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Abrams,
Harold |
William
P. Kesling
Born on October 18, 1899, in Brenham, Texas, the Kessling family moved little William to Calexico, California, in 1916. In 1920, he moved to Los Angeles where he worked his way up from carpenter’s helper to carpenter boss. In 1923 he began contracting carpenter labor and then serving as a general contractor. In 1926 he married Ehrma Williams. He changed the legal spelling of his last name from Kessling to Kesling because he thought it looked better. Kesling claimed, in 1928, to have served as Rudolf Schindler’s draftsman before opening his own office, Kesling Modern Structures, at 1639 Silverlake Boulevard in 1935. By 1936 he claimed to have built “…over 450 homes, stores, and apartments in L.A. and the vicinity." At that point in his career, he remarked, "While I have never made a fortue, I have made a fair living.” Kesling eventually constructed many homes in the Streamline Moderne style, some for movie greats like Wallace Beery. These homes, in which he called ‘scintillating modern structures’ in his own ads, featured large glass openings integrating interiors and exteriors. In the later years of the Great Depression, Kesling’s business ran into legal trouble when he was sued for his inability to complete some of his houses at the pre-agreed price. Kesling’s overcharges were nothing new; in fact, many architects/contractors of the time sought additional funds from clients in order to finish their work – a practice for which Frank Lloyd Wright himself was notorious. Initially, Kesling prevailed in court but was later subject to a grand jury investigation re-charging him for the same accusations. Frustrated, Kesling pled guilty to one count of stealing $24.00 for which he was convicted and his sentencewas commuted to two years probation. The probation officer stated how overcharging was a “typical means of doing business at the time,” but the method was becoming too rampant and an example needed to be made. Kesling paid the price. After his probation, in 1939, Kesling moved to La Jolla from Salinas. Joining his extended family, who had moved to La Jolla years earlier, he claimed to construct hundreds of “prefabricated” houses (likely the structures in Clairemont and at 46th and Market). The first reference of Kesling’s influence in La Jolla was from the La Jolla Journal on November 11, 1939, when he built a home at 538 Fern Glen for his brother, Adolph. His work became more noteworthy when his houses were featured in Life and California Arts & Architecture. Julius Shulman, who photographed both Schindler and Kesling houses, believed that "Kesling has become important historically because he marked the transition from Art Deco Streamline Moderne to Schindler's modern style." Schindler and Kesling had one thing in common - their work was not taken seriously at first by the architectural establishment because they acted as their own contractors. This was not the conventional road for professional architects." Architect Russell Forrester, who worked for Kesling as a draftsman, argued that Kesling opened the path to Modernist development in confronting San Diego’s habitually restrictive regulations, a thorn in the side of the “rebels” of the Modern Movement. Kesling found ways to get around City code requirements that made it difficult to have large glass areas. Kesling designed housing for the US Navy during the war, after which he resurfaced in La Jolla. His late '40s designs were conservative wood and brick houses with trellises and patios; along with his design for the Jamar Dining Room restaurant, were photographed by Julius Shulman. A row of beach houses on Dowling Drive were nicknamed by the LA Times "Kesling's Kozy Kowsheds.” By this time it is argued that he had built 3,000 houses in his 30-year career. Kesling was largely forgotten after his death in 1983, in San Diego, of Alzheimer’s Disease. Long championed by La Jolla historian Pat Schaelchlin, Kesling’s local work was “re-discovered” in 2000 when San Diego architect Wayne Donaldson identified Kesling’s row of houses on Dowling Street. One of his most significant area houses was the McConnell House. Built in 1946-47 for a retired airline pilot, the house still soars over La Jolla Shores Beach after being featured in a 1947 photo spread in Life Magazine. The J. Paul Getty Museum’s archives holds images of the house, including interior shots made during a party.
Partial List of Kesling Projects By Year 1937 Skinner Residence 1939 Kessling, Adolph
Residence
1942 Kaysor
Residence Wartime Housing 1946 Martin Coule
Residence Everett House Ingall
House King Residence
1946-1947 J. Walton MacConnell
Residence
Kesling's Kozy
Kowsheds
1947-1948 Gamson Residence Ingle Residence
Esker Martin
Cole and Lullah M. Cole Residence McConnell
Residence Private Residence Private Residence Private Residence Private Residence Private Residence Private Residence Private Residence Private Residence Private Residence Private Residence Private Residence Private Residence Private Residence Private Residence Private Residence Private Residence Private Residence Private Residence Private Residence Private Residence Private Residence Private Residence Private Residence Private Residence Private Residence 1949 Borrego Springs
Desert Club 1951-1952 Hugh Woods Market
(1951) Kesling
plotted the Cliffside Subdivision from Blocks 16, 17, and 18 of
the 1908 Bird Rock Subdivision. 1961 Private Residences
Date Unknown Summer House
Hotel (demolished) Jamar Dining
Room Restaurant
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