Beverley D Thorne

Beverley D Thorne (1924-2017) grew up in Piedmont, California. Interested in creating things from an early age, he designed his first house at eight and helped his grandfather, Dave Shepherd, a mine timberer, build the house in Albany, CA. During WWII, he served in the Air Force and trained as a fighter pilot, but the war ended before he was deployed. His training in the Air Force taught him that no matter what, one should “never, never, never give up” (Serraino, 2006). 

After the war, Thorne studied architecture at UC Berkeley. He was in the last class of the Ark program, which focused on training architects as sole practitioners before the program evolved into the interdisciplinary approach to building we see today. William Wurster was the Dean, and Thorne studied under Erich Mendelsohn and Harold Stump. At Berkeley, Thorne learned about the concepts of the Bay Tradition and the “honesty of materials” in design. He graduated in 1950 and briefly worked for naval architect David S. Johnson before traveling for two years through Europe and the Middle East with his classmate, architect Lester Wertheimer. During his travels, Thorne was struck by the permanence of buildings, particularly in Egypt. While touring the pyramids, an archeologist in his group commented, “Design your buildings so they will be beautiful ruins.” This comment stayed with Thorne and influenced his use of steel construction. Thorne, who believed that “structure is the architecture, … structure is the building,” would design his buildings to maintain the honesty of the structure after the skin was applied (Serraino, 2006). Returning from his travels in 1953, he joined the office of Architect Roger Lee, dropped the name Beverley, and adopted his grandfather’s name, David. He signed his drawings and professional writings as Architect Thorne after the respect he saw given to European architects.

While working for Lee, he pursued work on the side designing a house for jazz musician Dave Brubeck, whom he had first met at Oakland’s Burma Lounge in the late 1940s. Thorne’s design, its placement on a heavily sloped lot, and Brubeck’s notoriety all played into the publicity that followed. This project brought tremendous attention to Thorne and cemented his reputation as ‘The Man of Steel,’ who could build on difficult parcels of land. While Thorne was uncomfortable with the attention, it did allow him to start his practice in 1954. He married fashion illustrator Maria Patricia Kenney that same year. Together, they raised three children: David, Stephen, and Kevin.

Thorne’s innovative use of steel in the Brubeck House (1954) and the Sequoyah House (1957) caught Bethlehem Steel’s and Kaiser Steel’s attention, marking a shift in the steel industry’s focus as they began to see a new market in the work of Thorne and other architects, such as Pierre Koenig and Craig Ellwood. Bethlehem Steel, in particular, heavily promoted Thorne’s work in trade publications and newspaper ads. At 36, he was invited to lecture at the 1961 American Iron and Steel Institute Conference in New York. In 1963, he participated in a traveling industry exhibit for Bethlehem Steel with architects Pierre Koenig and Craig Ellwood.

The same year, Thorne completed Case Study House #26 in San Rafael, California, as part of the Arts and Architecture magazine Case Study Program. While the Case Study Program principles aligned with Thorne’s interest in designing affordable, well-designed homes for the average person, he did not know much about the program. Bethlehem Steel drew him into the Case Study House program as additional publicity for their product. The house, known as the Harrison House, was already under construction when it entered the Case Study Program.

His increasing notoriety caused the reluctant architect to change his professional name back to Beverley, drop out of the public spotlight, and focus on his work. Watching his friend, Donn Weaver, live under the shadow of his famous father, Artist Rene Weaver (1897 - 1984), added to the appeal of changing his name back to Beverley and allowing his sons to make their own names. Architect Thorne continued to work steadily through the following decades, dividing his time between a home in Kona, HI, and the family home in Oakland, CA. Patricia passed away in 2004 and Beverely in 2017 at 93. His 100th birthday sparks a renewed appreciation for Thorne’s oeuvre and its impact on California Modernism.  

This information on Beverley D Thorne was authored by Kevin H. Souza and Cord Struckmann on behalf of Docomomo Northern California. Docomomo extends its gratitude to the Thorne family for their generous support and access to the Thorne Archive, as well as to the owners of Thorne Houses.

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