Morgan, Walls & Clements

Mayan Theater, Los Angeles

Morgan, Walls & Clements was an architectural firm based in Los Angeles, California and responsible for many of the city's landmarks. Originally Morgan and Walls, with principals Octavius Morgan and John A. Walls, the firm worked in the area from before the turn of the century.

Around 1910 Morgan's son O.W. Morgan was promoted, the elder Morgan retired, and with the emergence of designer Stiles O. Clements (1883–1966) the firm hit its stride with a series of theaters and commercial projects around MacArthur Park. Clements often worked in Spanish Colonial revival and Mayan revival styles, but their major project was the black Art Deco Richfield Tower, a commanding presence in downtown until its destruction in 1969.

Clements appears to have left the firm around 1937.

Their work includes:

• Van Nuys Apartments, Los Angeles, 1913
• The Haas Building, Los Angeles, 1915
• El Capitan Theatre, Los Angeles, 1926
• Belasco Theater, Los Angeles, 1926
• Mayan Theater, Los Angeles, 1927
• Richfield Tower, Los Angeles, 1929 (razed)
• Adamson House, Malibu, California, 1930
• Pellissier Building and Wiltern Theatre, Los Angeles, 1931
• Dominguez-Wilshire Building (5410 Wilshire Boulevard), Los Angeles, 1931
• The Adams Square Building (1100 E. Chevy Chase Dr), Glendale, 1928

Sources

• emporis page on the firm's work