BRESEMANN, Emanuel Joseph (1881-1971), together with his partner Morien Eugene Durfee (1885-1941), operated a successful partnership in Seattle, Wash. from 1909. In 1911 they opened a branch office in Victoria, B.C., and the following year added other offices in Nanaimo and Vancouver (C.R., xxvi, 14 Feb. 1912, 58). Their best known work, the Congregational Church in Victoria, B.C. (1912-13), was a sophisticated Georgian Revival temple intended to be crowned by a distinctive bell tower and cupola (the latter elements were never executed). By 1914 both partners had returned to Seattle. Bresemann was born at Spanaway, Washington on 5 March 1881, but no information has been found on his education or training. After terminating his partnership with Durfee in 1915, he then commenced practice in Tacoma in 1916 where he remained active for the duration of his career. He died in Tacoma on 5 May 1971 (obit. Tacoma News Tribune, 6 May 1971, D11; inf. Kim R. Turner, Seattle Public Library).
M. Eugene Durfee was born in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin on 31 December 1885 and later opened an office in Los Angeles where his best known works include the Anaheim City Hall (1921) and the Fox Theatre at Tucson, Arizona (1929), a significant Art Deco landmark. Durfee died in Long Beach Calif. on 26 December 1941 (obit. Anaheim Bulletin, 27 Dec. 1941, 1; D. Luxton, Building The West: The Early Architects of British Columbia, 2003, 402, 494)
BRESEMANN & DURFEE (works in British Columbia)
VICTORIA, B.C., St. James Hotel, Johnson Street near Douglas Street, 1912 (Daily Colonist [Victoria], 26 Nov. 1911, 14, descrip.; 3 Dec. 1911, 16, illus.; C.R., xxvi, 7 Feb. 1912, 68)
VICTORIA, B.C., British Columbia Funeral Co., Broughton Street near Wilcox Street, 1911-12; demol. (Daily Colonist [Victoria], 10 Dec. 1911, 14, illus.)
KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS HALL, North Park Street, 1912 (Victoria Heritage Foundation, This Old House: Victoria's Heritage Neighbourhoods, Vol. 3, 2007, 62, illus. & descript.)
VICTORIA, B.C., First Congregational Church, Quadra Street at Mason Street, 1912-13 (Daily Colonist [Victoria], 23 June 1912, 2-3, illus. & descrip.; C.R., xxvi, 21 Aug. 1912, 56-7, illus. & descrip.; M. Segger & D. Franklin, Victoria, 1979, 232-3, illus.; Victoria Heritage Foundation, This Old House: Victoria's Heritage Neighbourhoods, Vol. 3, 2021, 125-26, illus. & descript.)
ANYOX, B.C., hotel, office building and hospital for the Granby Consolidated Mining & Smelting Co., 1913; burned 1943 (C.R., xxvii, 2 April 1913, 73)
NANAIMO, B.C., Grand Hotel, on The Crescent, large addition and extensive alterations to the existing hotel, 1913 (Nanaimo Free Press, 15 July 1913, 2, descrip.)
NANAIMO, B.C., The Commercial Hotel, Bastion Street, for Angelo Belzano, 1913-14 (Nanaimo Free Press, 30 Dec. 1913, 4; Pacific Coast Architect, vi, Jan. 1914, 477; D. Spearing, Heritage Inventory of Downtown Buildings: Nanaimo, 1982, 25, illus.)
E.J. BRESEMAN (works in British Columbia)
NANAIMO RIVER, B.C., major addition to the Cranberry Hotel, 1914 (Nanaimo Free Press, 3 Feb. 1914, 4, t.c.)
NANAIMO, B.C., a two storey brick commercial block on Victoria Crescent, for Alderman Young, 1914 (Nanaimo Free Press, 9 April 1914, 1, descrip.)
NANAIMO, B.C., Dominion Theatre, a moving picture theatre for George Prevedoris, Bastion Street, "...on the site formerly occupied by the Old Flag Inn", 1915 (Nanaimo Free Press, 4 June 1915, 1, descrip.; 27 Nov. 1915, 1, descrip.; 16 Dec. 1915, 1, descrip.)
NANAIMO, B.C., Steward Block, Fitzwilliam Street at Selby Street, for F.J. Steward, 1915 (Nanaimo Free Press, 17 Sept. 1915, 1, descrip.)
M.E. DURFEE (works in British Columbia)
NANAIMO, B.C., Rawlinson & Glaholm Building, Fitzwilliam Street, 1916 (D. Luxton & V. Vidners, Nanaimo Heritage Gateways, 1986)