ARCHITECT | DESIGN | BUILD 12.19.2014 113
Six years after opening his practice, Williams was commissioned
to design a home for horseracing entrepreneur, Jack Atkins. The
$500,000 fee was exceptional for its time, and it captured the
attention of Hollywood's elite. In 1930, Luebbers says, Williams was
approached by E.L. Cord, creator of the Cord automobile, to build
his opulent residence in Beverly Hills.
"It was a showplace," Luebbers marvels. "It was a 30-room
mansion with a 15-car garage and a polo field. It was the place
that everyone wanted to see. After that, Williams didn't have to
sell himself to anyone."
Soon the calls began pouring in, and Williams found himself involved
in some of the area's most prestigious residential and commercial
design projects. He is credited as the interior architect for the Saks
Fifth Avenue store in Beverly Hills, which opened in the early 1930s
in an Art Deco building designed by famed Los Angeles father-and-
son architects, John and Donald Parkinson. Williams' design for the
store's interior featured smaller, individual spaces to house different
departments versus a cavernous open space, a precursor to today's
in-store boutique concept.
[ P A U L R E V E R E W I L L I A M S ]
"[THEE.L. CORDHOUSE]
WASASHOWPCE.
ITWASA ROOM
MANSIONWITHA
CARGARAGEAND
APOLOFIELD.
ITWASTHEPCE
THATEVERYONEWANTED
TOSEE. AFTERTHAT
WILLIAMSDIDN'THAVE
TOSELLHIMSELF
TOANYONE."
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PHOTO COURTESY OF PAUL JONASON
