Background
Byers, John Winford was born on March 22, 1875 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States. Son of James Albion and Sarah Elizabeth (Durbar) Byers.
Byers, John Winford was born on March 22, 1875 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States. Son of James Albion and Sarah Elizabeth (Durbar) Byers.
Graduated from the high school, Grand Rapids, 1894. Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineer, University of Michigan, 1898. Bachelor of Science, Harvard, 1899.
Post graduate work same university.
Byers, a graduate from Harvard University, was employed as a schoolteacher, teaching Spanish and French, at San Rafael High School and Santa Monica High School. Byers designed and built dozens of homes in Brentwood, Pacific Palisades, and Santa Monica from 1916 through 1946. He was fascinated with the native California architecture and its Mexican and Spanish roots.
He was most notable for his "Adobe" designed buildings, having written several articles in the 1920s and 1930s on adobe construction and its influence in California architect.
He studied the native building traditions of Hispanic cultures, and went through a phase where he built houses of adobe and stucco. He established his own workshop, employing Mexican craftsmen who were masters at creating and installing the adobe brick, the decorative tile, wrought iron and woodwork that he used in his houses.
Other dwellings were constructed in Coachella, Victorville, Belorussian Air, and Beverly Hills. Byers also constructed an adobe memorial recreation hall (Miles Plyhouse) in Santa Monica, a clubhouse at Brentwood Park, and a building at the John Thomas Dye School.
Club: Brentwood Country.
Married Mistress.