Irving J. Gill Foundation

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:

Are Neutra and Schindler Relevant A Hundred Years Later? — MAK Center for Art and Architecture 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...

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

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

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.

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.

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.

“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.

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

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

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

Lost & Found Fundraiser and Cocktail Party - Irving J. Gill Foundation

Lost & Found Fundraiser and Cocktail Party
April 26, 2023

The Irving J. Gill Foundation is raising funds to find a respectful resting place for Irving J. Gill’s remains.

Upon his untimely death in 1936, historians had assumed that Mr. Gill had been cremated, yet no one knew what became of his remains. He was lost. The IJGF recently found his remains when we learned that Mr. Gill’s ashes were stored away in a closet in a mortuary in San Diego. The 1936 paperwork states that the ashes were to be held until “family comes to pick them up.” In the 87 years since his death, his family never came.

It is time to rectify this situation and give Mr. Gill a proper burial and resting place.

To read more about our plans and to buy tickets for our upcoming fundraising event:

Lost & Found Fundraiser and Cocktail Party - Irving J. Gill Foundation We are raising funds to find a respectful resting place for Irving J. Gill’s remains.  April 26, 2023, 5:30-8:00 PM Upon his untimely death in 1936, we assumed that Mr. Gill had been cremated, but no one knew what became of his remains; until now. The IJGF recently learned that Mr. Gill’s ashe...

It is time to Give and Get!

Buy a copy of One California Architect, Irving J. Gill for yourself, family and friends, and get the updated historic work of seminal historian Esther McCoy. Plus, because 100% of the profit from your purchase goes directly to the Irving J. Gill Foundation, you are supporting the efforts of the Irving J. Gill Foundation, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to the legacy of this significant and historical American architect.

Shop now on Amazon:
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