Irving J. Gill Foundation

08/06/2026

Thomas S. Hines
Memorial Service
Tuesday; August 11, 2026; 11:30 am

All Saints' Episcopal Church
504 N. Camden Dr., Beverly Hills, 90210

Everyone is welcome.

An informal reception, with tea, coffee, and cookies, will follow in the church's parish hall.

A very limited amount of handicap parking is available in front of the church. Metered parking is available in lots on the other side of Santa Monica Blvd.

If you are planning on attending and have not already RSVP’d, please RSVP by email for planning:
[email protected]

04/25/2025

The Irving J. Gill Foundation recommends:

MAK Center & Neutra Institute for Survival Through Design Event:
Are Neutra and Schindler Relevant A Hundred Years Later?
Public Program
Sun, May 4, 2025; 1:30 PM - 4:30 PM

The speakers:
Raymond Neutra, Neutra Institute for Survival Through Design
Todd Cronan: “What is a House?”: R. M. Schindler, 1920-1934
Frank Escher: Lovell Health House
Barbara Lamprecht: One Hundred Years: Neutra and Schindler 1925 - 1930
James B. Guthrie: Wish You Were Here. Postcards from Amerika. The early writings of Richard J. Neutra
More information here:

The Neutra Institute for Survival Through Design and the MAK Center for Art and Architecture are pleased to present “Are Neutra and Schindler Relevant A Hundred Years Later?” Please join us at the Neutra Institute for presentations by Todd Cronan, Frank Escher, James Guthrie, and Barbara Lamprec...

01/05/2025

Building Profile:
- Balboa Park Administration Building, 1912, San Diego, CA
Irving J. Gill, architect
- As preparations for San Diego's 1915 Panama California International Exposition were getting underway, Gill, then San Diego's premier architect, offered the initial team of imported east-coast designers studio space within his own office. As the preliminary work progressed and the building team began to grow, Gill designed a new building to house the growing team of architects, engineers, and project managers. It was built on what would become the western entrance to the fairgrounds and was the first structure built for the fair.
The design of the building is in Gill's then-new clean-lined, multi-massed, terrain-conforming, un-ornamented Modern style. The building lived its first few years as Gill had intended. Just before the fair opened, however, the less visionary east-coast architects working on the other fair buildings hung sudo-Spanish ornament on the facade facing El Prado. Fortunately, careful restoration, completed in 1990, returned the building back to Gill's original design. It is now the administrative office of the Museum of Us.
Images:
1. Aerial view, Google Earth, 2025
2. Photograph, c.1915
3. North elevation, c.1911

10/09/2024

Thank you to everyone who came out to yesterday’s burial of Mr. Gill. It was a special, and historic moment.

10/06/2024

The City of San Diego has honored Irving J. Gill by proclaiming October 7, 2024, as "Irving J. Gill Day"!

A reminder that the funeral for Mr. Gill is also on October 7, 2024. The public is invited. More details can be found on our website:
www.irvingjgill.org

Funeral Details:
Date: October 7, 2024
Time: 2 PM
Location: Mt. Hope Cemetery, San Diego, CA
3751 Market St, San Diego, CA 92102
Detailed directions to the burial plot will be provided at Mt. Hope Cemetery.

10/02/2024

Irving J. Gill's October 9, 1936 obituary from the San Diego Union newspaper.
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Interestingly, this obituary included several errors. Here are the corrections:
- Mr. Gill arrived in San Diego and began his practice in 1893. In the following 43 years he also practiced and, for some of that time, lived in Los Angeles.
- Gill died in the San Diego County Hospital, which was in the Hillcrest neighborhood.
- While Gill did work on the Chicago Columbian Exposition while working for the firm of Adler & Sullivan, he also built his first building as an independent architect in Chicago in the spring of 1893, just before moving to San Diego.
- Gill worked with John Olmsted, a landscape architect and son of Frederick Law Olmsted, the father of American Landscape Architecture. Gill did not design a home for John Olmsted; he designed a home for Frederick’s brother and John’s uncle, Albert Olmsted.
- The Ellen Mason house and the Albert Olmsted house are both in Newport, RI. Gill did design a building in Bar Harbor, ME, but it was a flower shop.
- The clubhouse in La Jolla is spelled La Jolla Woman’s Club.
- Gill’s wife’s name is Marion A. (Waugh) Gill.

09/29/2024

Irving J. Gill's Last Day
October 7, 1936
San Diego County Hospital
Hillcrest, San Diego, California
Postcard c.1935
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Gill's ashes, lost for eight decades, have recently been found. A funeral is planned for October 7, 2024. See the Irving J. Gill Foundation's website for more details: irvingjgill.org
- - -
Funeral Details:
Date: October 7, 2024
Time: 2 PM
Location: Mt. Hope Cemetery, San Diego, CA
3751 Market St, San Diego, CA 92102
Detailed directions to the burial plot will be provided at Mt. Hope Cemetery.

09/28/2024

“Nearly a century after his death, the mystery of pioneering San Diego architect Irving J. Gill's final resting place has been solved, and thanks to volunteers and loyal supporters, his remains will soon receive a proper burial.

Gill, whose innovative designs laid the foundation for modern architecture in Southern California, passed away on Oct. 7, 1936, following a heart attack at his Carlsbad ranch. He was 66 years old.

For decades, it was believed that his wife, Marion, had scattered his ashes shortly after his death until a group of volunteers rediscovered a cardboard box holding Gill's cremains 86 years after his passing.

‘(Gill) was essentially lost in our backyard,’ said James Guthrie, founder and president of the Irving J. Gill Foundation. ‘I always assumed his wife took his ashes up to their house in Palos Verdes, but he has been in San Diego all these years. It’s just really curious.’ “

from Jordan P. Ingram/The Coast News

Funeral Details:
Date: October 7, 2024�Time: 2 PM�
Location: Mt. Hope Cemetery, San Diego, CA
3751 Market St, San Diego, CA 92102
Detailed directions to the burial plot will be provided at Mt. Hope Cemetery.

12/30/2023

Dear Friends of Irving J. Gill, here are two things we ask you to consider as 2023 comes to an end:
1) Please consider making a donation to the Irving J. Gill Foundation. The IJGF is the only 501(c)3 non-profit focused solely on preserving the legacy of Irving J. Gill and his works. We are a small, volunteer-only organization. All donations are greatly appreciated. Here is a direct link to give: http://irvingjgill.org/give/
2) Please also think about adding yourself to the IJGF email list. We post things on Facebook, Instagram, and our website, but being on the email list means you will get timely notice of special Foundation efforts and events directly to your inbox. We do not sell our lists and only send emails related to our purpose. The link for adding your name to the list is done via the contact page here: http://irvingjgill.org/contact/
Thank you for your interest and support.
The Irving J. Gill Foundation

Please contact the Irving J. Gill Foundation via email, phone or the contact form below.

08/06/2023

REMINDER - This Thursday Aug 10, 2023
Presentation and Book Signing in La Jolla
at St. James by-the-Sea Episcopal Church, La Jolla
August 10 @ 7:00 pm – FREE
The Sacred Architecture of Irving J. Gill
by author Rev. Dr. Mark Hargreaves
published by the Irving J. Gill Foundation
Carefully researched and well illustrated, this book examines Gill’s fourteen sacred buildings, which form an important part of Gill's legacy. He designed churches throughout his career, and together they tell the story of how his work developed over time.
Books will be available for purchase.
No registration is needed.
Doors open at August 10 at 7 pm. The talk begins at 7:15 pm.
St. James by-the-Sea Episcopal Church
743 Prospect Street, La Jolla, CA, 92037
Free, no registration required.
More information:
https://www.sjbts.org/sacred-architecture-of-irving-gill.html