"An architecture that is only symbol—and a borrowed symbol at that—is a china egg. It will not hatch." -- Harwell Hamilton Harris

Frank Harmon and Audie Schechter remember Harris here.

HARWELL HAMILTON HARRIS, FAIA (1903-1990)

Biography from the University of Texas Archives:

Born in Redlands CA, Harris grew up in the Imperial Valley area and later attended San Bernardino High School. In 1923, he moved to Los Angeles to attend the Otis Art Institute and in 1925, he began to study drawing and painting with Stanton Macdonald-Wright at the Art Students League.  In 1928 he enrolled at the Frank Wiggins Trade School and found work in the studio of Richard Neutra.  His ambition to be a sculptor, however, was changed after visiting Frank Lloyd Wright's Hollyhock House. Soon he applied to the architecture program at the University of California at Berkeley. He never attended, however, as he found employment with Richard Neutra and Rudolf Schindler. Neutra discouraged him from attending formal classes in architecture although he did study under Neutra at the Los Angeles Academy of Modern Art. While in Neutra's office, he worked on the Lovell Health House and the Rush City Competition.

In 1933, Harris left the Neutra office to establish his own independent practice in Los Angeles. His first commissions were for small homes, based on a modular system, in which he applied the modernist principles he had learned in the offices of Neutra and Schindler. In 1937, John Entenza, the influential editor of California Arts and Architecture, commissioned Harris to design his own home.  In 1943, Harris moved to New York where he taught at Columbia University and was involved in the CIAM Chapter for Relief and Postwar Planning.

Upon his return to California in 1944, Harris and his wife Jean rediscovered the work of Greene and Greene. In 1952, Harris accepted the position of Dean for the School of Architecture at The University of Texas. Although he lacked both formal architectural training and administrative experience, he expanded the School's programs and attempted to revolutionize the methods of teaching. Harris directly involved some of the students in the design process when he collaborated with them on the Texas State Fair House (1954), offering them actual experience with the design and construction process. Harris hired new faculty whose innovative ideas clashed with the traditional Beaux-Arts methods still in use in Texas. Later known as the "Texas Rangers," Harris hired Colin Rowe, John Hejduk, Robert Slutsky, Werner Seligmann, and Herbert Hirsche. The autocratic nature of Harris's new theory for teaching design, however, created enormous tensions within the school, which interfered with his own private practice. As a result, Harris resigned as dean in the summer of 1955. He moved to Dallas where he continued to practice until 1962, designing homes that were brilliantly adapted to the harsh Texas climate. That year Harris accepted a teaching position at the NCSU School of Design where he taught until retirement.

Harris received numerous awards, including the Richard Neutra Medal for Professional Excellence (1982). Harris's work was published extensively and has appeared in numerous exhibitions, including the Museum of Modern Art (1939, 1943, 1943, 1945, and 1953), the National Gallery of Art (1957), and the Cooper-Hewitt Museum (1977). In addition, several one-man exhibitions of his work have been held at the North Carolina State University (1981), the Museum of Art in Fayetteville, North Carolina (1982) and The University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture (1985). Harris was made a fellow in the American Institute of Architects in 1965 and received an honorary doctorate from North Carolina State University in 1985.

When Harris died in 1990, he gave his home/office on Cox Avenue to NCSU's School of design to endow an annual lecture.  Since then, the Harris lecture series has included Joseph Esherick, Glenn Murcutt, Enrique Norten, Rick Joy, Bernard Tschumi, Herman Hertzberger, and Frank Harmon.

Note:  Unless noted, this archive excludes renovations and additions for houses Harris did not design.

Additional Resources:  1985 Oral History.

1931 - The Lewis Gaffney Residence and Studio, Silver Lake area of Los Angeles CA.  Unbuilt.

1933 - The Barney Rudd House, 2517 Ivanhoe Drive, Los Angeles CA.  Unbuilt.

1934 - To much acclaim, Harris and Carl Anderson designed the Pauline Lowe and Clive Delbridge Residence, 596 East Punahou Street, Altadena CA.  Has 21 exterior doors.  There he met future wife Jean Murray Bangs, who he married in 1937.  Commissioned 1933. 

1935 - The Harwell Hamilton Harris House, aka the Fellowship Park House, 2311 Fellowship Park Way, Los Angeles CA.  Harris and his wife Jean lived there after they were married. 

1935 – The Graham Laing House, 1642 Pleasant Way, Pasadena, CA. Sold in 2007 to Fareed Kanani.

1936 – The Stella Gramer House, 701 Holmby Avenue, Los Angeles CA.  Gramer bought Richard Neutra's "Plywood Modern" house which Harris adapted for this site.  Sold to Carol and Leslie Cohen.

1936 - The W. L. Long House, 2041 Live Oak Drive, Los Angeles CA.  Unbuilt.

1936 - The Hugo Benioff Cabin, Mammoth Lakes CA.  Benioff, a seismologist, used the location for studying the area's frequent earthquakes.

1936 - The Ian Campbell House, Pasadena CA.  Unbuilt.

1936 - The John Carr House I, Brentwood CA.

1936 - The Horace Fraser House, Bonnie Avenue, Pasadena CA.  Unbuilt.

1936 – The Edward and Julia De Steiguer House, 20 Glen Summer Road, Pasadena CA. To avoid destruction from a freeway, it was relocated to 1444 Poppy Peak Drive in 1951 by architect Leland Evison. Sold to Robert D. Tarr.  Sold to current owner Scott C. Brown.  Top photo by Fred Dapprich.  Middle photo by Edward Van Altena.

1937 – The Helene Kershner House, 3905 Brilliant Way, Los Angeles CA.
Sold to A. Steward Ballinger for whom Harris did a renovation. Commissioned 1935. Interior design by John S. Mason.   Sold to Jack Mason.  Photos by Fred Dapprich and Maynard L. Parker..

1937 – The John Entenza House, 475 Mesa Road, Santa Monica CA. Sold in 1998 to current owner Michael P. Deasy who hired architect Michael Folonis for a restoration.

1937 – The Joel Walther Residence, 1742 Silverwood Terrace, Los Angeles CA.
 Current owners Gabrielle and Rose Ruddick.

1937 - The Pierre Dick Cabin, Big Tujunga CA.

1937 - The Lee Blair House I, Beech Knoll Road, Los Angeles CA.  Unbuilt.

1937 - The Roy Rosen House, Montrose CA.  Unbuilt.

1938 – The George Bauer House, 2538 East Glenoaks, Glendale CA.  Bottom photo by Stephen Saute.

1939 – The Lee and Mary Blair House II, 3762 Fredonia Drive, Los Angeles CA.  Photos by Fred Dapprich and Maynard L. Parker.

1938 - The Marian Clark House, Valley View and 17th Streets, Carmel CA. Photo by Fred Dapprich.  Featured in the September 1938 Architectural Forum magazine.

1938 - The Harold Swann House, Hope Ranch, Santa Barbara CA.  Unbuilt.

1938 - The W. L. Montgomery House, San Dimas CA.  Unbuilt.

1938 – The Edmund Stiff House, 8420 Yucca Lane, Los Angeles CA.

1938 – The J. Musick House, 3019 Pasadena Drive, Los Angeles CA.

1938 - The John Carr House II, Brentwood CA.  Unbuilt.

1938 – The Greta Grandstedt and Max DeVega House, 7922 Woodrow Wilson Drive, Hollywood CA. Commissioned 1937. Currently owned by Fred and Maija Wolf.  Bottom photo by Fred Dapprich.

1939 – The Fred Harris House, 410 North Avenue 64, Pasadena CA.

1939 – The J. E. Powers House, 5160 La Canada Boulevard, La Canada CA. Sold in 2003 to Craig R. Bockman. Sold in 2008 to Jeffery and Karmen Parks. Photo by Fred Dapprich.

1939 - The Byron Pumphrey House, 615 Kingman Avenue, Los Angeles CA.

1939 - The Edwin (Stan) Hawk House, 2421 Silver Ridge Avenue, Silver Lake area of Los Angeles CA.

1939 - Residence for John Huston, San Fernando Valley CA.  Unbuilt.

1939 – The Theodore Blau Residence, 933 North Lucile Avenue, Los Angeles CA.

1939 - The Alfred Pellicciotti House, Monta Vista Avenue, Tujunga CA.  Unbuilt.

1940 – The John Adams Comstock Cabin, 1373 Crest Road, Del Mar CA.  Has been expanded.

1940 – The Elwood E. Schwenk House, 14329 Millbrook Drive, Van Nuys CA.
Sold in 1997 To Leslie Song Winner.  Photo by Steven Saute.

1940 - The Hobart Wong House, 1001 Castellar Street, Los Angeles CA. Unbuilt.

1940 - The Milton E. Kahl Residence, Shannon Road, Los Angeles CA. 

1940 - The Kenneth Anderson House, Flintridge CA.  Unbuilt.

1940 - The Sophie Treadwell House, Beverly Hills CA.  Unbuilt.

1940 – The Dean McHenry House, 624 South Holmby Avenue, Los Angeles CA. Sold in 1997 to Raun Lee Thorp and Michael Brian Tichenor.

1940 - The Harold C. Sox House, 76 Ridge View Drive, Atherton CA.  Sox's son David recalls his father chose Harris because Frank Lloyd Wright was too expensive. One day, on Wright's way to his granddaughter's (Ann Baxter's) wedding in 1947, he remarked about the Sox house, "that's one of my homes." When told it was Harris, Wright said, "well, that's almost the same."  Bottom photo by Wayne Andrews.

1941 - Harris' most famous house is the John Weston Havens Residence, 255 Panoramic Way, Berkeley CA.   In 1957, the AIA glowingly compared the Weston Havens House to Richard Neutra's Lovell House and Wright's Fallingwater.  Harris did renovations and an addition in 1968.  The owner, John Weston Havens Jr., died in 2001 at age 97.  The house now belongs to the University of California-Berkeley.  Sepia and b/w photos by Man Ray.  Bottom photo by Chris Hardy.  Commissioned 1940.  Website for Friends of Havens House.

1941 - The Linden Naylor Residence, 40 Arden Road, Berkeley CA.  Located in the Berkeley hills above the UC stadium, the Naylor House was built on the lower of two lots once owned by John Weston Havens Jr.  Both houses shown in bottom photo.  Sold to a second owner.  On the market in September 2009.  Renovations by Alex Korn.  1653 square feet.  Photos by Liz Rusby.  Commissioned 1940.  Top photo by Edward van Altena.

1941 - The Freda and Herbert Alexander House, 2265 Micheltorena Street, Silver Lake area of Los Angeles CA. Sold to Nancy and Kyle Smith, who did a restoration in 1992. 1700 square feet.  Sold in 1992 to current owners Barry and Jenny Isaacson.

1941 – The Snyder House, 10879 Whipple Street, North Hollywood CA. 
Appears to be an apartment complex.

1941 – The John Treanor House, 343 Green Acres Drive, Visalia CA.
Harris did an addition in 1949. Commissioned in 1940.

1941 - The Richmond Irwin Kelsey House I, Berry Drive, Los Angeles CA.

1942 - The Cecil Birtcher House, Central Terrace, 4234 Sea View Lane,  Los Angeles CA.  Commissioned 1941.  Sold to Jerome Share, for whom Harris did renovations.  Top two photos by Man Ray; bottom two by Edward Van Altena.  Additional photos.

1942 - The Lodewijk (Louis) Lek House, 1600 Mecca Drive, La Jolla CA.  Commissioned 1941.

1942 - The Fritz Meier House, 2240 Lake Shore Avenue, Los Angeles CA.

1942 - The Ladies Home Journal House, aka the Langford Brown House, Vista Way, Chula Vista CA.  Along with schemes drawn for Woman’s Home Companion, and Mademoiselle in 1942 (and later in 1945 for Good Housekeeping), the Brown House illustrated an expandable house that could start with a few hundred square feet.  Unbuilt.

1942 - The Roy Marquardt House, Hawthorne CA. Unbuilt.

1944 - Headmasters House, North Country School, Lake Placid NY.  Harris did a renovation in 1960.

1944 - Women's Home Companion House, aka The Shumway House, Greenfield CT.   Unbuilt.

1944 - The George Gallowhur Honeymoon Cabin/Hunting Lodge, Windsor VT.

1945 - The Lewis Allen House, Ridgeview Drive, San Mateo CA.  Unbuilt.

1945 - The Richmond Irwin Kelsey House II, North Hollywood CA. 

1945 - The John Pennington House and Studio, Pasadena CA.  Unbuilt.

1945 - The W. I. Montgomery House.  Unbuilt.

1945 - The John Nesbit Lodge, Circle M Ranch, Big Sur CA. 

1945 - The George Taylor House, Hollywood CA.  Unbuilt.

1945 - The O. K. Meyers House, Visalia CA.

1946 - The Jack Calvin House, Sitka AK.  Commissioned 1942.

1946 – The John G. Sobieski House, 1420 San Marino Boulevard
(Sierra Madre Boulevard), San Marino CA.

1946 - The Good Housekeeping House.  Unbuilt.

1946 – The Austin Longcroft Caretaker's House and Stables, 1653 Rancho Avenue, Glendale CA.

1946 - The Libbey-Owens-Ford Glass Company House, San Marino CA. Unbuilt.

1946 - The F. M. Hatz House, Palos Verdes Drive, Palos Verdes CA.  Harris did additions in 1950.

1946 - The Irvine Chapman Cottage, Balboa Beach CA.  Unbuilt.

1946 - The W. F. and Dorothy Gantvoort Residence, La Canada CA. 
Unbuilt.  In 1949, they hired John Lautner. 

1947 - The Ingersoll Steel / Borg Warner Demonstration House, 1112 Crown Street, Kalamazoo MI.  Commissioned 1945.  Seeking an efficient and economical way to build homes, architect J. Fletcher Lankton, of Peoria, Illinois, designed a utility core that brought together all the plumbing pipes, wiring conduits and other necessary mechanical items in one unit that could be manufactured off site and inserted into a house under construction. The unit included a furnace, water softener and heater, plumbing for bathroom, laundry and kitchen, and electric, gas and ventilation connections. It was a mere 2.5 feet wide, 7.5 feet long and 6.5 feet high and would fit through any standard door. The design saved scarce metal, allowed the elimination of a basement, and since it could be installed on a prepared base in less than one day, it considerably speeded up the construction process. Lankton persuaded Kalamazoo’s Ingersoll Steel and Disc Division of the Borg-Warner Corporation to build the prototype.  Substantially altered in 1952 by Kalamazoo architect William A. Stone.  Current owners are Nicholas and Rebecca Fate.

1947 - The Henry Sarber Residence, Oakland CA.  Unbuilt.

1947 – The Werner Huthsing House, 2446 Ronda Vista Drive, Los Angeles CA.

1948 - The Charles and Kay Cruze House and Studio, 2340 West Third Street, Los Angeles CA.  Cruze and Harris were colleagues at Chouinard, an art school founded in 1921, which was nearby.

1948 - The Robert Ryan House, 15946 Woodvale Road, Los Angeles CA.  Unbuilt.

1948 - The Ralph Johnson House, 10280 Chysanthemum Lane, Los Angeles CA.
Commissioned 1947. Second photo by Mark Willis.

1948 - The Clarence H. Wyle House, 1964 Rancho Drive, Ojai CA.  Commissioned 1946. 
Middle photo by Wayne Andrews.

1949 - The Gerald M. and Rose Loeb House, Redding CT.  They had in 1944 commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright but that didn't work out.  Bottom photo by Wayne Andrews.

1949 - The J. J. Mulvihill House, 580 North Avenue (now called 580 Hermosa Avenue), Sierre Madre area of Los Angeles CA.  Right photo by Julius Shulman.

1949 - The Frederick Hoffman Wood House, Mill Hill, in Fairfield CT.  Commissioned 1947.  Photos by Wayne Andrews.

1949 - "Cottage for Constance," Malibu CA.

1949 - The A. H. Hopmans House, 1753 North Dillon Street, Los Angeles CA.

1949 - The Floyd Ross House, Palos Verdes CA.  Unbuilt.  Designed with Aubrey Horn.

1949 - The Household Magazine House.  Unbuilt.

1949 - The Arthur Shepard House, Palos Verdes CA.

1950 - The Harold M. English House, 1260 Lago Vista Drive, Beverly Hills CA.  Commissioned 1948.  The house was in bad shape for many years.  Renovations in 2001 by Chu and Gooding architects.

1950 - The Alvin Ray House, 167 Burma Road, Fallbrook CA.  The vertical-grained redwood house is built around a 100-foot wide boulder, which was incorporated into the terrace. Published in House & Home, January 1962. Photo by Fred Dapprich.

1950 - The H. W. Aldrich House, Walnut Lane, Eugene OR.  Unbuilt.

1950 - The S. E. Weaver House, 11540 Thurston Circle, Los Angeles CA. 

1951 - The Edward Adams House, 2331 Cove Avenue, Los Angeles CA.  Unbuilt.

1951 - The Arthur W. Colley House, Lancaster PA. 

1951 - The Alvan Palmer House, Benedict Canyon, Beverly Hills CA. 

1951 - The Lee Blair House III, Long Island NY.  Unbuilt.

1951 - The James Elliott House, 10443 Woodbridge, North Hollywood CA. 
Commissioned 1950.  Interior design by Bob Brown.  Bottom photo by Maynard L. Parker.

1951 - The Rex Hardy, Jr. Beach House, Portugeuse Bend Club, Rancho Palos Verdes CA.  Landscape architect Edward Huntsman-Trout.  Featured in Sunset Magazine in September 1952 and House Beautiful in January 1962.  Photos by Robert C. Cleveland and Maynard L. Parker.

1951 - The H. E. Hansen House, 2305 West Silver Lake Boulevard, Los Angeles CA.  Commissioned 1950.  Sold in 1992 to Kirk Nozaki. 

1952 - The Thomas M. Cranfill House, 1901 Cliff Street, Austin TX.  Designed with Eugene George.  Sold to by Cranfill's heirs to current owners George and Matilde Schade.  An L-shaped plan.  J. M. Odom was the contractor.  Listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.  Top photo by Hans Beacham.  Most color photos by Nirav Patel, who lives in a triplex apartment (1911) next door, see at right in botton photo.  The apartment was designed by Harris and was completed in 1959.  

1952 - The Harwell Hamilton Harris House II, 2736 East Mission Road, Fallbrook CA.  Commissioned 1951.  Planning as a combined home/office, Harris’s own home was organized around four trellised courts. Construction depended on heat-absorbing concrete block walls -- one of them a freestanding visual separation between the living room court and the drafting room court. Before the house was finished Harris took a position as Director of the School of Architecture at the University of Texas. Although completed the following summer, the Harrises only lived in this house for five days.  Bottom photo by David B. Barrow, Jr.

1952 - The Sylvan S. Lang House, 700 Alta Street, San Antonio TX.  Sold to Brian G. Hughes. 

1952 - The David B. Barrow Sr. House I, Northwest Hills, Austin TX.   Unbuilt.

1953 - The Mrs. Frederick J. Duhring House, Greenwood Commons Road, Berkeley CA.  Designed with Hervey Parke Clark and John Beuttler.  Part of architect William W. Wurster's enclave of eight distinctly modern houses. These homes, clustered around a common green space designed by Lawrence Halprin, coupled a contemporary aesthetic to regional traditions and an idealistic sense of community.

1952 - The David B. Barrow Sr. House II, Austin TX. Unbuilt.

1954 - The 1955 House Beautiful Pace-Setter House, aka the Texas State Fair House, 12020 Stone Brook Circle, Dallas TX.  Designed with University of Texas students David Barrow, Don Legge, Bill Hoff, Neil Lacey, Pat Chumney, and Haldor Nielsen.  Exhibited at the State Fair of Texas, then sold to Robert Phillips Jr. and moved to its present location.  The house number seems have changed; the block is in the 6000's.  Photos by Maynard L. Parker, David Barrow Jr., and G. A. McAfee.

1955 - The Balcones House #1, designed for the Austin Corporation, 4002 Edgemont Drive, Austin TX.  Current owner Alpha Brown Brunson.

1955 - The Balcones House #2, designed for the Austin Corporation, aka the David B. Barrow Sr. House III, 4101 Edgemont, Austin TX. Commissioned 1954.  Sold to current owners John B. and Susan I. Gould.

1956 - The Southwest Homestyle Center Foundation Exhibition, Lot 22, Grand Rapids MI.  Unbuilt.

1956 - The Courtney M. Townsend House, 2301 Simpson Street, Paris TX.  Featured in Life Magazine September 29, 1958.  Harris worked on renovation plans in 1974.

1956 - The J. Lee Johnson and Ruth Carter Johnson Residence, aka the Ruth Carter Stevenson Residence, 1200 Broad Avenue, Fort Worth TX. Landscape design by Thomas D. Church.  Engineering by Frank Sherwood. Harris did alternations in 1960 and 1963.  Built for current owner.  6000 square feet on three acres.

1966 - The William and Carol Van Alstyne Residence, 1702 Woodburn Road, Durham.  After their divorce, Carol (now Frances) took full ownership in 1979.  Now a rental house.

1967 - The Vernon Watson Pugh House III, aka Tara Farm, Raleigh.  Unbuilt. 

1969 - The Magnolia Cottage, aka the Ralph and Evelyn Bryant House, 1500 Lake Dam Road, Raleigh.  Purchased by the City of Raleigh in 1983 as part of a park.  Now available as a rental for weddings and meetings.  Commissioned 1967.  Photos by Rusty Long.

1968 - Designed for current owners Kenneth and Mary Sugioka, 319 Bayberry Drive, Chapel Hill.  Harris frequently brought students to see the house. He insisted the family not put anything up on the walls, and they complied.  It was only after his death that the artwork went up!  After Hurricane Fran damaged the house in 1997, Werner Hausler did the renovation, faithful to the original plans.  The Sugiokas recall Harris as a "delightful individual with a dry sense of humor." 

1969 - Left photo, Harris in his own home/office at 122 Cox Avenue, Raleigh, known as the “Box on Cox".  Later the building became the office for Bucky Fuller's design firm Synergetics, Inc.  Harris lived next door in the green bungalow (still there) during construction.  He left the building to the NCSU School of Design Foundation, which sold it to Synergetics principal Thomas C. Howard in 1992.  In 2002, it was bought by current owner Natural Capital Investments as offices for Williard Ferm Architects. 

1971 - The H. Stanley and Alice R. Bennett Residence, 107 Bowden Road, Chapel Hill. Sold to Peter Petrusz in 1978.  Sold to current owner Maria Petrusz in 1992. 

1971 - A house for Buckminster Fuller protégé and NCSU Professor Duncan Stuart (left) and his wife Lanita (Pud) Stewart, 6710 Leesville Road, Raleigh.  Sold to Stephen Allen Maser in 1973.  Sold to Indica Inc. in 1974.  Sold in 1975 to current owners Norman Eugene Bartholomew and Kathryn Bartholomew.  Thomas Crowder worked with Harris on a renovation in the 1980's. 

1972 - The Jonathan Brezlin House, Shady Lawn Court, Chapel Hill.  Unbuilt.

1975 - The John T. Caldwell House, 1101 Marlowe Road, Raleigh.  Unbuilt.  See next entry.

1975 - Harris instead did a renovation to the Caldwell's house at 3070 Granville Drive, Raleigh. The house was destroyed around 1997 and a new one built by William and Judith Allen, bottom photo.

1977 - The Ruth Carter Stevenson Vacation House, Valley View Drive, Roaring Gap NC.  Unbuilt.

1978 - Designed for current owner William J. Watson, 9413 Bartons Creek, Raleigh. 
Construction by the owner.  Three acres.  Commissioned 1977.

1980 - Renovations to the Dodd-Hinsdale House, 330 Hillsborough Street, Raleigh.  Barbara Campbell was the owner at the time.  In 1993 it was sold to Ted and Peggy Reynolds, who turned it into Second Empire, an upscale restaurant and exceptionally well-executed historic preservation. 

1980 - The Pamela Gann and William Van Alstyne House, 1714 Tisdale Street, Durham.  Unbuilt.

Year Unknown - The Russell and Carol Collins House, Fallbrook CA.

Sources include:  NCSU Archives, Bill Waddell, Thomas Crowder, Kenneth Sugioka, William Watson, William Van Alstyne, Frank Klingberg Jr., Carol Frances,  Harwell Hamilton Harris by Lisa Germany (now Ziegler),  Barry Isaacson, University of Texas at Austin Archives, Harris 1979 Oral History by Judy Stonefield, Blockshopper, Virtual GlobeTrotting, New York Times.