biography

1924 Born in Piedmont, CA, as Beverley D. Thorne.

1932 At age eight, he designed a full-size house, which his grandfather, Dave Shepherd, helped him build in Albany, CA. His grandfather was a Mine Timberer, responsible for building the timbered support structures inside mine tunnels.

1942-45 Serves in the Air Force during WWII and trained as a fighter pilot. Thorne said his time in the Air Force taught him to “never give up, never, never, never give up.”

1946-50 Studies architecture at UC Berkeley and was in the last class of the architecture program known as Ark. The program’s curriculum emphasized the traditional concept of training architects to work independently rather than the interdisciplinary practice common today. William Wurster is the dean, and his professors included Erich Mendelsohn and Harold Stump, who exposed him to the concepts of the Second Bay Tradition and the “honesty of materials.” 

 1948 Meets jazz pianist Dave Brubeck playing at Oakland’s Burma Lounge and establishes a friendship.

1949 Designs and builds a house with his classmate Donn Weaver (details unknown).

1950 Graduates from UC Berkeley with engineers Don Moier and Donn Weaver, who were frequent structural engineers on his projects.

1950-52 Travels with classmate Lester Wertheimer for two years in Europe and the Middle East, visiting sites in Italy, England, Egypt, Finland, Greece, and Israel.

He drops the name ‘Beverley’ and adopts his grandfather’s name, ‘David,’ Signing his name as “Architect Thorne.’

1953 Works for one year for architect Roger Lee (Project: Wilkinson House, Orinda).

1954 Opens his own office in Oakland.

He marries fashion illustrator Mary Patricia Kenney; they have three children: David, Stephen, and Kevin.

Completes the Brubeck House in Oakland. The Brubeck House brings Thorne to the attention of Bethlehem Steel and Kaiser Steel.

1959 Thorne receives the American Institute of Steel Construction’s (AISC) “Architectural Award for Excellence” for the Bartlett House in Huntington Lake, CA.

1961 Thorne speaks at the 69th General Meeting of the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) in New York City.

1961 Thorne receives an Honorable Mention for “Outstanding Design Using Structural Steel” during AISI Award Dinner.

His houses are widely published internationally in books and magazines, such as Progressive Architecture, and Arts & Architecture, see his bibliography.

Participates in a traveling exhibition for Bethlehem Steel with architects Pierre Koenig and Craig Ellwood.

1962 At the end of November, public tours of the recently completed Case Study House#26 in San Rafael take place. Originally called Harrison House, the Arts & Architecture magazine includes the design in its Case Study House Program.

1963 Thorne is included in a traveling exhibition entitled “Young American Architects,” curated by Mario Brunati of the Studio di Architettura in Milan, Italy. The exhibition travels to Naples, Rome, Bologna, and Milan.

1974 Escaping increased media attention over his built projects, Thorne drops the name ‘David’ and returns to his given name, ‘Beverley.’ “I went into hiding,” stated Thorne in a 2010 LA Times article. 

2002 Participates in a panel discussion with other Case Study House architects (Koenig, Killingsworth, Knorr, etc.) for the release of Taschen's ‘Case Study House book in Los Angeles; watch the recording here.

2004 Maria Patricia Thorne passes away.

2017 Beverley D Thorne passes away at age 93.