and their two sons, Sylvain, Jr., and Aubrey. The family employed a domestic servant, Etta Nolan (possibly born c. 1871 in Canada). (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1920; Census Place: San Francisco Assembly District 31, San Francisco, California; Roll: T625_137; Page: 9A; Enumeration District: 160, accessed 07/08/2022.)

The architect died at the University of California Hospital in San Francisco at the age of 51.

His widow Cecile and son Sylvain, Jr., continued to live at 3513 Jackson in 1930. (See San Francisco, California, City Directory, 1930, p. 1272.)

Parents

His father was Carl Jacob Schnaittacher, and his mother Pauline Metzger.

He had a sister, Edith Schnaittacher Lindow.

Spouse

He wed Cecelia Shirek (born c. 10/1879 in CA-d. 09/15/1953 in Los Angeles County, CA) on 01/29/1908 in San Francisco. Various different dates have been listed for her birth. Her tombstone read "1888-1953," while the California Death Index listed her birthdate to have been 10/24/1880. The 1880 US Census listed her as being 9/12ths of a year old. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1880; Census Place: San Francisco, San Francisco, California; Roll: 73; Page: 159C; Enumeration District: 013, accessed 07/08/2022.)

Her father was a Adolph Shirek (born c. 03/1832 in Germany), a wholesale clothier in 1900, who came to the US from Germany in about 1860. Her mother was Dora Friedenthal (born c. 03/1843 in Germany), who immigrated to America about 1865. She and Adolph had nine children together, all of whom had been born in CA. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1900; Census Place: San Francisco, San Francisco, California; Roll: 106; Page: 11; Enumeration District: 0227; FHL microfilm: 1240106, accessed 07/08/2022.)

Children

He had two sons, Sylvain Schnaittacher, Jr., (born 12/17/1909 in San Francisco, CA-d. 12/1977 in Tucson, AZ) and Aubrey Charles Schnaittacher (born 02/04/1913 in San Francisco, CA-d. 01/13/1985 in CA)

Sylvain, Jr., worked as an artist in 1940. He wed Elaine Jay on 04/21/1937 in Los Angeles County, CA. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation California Department of Public Health, courtesy of www.vitalsearch-worldwide.com. Digital Images, accessed 07/08/2022.)

Aubrey worked for the Northrop Aircraft Corporation in Hawthorne, CA, on 10/16/1940 and resided at 715 South Normandie Avenue in Los Angeles at that time. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; WWII Draft Registration Cards for California, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 1611, accessed 07/08/2022.)

Biographical Notes

Schnaittacher applied for a US passport on 05/17/1900, to enable him to travel abroad for two years. His passport application described him at age 25 as standing 5-feet, 6-and-1/2-inches tall, and have "dark" eyes and black hair. His features were described as follows: Forehead, high; nose, aquiline; mouth, medium; chin, long; face, medium. He was Caucasian with a "dark" complexion. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington D.C.; Roll #: 552; Volume #: Roll 552 - 18 May 1900-24 May 1900, accessed 07/08/2022.)

Member, Free and Accepted Masons, Fidelity Lodge, San Francisco, CA.

Member, Argonaut Club, San Francisco, CA, c. 1913.

Member, Olympic Club, San Francisco, CA, c. 1913.

Member, Commonwealth Club, San Francisco, CA, c. 1913.

Member, Beresford Country Club, San Francisco, CA, c. 1913.

Member, Automobile Club of California, San Francisco, CA, c. 1913.

He listed his hobbies in 1913 as "automobiling" and golf. (See "Schnaittacher, Sylvain, Architect," Who's Who on the Pacific Coast: A Biographical Compilation of Notable Living Contemporaries West of the Rocky Mountains, 1913, Franklin Harper, ed., [Los Angeles: Harper Publishing Company, 1913], p. 502.)