KAUFMANN, Gordon Bernie (1888-1949), a native of London, England, later took up residence in Canada and worked in Vancouver, B.C. in 1912-14, then moved to Los Angeles where he continued his successful career there. He was active in the following firms:
G.B. Kaufmann, Vancouver, B.C., 1912-13
Kaufmann & Phillips, Kamloops, B.C., 1913
Johnson, Kaufmann & Coate, Los Angeles, 1920-24
G.B. Kaufmann, Los Angeles, 1924-42
Kaufmann, Lippincott & Eggers, Los Angeles, 1945-47
Kaufmann & Stanton, Los Angeles 1947-49
Born in London, England on 19 March 1888, he was educated at the London Polytechnic in 1904-08, then trained in London with Alfred W.S. Cross, and emigrated to Canada in 1910 and worked briefly in Winnipeg where he was recorded as a draftsman for Pratt & Ross, Architects (Winnipeg City Directory, 1911, 907). In late 1912 he moved to Vancouver, B.C. and obtained several commissions for residential work in the Shaughnessy Heights neighbourhood. He opened a branch office in Kamloops in partnership with E. Phillips in January 1912, but it is unclear if Kaufmann was actually living there. This branch office was closed by late 1912, and Kaufmann continued to work in Vancouver until 1914 when he moved to Los Angeles, Calif. There, he was a partner in the firm of Johnson, Kaufmann & Coate (in 1920-24), and opened his own office in late 1924. He was credited with dozens of commissions for private residences, often executed in a variety of picturesque styles including Spanish Revival, Mediterranean, or Tudor Revival. His largest (and arguably his most important) commission was that for the architectural styling of the gigantic Hoover Dam near Boulder, Colorado (1931-36), a vast public works project initiated by the U.S. Government.
Kaufmann died in Los Angeles, Calif. on 1 March 1949 (obit. New York Times, 2 March 1949, 26; biog. H. Withey, Biographical Dictionary of American Architects, 1956, 332; biog. Who Was Who in America 1951-1960, iii, 1963, 463; biog. D. Luxton, Building The West: The Early Architects of British Columbia, 2003, 404-05, illus.; 507, list of works). An exhibition catalogue on the work of Kaufmann’s firm in Los Angeles, entitled Johnson, Kaufmann & Coate: Partners in the California Style, was published by the Lang Art Gallery at Scripps College, Santa Barbara in 1992. An illustrated monograph on Kaufmann was released in 2016 entitled Gordon B. Kaufmann - Master Architect of Southern California, by Marc Appleton, Bret Parsons & Steve Vaught.
G.B. KAUFMANN
(works in Vancouver unless noted)
KAMLOOPS, B.C., Acadia Block, Seymour Street at 4th Avenue, store and apartments for the Western Canada Trust Co., 1912 (C.R., xxvi, 24 Jan. 1912, 67)
COLLINGWOOD STREET, at West 25th Avenue, two houses for Howes, Proctor & Co., 1912 (Vancouver b.p. 1461 and 1462, 12 Feb. 1912)
SPRUCE STREET, at West 14th Avenue, apartment block for E.E. Crandall, 1912 (Vancouver b.p. 1828, 22 March 1912)
WEST 4th Avenue, apartment block for LePatourel & McRae, 1912 (Vancouver b.p. 2938, 16 July 1912; dwgs. Vancouver City Archives)
IONA COURT APARTMENTS, West 11th Avenue, for D.H. Mott, 1912 (Vancouver b.p. 3074, 2 Aug. 1912; dwgs. Vancouver City Archives)
SHAUGHNESSY HEIGHTS, large residence for George E. Trorey, Matthews Avenue near Cypress Street, 1912 (Vancouver Daily World, 21 Sept. 1912, 25)
SHAUGHNESSY HEIGHTS, residence for C. Nelson Ecclestone, Laurier Avenue, 1912 (Vancouver Daily World, 22 Oct. 1912, 5; Vancouver b.p. 358, 17 Oct. 1912)
SHAUGHNESSY HEIGHTS, residence for Edward B. McDermid, Pine Crescent near King Edward Avenue, 1913 (C.R., xxvii, 29 Jan. 1913, 71)
SHAUGHNESSY HEIGHTS, residence for Cecil Killam, West 19th Avenue near Cypress Street, 1913 (Vancouver b.p. 866, 9 June 1913)
SHAUGHNESSY HEIGHTS, large residence for Herbert Bingham, Angus Drive at Alexander Avenue, 1913-14; demol. c. 1973 (Vancouver Sun, 29 Aug. 1913, 3; Vancouver b.p. 1034, 26 Aug. 1913; C.R., xxvii, 1 Oct. 1913, 76)
KAUFMANN & PHILLIPS
(works in Kamloops)
NICOLA STREET WEST, residence for E.H. Grubbe, 1913 (inf. Kamloops Museum)
BATTLE STREET WEST, residence for W.J.C. Hibbert, 1913 (inf. Kamloops Museum)
NICOLA STREET WEST, residence for E.F. Busteed, 1913 (inf. Kamloops Museum)
G.B. KAUFMANN
(works in California)
PALM SPRINGS, CALIF., La Quinta Club House, 1928 (D. Gebhard & R. Winter, Architecture in Los Angeles & Southern California, 1982, 391)
BEL AIR, CALIF., residence for Gordon B. Kaufmann, architect, Carolwood Street, c. 1929 (Architectural Digest [Los Angeles], vii, April 1931, 53-63, illus.; D. Gebhard & R. Winter, Architecture in Los Angeles & Southern California, 1982, 109)
POMONA VALLEY, CALIF., the Denison Library at Scripps College, 1930 (D. Gebhard & R. Winter, Architecture in Los Angeles & Southern California, 1982, 372)
LONG BEACH, CALIF., Federal Building, 1932 (D. Gebhard & R. Winter, Architecture in Los Angeles & Southern California, 1982, 87)
LOS ANGELES, CALIF., newspaper printing plant for the Times-Mirror Newspaper, 1931-35 (California Arts & Architecture [Los Angeles], xlviii, Oct. 1935, 20-23, illus.; D. Gebhard & R. Winter, Architecture in Los Angeles & Southern California, 1982, 217-18, descrip.; dwgs. Art & Design Museum, Univ. of Calif. at Santa Barbara)
SAN PEDRO, CALIF., San Pedro High School, 1935-37 (D. Gebhard & R. Winter, Architecture in Los Angeles & Southern California, 1982, 77, illus.)
BOULDER, COLO., architectural features and styling of the Hoover Dam, 1936 (Architectural Concrete [Chicago], ii, March 1936, 3-5, illus.; A.I.A. Journal [Washington], lxxii, Dec. 1983, 45-7, illus.)
LOS ANGELES, CALIF., Hollywood Palladium Ballroom & Shops, 1940 (dwgs. Art & Design Museum, Univ. of Calif. at Santa Barbara)
FLINTRIDGE, LA CANADA, CALIF., residence for an unnamed client, Alta Canyada Road, 1945 (Arts & Architecture [Los Angeles], lvii, June 1945, 32-33, illus. & descrip.)