Hiram Hudson Benedict

By 1935, Benedict had moved to Palm Springs where he worked for Gene Verge as an architectural draftsman, before launching the partnerships of Brewster & Benedict and Finlayson & Benedict. He left Palm Springs for a single-year (1939-1940) stint in Phoenix. Returning to Palm Springs in 1940, Benedict opened an office in the McManus building at 315 North Palm Canyon Drive.

During World War II, Benedict served the US Navy as an architect. In 1946, he returned briefly to Palm Springs and established an office for the Seattle firm of Bain, Overturf, Turner and Associates. After a few years, he returned to Phoenix.

After acquiring a site on Camelback Mountain in the early 1950s, a group of prominent investors (including Hollywood stars John Ireland, Joanne Dru and Charlie Chaplin's son Sydney) hired architect Benedict to design a clubhouse and a prototype casita. Benedict and Ireland developed the clubhouse, five tennis courts and a prototype casita that became John Ireland's Arizona home. The project was known as the Paradise Valley Racquet Club throughout the 1950s and is now named Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain.

Benedict reportedly had a string of eight marriages. He married Margaret, his first wife, and divorced her in 1936. Hiram was married to his 3rd wife, Lucile, between 1951-1954. She died in 1954. Later that year, he married Capi – who also died within the calendar year. In 1955, Mr. Benedict reportedly married and divorced his wife, Evelyn, in the same month. One family member recalls him marrying one of his wives twice. In 1955, Benedict married Lois Grace, an artist, who returned to Arizona after living in La Jolla. Lois would design landscapes for many of his projects.

While little is known about Benedict through the 1960s and ‘70s, his residence was noted as being in Carefree, Arizona in both the 1962 and 1970 AIA directories.

Sedona AZ architect Don Woods, worked for Benedict and offered, “He gave me my first job in Scottsdale in 1958. Taught me a lot…Taught me how to do mechanically drawn perspectives, and in fact I laid out all of the perspectives for him to draw for at least three or four years including Half Moon Inn on Shelter Island... I went to San Diego for the summer and fall of 1959 to share in the drafting of the plans. Considering that he had no college education and basically learned by the seat of his pants, he was a great talent and his projects were well received. He was…a great salesman. He would sketch upside down in front of clients and that alone knocked their socks off. Benny was good friends with the developers of Carefree -- Tom Darlington, K.T. Palmer and Les Rhuart… He did the first buildings in the new community... Claire Booth Luce, Loyal Davis (Nancy Reagan’s parents), Henry Sturgis, Eugene Casserole and Howard Ahara were among his early clients in the Scottsdale and Biltmore area…”

Benedict served filmmaker Antonioni as technical advisor for Zabriskie Point (1970). The home, known as Boulder Reign which he designed for Carl Hovgaard, was used both as a shooting location as well as a scale model which is famously blown apart at the end of the film. “I believe that the house was later purchased by Rusty Lyon who was a partner in Westcor, the premier shopping center developer in the Phoenix. Rusty's son Scott is one of the partners in Sanctuary on Camelback – which was once called John Gardiner’s Tennis Ranch on the Camelback, the same fellow who developed Enchantment, a luxury resort in Sedona, according to architect Don Woods. Woods “…was responsible for the remodeling of the original residence on the property and the first six casitas as well as the major two tennis courts and pool for the owner prior to Gardiner.”

Hiram and Lois lived in Las Vegas in the mid-70s where he was reportedly working on the Dunes casino and at least one residence. Hiram and Lois retired to Nordlan, Washington – where he passed away in November 1984. Lois died in September 1988.

Partial List of Projects

Ahara, Howard Residence
Paradise Valley, Arizona
*Attribution by Don Woods

Belice, John A. Residence (1963)
1634 Crespo, La Jolla
*Attribution

Benedict Residence (ca. 1976)
Mountain Springs, Nevada

Brill, Blanche Residence
Palm Springs

Bullock's Demonstration Homes
Palm Springs

Casserole, Eugene Residence
Paradise Valley, Arizona
*Attribution by Don Woods

Cliffton, Dr. Bacon L. Building
Palm Springs

Colonialounge
Palm Springs

Davies, Marion Beach House

Davis, Loyal Residence (1961)
24 Biltmore Estate, Phoenix AZ
*Reportedly Nancy Reagan's parent's home

de Laittre, Karl Residence
Palm Springs

Gibbs, Earl Residence
Palm Springs

Half Moon Anchorage and Boat-tel (1959)
2303 Shelter Island Drive, San Diego
*Later renamed Humphrey's Half Moon Inn & Suites

Harris, Phil and Alice Faye Residence (1952)

Hicks, Alvah F. Residence
Palm Springs

Hicks, Milton Residence
Palm Springs

Hovgaard Residence (AKA Boulder Reign) (1970)
6908 Stagecoach Pass Road, Carefree, Arizona
*Appears in Zabriskie's Point (1970)

La Cita Apartments
Palm Springs

Lone Palm
Palm Springs

Luce, Claire Booth Residence
Biltmore Estates, Arizona
*Attribution by Don Woods

Pacific Building
Palm Springs

Palm Springs Hotel (Remodel)
Palm Springs

Paradise Valley Racquet Club (1955)
5700 E. McDonald Drive, Paradise Valley, AZ
*later renamed Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain Resort and Spa
Paradise Valley Racquet Club (1955)

Pershing, Frank Residence
Palm Springs

Private Residence (1952)
31 Biltmore Estate, Phoenix AZ
*Reportedly this house was pictured in the March 12, 1956 edition of Life Magazine as the "Costliest Home in Phoenix" at a price of $400,000.

Roosevelt, Elliott (late 1950s)
Paradise Valley, Arizona
*Attribution by Don Woods

San Diego Yacht Club (1964)
San Diego

Simon, Lloyd Residence (ca. 1935)
388 Val Monte Norte, Palm Springs
*Designed in partnership with Floyd Brewster, AIA

Sterling Library detailing
Yale University

Sturgis, Henry Residence
Scottsdale, Arizona
*Attribution by Don Woods

Thunderbird Country Club
Rancho Mirage

Town House
Palm Springs

Wilson, H. Dalzell Residence
Palm Springs

Sources
1. The City of Palm Springs Citywide Historic Context Statement & Survey Findings
2. March 22, 1940 issue of The Desert Sun of Palm Springs
3. The AIA Historical Directory of American Architects (1962, 1970)