CARLSBAD — Nearly a century after his death, the mystery of pioneering San Diego architect Irving J. Gill’s final resting place has been solved, and thanks to volunteers and loyal supporters, his remains will soon receive a proper burial.
Gill, whose innovative designs laid the foundation for modern architecture in Southern California, passed away on Oct. 7, 1936, following a heart attack at his Carlsbad residence. He was 66 years old.
For decades, it was believed that his wife, Marion, had scattered his ashes shortly after his death until a group of volunteers rediscovered a cardboard box holding Gill’s cremains 86 years after his passing.
“(Gill) was essentially lost in our backyard,” said James Guthrie, founder and president of the Irving J. Gill Foundation. “I always assumed his wife took his ashes up to their house in Palos Verdes, but he has been in San Diego all these years. It’s just really curious.”
Around his death, Gill was balancing architectural work and avocado farming, spending the majority of his time between the couple’s Palos Verdes home and ranch in Carlsbad. It was on his plot of North County farmland near the Oceanside border that he suffered a fatal heart attack.
Gill was pronounced dead at San Diego Hospital in Hillcrest and cremated the next day. His ashes were placed in a cardboard box labeled “hold” at Cypress View Mortuary in San Diego, where they sat for more than 80 years.
After volunteers discovered the ashes in 2022, the foundation successfully petitioned the County of San Diego to release his remains to the nonprofit after being unable to locate the legendary architect’s descendants.
“I had no idea when we founded it that the foundation would have the honor and responsibility of taking care of his remains,” Guthrie told The Coast News. “I’m glad we’re here to do it.”
Born in Tully, New York, in 1870, Gill is renowned for his minimalist designs, which feature cube shapes, flat roofs, plain stucco walls and a lack of ornamentation. His work emphasizes simplicity, natural light and seamless integration with the environment.
Raised by a farming family with no formal education, Gill began his architectural career as an apprentice to Ellis G. Hall in New York and later worked in Chicago under Joseph L. Silsbee. In 1891, Gill collaborated with Frank Lloyd Wright as an apprentice at the firm Adler and Sullivan.
After relocating to San Diego, Gill’s career flourished, and his contributions to modern architecture became a lasting legacy. His notable works in San Diego County include the historic Douglas House in Kensington, the home of San Diego pioneer Melville Klauber and the Granger Music Hall in National City.
Prominent journalist and philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps also commissioned several works from Gill in La Jolla, such as the George H. Scripps Memorial Marine Biological Laboratory (known as the Old Scripps Building), La Jolla Woman’s Club, Bishop’s School for Girls and her private residence.
“He invented an architecture language that became a style,” said Guthrie. “His work was so innovative and renowned that he is still taught in architecture schools around the world. Our built environment in San Diego is largely based on Gill’s work.”
Gill’s second-largest body of work is in Los Angeles County, including the Pacific Electric Railroad Bridge into the city of Torrance, Horatio West Courts, Bell Vista Terrace (Lewis Courts) and others.
In Oceanside, Gill designed the city’s original fire station and city hall, now part of the Oceanside Museum of Art complex, as well as the Oceanside Blade-Tribune building, a large brick structure still standing at 401 Seagaze Drive (originally First Street). The Blade-Tribune building was Gill’s final design before his death.
Though not known for religious beliefs, Gill also designed several churches, including the Christian Science (now Goodbody Mortuary) and First Methodist churches in San Diego.
One of his final commissions came from the federal government to design 30 homes at Rancho Barona Indian Reservation for Native Americans displaced by dam construction. The Barona community also hired him to design a church and a cemetery cross.
Gill’s work extended beyond California, including a flower shop in Bar Harbor, Maine, and structures in Rhode Island, Pennsylvania
In 2017, Gill became the first architect to be posthumously awarded the American Institute of Architects California Council’s Maybeck Award for lifetime achievement. His immense body of work has been the subject of numerous books and articles, and his influence on the modernist movement is profound.
“(Gill’s) minimalist designs, his use of form, light and shadow, and his emphasis on the functionality of space left an indelible mark on both local and international architecture,” the foundation said in a statement.
Gill’s burial is scheduled for Oct. 7 from 2 to 2:30 p.m. at Mt. Hope Cemetery in San Diego. Irving J. Gill Foundation is accepting donations for his headstone.
For more information about the ceremony or to donate to the Irving J. Gill Foundation, visit www.irvingjgill.org. You can also read the complete list of Gill’s works here.
