Background
Charles F. Whittlesey was born in 1867 in Alton, Illinois, United States.
Charles F. Whittlesey was born in 1867 in Alton, Illinois, United States.
He was trained in architecture in the Chicago office of the late Louis Sullivan.
In 1900 Mr. Whittlesey was appointed Chief Architect of the Santa Fe Railroad Company, in charge of designing hotels and Stations on the Line. Notable examples of these were the Alvarado Hotel and Station at Albuquerque, New Mexico, and the El Tovar Hotel in the Grand Canyon of Arizona, designed in an adaptation of the Pueblo Indian style.
A few years later Mr. Whittlesey moved to Los Angeles and established an office for practice. He was one of the first architects to use reinforced concrete for construction purposes, covering exposed surfaces with ornamentation cast in place. He also designed the Philharmonic Building at Fifth and Olive Streets (an outstanding achievement), the Wentworth (now Huntington) Hotel in Pasadena, and several residences in Los Angeles, including the fine home of Mrs. W. S. Bartlett on West Adams Street.
Following the 1906 earthquake and fire in San Francisco, he joined other architects there engaged in reconstruction work, and rebuilt several structures including the Pacific Building.