Biography | Selected Works | Bibliography 

timeline

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: Served 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: Studied 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: Met jazz pianist Dave Brubeck playing at Oakland’s Burma Lounge and established a friendship.

1949: Designed and built a house with his classmate Donn Weaver (details unknown).

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

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

• He dropped the name ‘Beverley’ and adopted his grandfather’s name, ‘David,’ Signing his name as “Architect Thorne.’

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

1954: Opened his own office in Oakland.

• He married fashion illustrator Mary Patricia Kenney; they had three children: David, Stephen, and Kevin.

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

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

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

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

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

• Participated 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 was 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: Escaped increased media attention over his built projects, Thorne dropped the name ‘David’ and returned to his given name, ‘Beverley.’ “I went into hiding,” stated Thorne in a 2010 Los Angeles Times article. 

2002: Participated 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.

In 2004, Maria Patricia Thorne passed away.

In 2017, Beverley D Thorne passed away at age 93.

Biography | Selected Works | Bibliography