Paul Revere Williams, Versatile Architect of Tomorrow: The Nevada Legacy of a Trailblazing African American Architect

By Harrison Blackman

Cartoon of Paul Revere Williams. (Drawing by Charles Alston, 1943, Public Domain, USA).

Photo/La Concha Motel lobby in Las Vegas (Photograph by Carol M. Highsmith, 1980. Public Domain, USA).

Paul Revere Williams (1894–1980) may have been one of the most prolific architects in 20th century Los Angeles, but as the story goes, he often found the need to make his prospective clients more comfortable. So that his clients might sit across from him at his desk, the architect learned to sketch upside down.

The reason he went to such lengths was on account of his race: he was the first African American member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) at a time when racial prejudice prevented most Black Americans from ascending in a profession dominated by whites.

As a writer who has often done research on the legacy of less-remembered architects, such as Constantinos Doxiadis, the Greek master planner of Islamabad, Pakistan, I became interested in the work of Paul Revere Williams in Nevada, particularly because I was born in Southern California and had encountered his work without knowing it.

Orphaned at the age of four, Williams was raised by a foster mother in Los Angeles who encouraged his interest in the arts. After working at various architectural firms, he was licensed as an architect in 1921 and subsequently opened his own firm.

Best known for his work as an “architect to the stars,” building mansions for Hollywood personalities such as Frank Sinatra and Lucille Ball, Williams worked on thousands of buildings, including Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

While Williams displayed a futuristic architectural style in such works as the La Concha Motel in Las Vegas (now part of the present-day Neon Museum), Williams’s talent was in his versatility as an architect. Though contemporary architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright were known for signature building styles, Williams operated in almost any style, but consistently delivered quality work across his varied projects.

In Reno, Williams designed several buildings that demonstrated this versatility, including the main house of Rancho San Rafael and the Luella Garvey House on California Avenue. On Riverside Drive, he designed the former First Church of Christ, Scientist (now the Lear Theater property) and possibly the Loomis Manor Apartments (though, according to Reno historian Alicia Barber, this attribution is disputed). The El Reno Apartments, a group of 15 steel houses built from Williams’s company catalogue that were later moved to different sites around Reno, demonstrated yet another dimension to Williams’s career.

Williams’s legacy suffered a loss when many of his files were lost in a fire during the 1992 Los Angeles riots that followed the acquittal of police officers charged for assaulting Rodney King.

However, the past few years have seen a resurgence in interest regarding Williams’s legacy. In 2020, the University of Southern California and the Getty Research Institute announced the acquisition of 50,000 files from Paul Revere Williams’ surviving archive, previously held by Williams’ granddaughter. And in 2022, the Nevada Museum of Art will organize an exhibition curated by Carmen Beals about his work in the Silver State.

Alicia Barber, a Reno historian writing about Williams’s legacy in Northern Nevada for a companion website to the exhibition, is looking forward to introducing the architect to a wider audience. (For the exhibition website, historian Claytee White is writing about Williams's work in Southern Nevada).

“He’s one of the most important architects to have designed anything in Nevada,” Barber said. “It’s exciting to have so many examples here in Reno, where it’s possible to see such a range of his work, all together. I think that is really rare.”

Harrison Blackman graduated from Princeton University and earned an MFA from the University of Nevada, Reno. A Fulbright Scholar, his writing has also appeared in such outlets as The Oxford Climate Review, The Brooklyn Rail, and The Santa Fe New Mexican.

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