John Lloyd Wright
(1892-1972)

John Lloyd Wright was the second son (and apprentice) of Frank Lloyd and Catherine Tobin Wright, and inventor of Lincoln Logs. John Lloyd Wright, lived and practiced architecture in Del Mar, designing dozens of homes and commercial buildings in Del Mar, La Jolla, San Diego. Vista, Escondido, Valley Center and Rancho Santa Fe.

John Lloyd Wright was born John Kenneth Wright in his father's Home and Studio in Oak Park, Illinois. John first visited San Diego at age 18 working with his older brother Lloyd - who was employed by Olmstead Brothers the landscape architects of the Panama-Pacific Exposition in Balboa Park. Without any training John became a draftsman for the Pacific Building Company designing bungalows. At age 20, in 1912, John was employed by Harrison Albright and given two commissions - the Mrs. M.J. Wood House in Escondido, and later the Workingman's (Golden West) Hotel. The latter was a philanthropic effort to house day laborers by local real estate baron J.B. Spreckels. In 1913, John Lloyd Wright moved to Chicago to work in his father's architectural firm on Michigan Avenue and marry Jeanette Winters (whom he had met in Los Angeles). In 1917 John sailed to Japan with Frank Lloyd Wright to begin work on Tokyo's Imperial Hotel. Before being fired by his father in 1918, John was able to continue designing his line of wooden toys for Chicago's Marshall Field & Co. including the patented Lincoln Logs.

In 1920, John moved back to Oak Park following his divorce with Jeanette. In 1921 he married Hazel Lundin. Soon thereafter daughter Elizabeth was born and the family moved to Long Beach, Indiana where John would practice his own interpretation of Louis Sullivan's organic architecture. Following another divorce, John married his client for the Long Beach commission "Shangri-La", Frances Welsh in 1942. In 1946 John published a biography of his father My Father Who is on Earth.

In 1947, Frances and John began the next phase of their life together building their home and studio in Del Mar. Here John would weather legal disputes about his unlicensed practice of architecture (he was licensed in Indiana and a member of the AIA), and work on more than 60 projects.

John Lloyd Wright continued to design toys, textiles, furniture and buildings from his Del Mar address until his passing in 1972 - at times employing local draftsmen like Herb Turner (for a mere .75 cents per hour. Turner subsidized his earnings by teaching private sculpture lessons from his home for $15 per hour).

Prior to the rush of post-war architects moving to the area, Ray Young and John Lloyd Wright were the only architects in the Del Mar area. By the early 1960s as many as 35 architects were living and working in Olde Del Mar.

Partial List of San Diego Projects

Wood House (1912)
455 East 5th Street, Escondido

Workingman's (Golden West) Hotel (1912)
720 4th Street, Escondido

ZLAC Rowing Club (1929)
1111 Pacific Beach Drive, Pacific Beach
(w/ Lillian Rice?)

Judkins Guest House (1946)
1700 Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla

MacPherson Studio House (1947)
101 Nob Avenue, Del Mar

John Lloyd Wright House and Studio (1947)
420 Serpentine, Del Mar

Kelly's Haven (1947)
2017 Zapo, Del Mar

Joe Wright House (1947)
Del Mar (Not Built)

Osborn House (1948)
Del Mar (Not Built)

Frank E. Compton House (1948)
7840 Roseland Place, La Jolla

Loudenslager House (1948-50)
Del Mar

McKinley House (1948-51)
Del Mar

Salomen Office (1949)
Escondido

Marcotte Store (1949)
Leucadia

Mooney House (1949)
1820 Neale, San Diego

B.W. Wright House (1951)
7821 Hillside Drive, La Jolla

Gonzalez House (1952)
122 24th Street Del Mar

Smith Store (1952)
Escondido (Not Built)

Smith House (1952)
Del Mar

Welsh House (1952-60)
Del Mar

S.S. Lard House (1953)
Del Mar

Crans House (1953)
Oceanside (Not Built)

Mooney Office (1953)
San Diego (Not Built)

Mrs. D.M. Lard House (1953)
Del Mar

R.E. Cantwell House (1953)
Rancho Santa Fe

Villaseneour Store (1954)
Oceanside

Lepman House (1954)
Escondido

Ney House (1958)
La Jolla

Smith Duplex (1958)
Del Mar

Cookson House (1958)
Valley Center

McLeod House (1958-59)
Escondido

Merrill Residence (Wonder-Y Ranch) (1959)
Valley Center

Wood House Addition (1960)
Del Mar

Speers House (1960)
Escondido

Jewel Studio Theater (1961)
La Jolla (Not Built)

Bosnian House (1961)
Vista

University City Tract Houses (1962)
Clairemont Mesa (Not Built)

Yager Cantwell House (1962)
Rancho Santa Fe

C.Y. Cantwell III House (1963-72)
Rancho Santa Fe

Marincovich House (1964)
Escondido

Coy Burnett Development (1965)
Del Mar (Not Built)

Renwick Thompson Jr House (Brickwood) (1964-68)
Rancho Santa Fe

Kelly House (1967)
Del Mar (Not Built)

Longenecker House Addition (1971)
La Jolla (Not Built)

Yager Cantwell House Additions (1972)
Rancho Santa Fe