It seldom happens that a single architect is so influential that his work actually provides a major component of the image of a city. There are, however, at least three California towns where this has happened: in San Diego with the work of Irving Gill; in Watsonville with the work of W. H. Weeks; and in Palo Alto with the work of Birge Clark.
While Clark designed some structures in the Tudor or Medieval Revival styles, his work is primarily in the Spanish Colonial Revival mode, or, as he prefers to call it, the Early California Style. There is in his work a fondness for large expanses of wall, carefully irregular fenestration, and embellishments of colored tiles and wrought iron. (Short tile video)
Clark's father, A. B. Clark, was an early Stanford faculty member and although his primary field was art rather than architecture, he was the designer of many fine early Palo Alto residences. Thus his son, Birge Clark, was exposed to architectural concerns at an early age and together they designed the Lou Henry Hoover House.
Clark's long practice has been almost solely conducted in Palo Alto, and was varied enough to include single and multiple family residences, commercial structures and prominent institutional buildings. Thus, his hand is to be traced in every range of building in the community, and is responsible for the remarkable visual coherence of post–1920's Palo Alto.
Source: Historical and Architectural Resources of the City of Palo Alto, 1979.
Video interview with Gail Woolley about Birge Clark
650 Addison Avenue Addison School 1924 |
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121 Alma Street 1925 |
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291 Alma Street 1928 |
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539 Alma Street 1921 |
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695 Arastradero Road Alta Mesa Memorial Cemetery, 1932 |
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440 – 450 Bryant Street Fire and Police Station 1927 |
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522 – 524 – 526 – 528 Bryant Street Palo Alto Hardware 1936 |
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535 – 539 Bryant Street, 1922 2015 photo 1922 |
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540 Bryant Street Piggly Wiggly Grocery 1932 |
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1310 Bryant Street (photo is of Administration Building) |
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164 California Avenue (modified) |
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392 California Avenue (re–faced) 1948 |
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415 – 417 California Avenue 2015 photo 1948 |
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421 California Avenue re–faced 1929 |
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431 California Avenue, 1926 Fine Arts Theater 1926 |
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433 – 435 California Avenue | ![]() |
480 East Meadow JLS Middle School (Wilbur Jr. High) 1953 |
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2560 Embarcadero Road, 1941, Sea Scout Base 1941 (with David Clark) |
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435 – 439 Emerson Street Baker Hotel 1924–25 |
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544 Emerson Street 1926 |
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611 – 619 Emerson Street 1924 |
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Florence Street at University Avenue Masonic Hall. Destroyed by fire. |
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140 Forest Avenue, 1936 | |
146 Forest Avenue | |
116 – 122 Hamilton Avenue, 1925 | |
200 – 230 Hamilton Avenue | ![]() |
261 – 267 Hamilton Avenue 1927 |
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300 Hamilton Avenue Bank lower mural close up 1963 |
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380 Hamilton Avenue United States Post Office 1932 short video |
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411 – 419 High Street 1924 |
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635 High Street 1945 |
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790 High Street at Homer Pontiac garage) 1936 |
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151 Homer Avenue 1925 |
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300 Homer Avenue Palo Alto Medical Clinic Roth Building, 1 1932 |
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1305 Middlefield Road Lucie Stern Community Center 1933 – 1936 short video |
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532 – 536 Ramona street 1926 |
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538 Ramona Street 1926 |
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541 – 545 Ramona Street, 1927 |
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628 – 630 Ramona Street 1927 |
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668 Ramona Street Palo Alto Art Club 1926 |
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102 The Circle | |
125 University Avenue 1925 |
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180 – 190 University Avenue 1936 |
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233 – 235 University Avenue | |
261 University Avenue | ![]() |
263 University Avenue | ![]() |
267 University Avenue | ![]() |
323 University Avenue |
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340 University Avenue Liddicoats Market Demolished |
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400 – 424 University Avenue | ![]() |
415 – 419 University Avenue 1926 |
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423 University Avenue 1927 |
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425 University Avenue, 1927 |
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429, 433, and 437 University Avenue 1927 |
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436 - 452 University Avenue 1927 |
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440 University Avenue |
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448 University Avenue 1927 |
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452 University Avenue 1927 |
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451 University Avenue 1938 |
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460 – 476 University Avenue 1927 |
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480 - 498 University Avenue President Hotel 1929 |
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526 – 530 – 534 Waverley Street 1927 |
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505 – 507 Addison Avenue / 971 Cowper Street 1922 |
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2040 Amherst Street 1947 |
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2060 Amherst Street 1947 |
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2215 Amherst Street | ![]() |
2225 Amherst Street | ![]() |
1837 Bryant Street 1940 |
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1851 Bryant Street 1940 |
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1865 Bryant Street (311 Seale Avenue) 1940 |
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1991 Bryant Street 1935 |
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1480 Byron Street 1932 |
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526 Center Drive 1931 |
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370 Channing Avenue 1922 |
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232 Coleridge Avenue 1925 |
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455 Coleridge Avenue 1927 |
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470 Coleridge Avenue 1923 |
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512 Coleridge Avenue, 1928 |
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526 Coleridge Avenue 1935 |
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544 Coleridge Avenue 1923 |
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570 Coleridge Avenue 1926 |
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619 Cowper Street — demolished |
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965 – 971 Cowper Street / 505 – 509 Addison Avenue 1922 |
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1247 Cowper Street |
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1928 Cowper Street 1935 |
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1950 Cowper Street 1932 |
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1990 Cowper Street 1932 |
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2200 Cowper Street 1936 |
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51 Crescent Drive | ![]() |
557 East Crescent Drive 1930 |
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1400 Edgewood Drive 1933 |
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1401 Edgewood Drive | ![]() |
1431 Edgewood Drive 1948 |
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1440 Edgewood Drive 1947 |
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1474 Edgewood Drive 1935 |
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1480 Edgewood Drive 1936 |
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1490 Edgewood Drive 1936 Birge Clark's home |
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590 Embarcadero Road | |
758 Everett Avenue 1923 |
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27210 Fremont Road | |
1766 Fulton Street 1936 |
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1830 Fulton Street | |
619 Guinda Street, 1924 |
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955 Hamilton Avenue 1935 |
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1120 Hamilton Avenue 1932 |
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1220 Hamilton Avenue 1938 |
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1457 Hamilton Avenue 1953 |
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1491 Hamilton Avenue 1937 |
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111 Island Drive 1935 |
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155 Island Drive 1933 |
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Guest house at rear of residence at 360 Kellogg Avenue |
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325 Kingsley Court 1940 |
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327 Kingsley Court 1940 |
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333 Kingsley Court 1940 |
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335 Kingsley Court 1940 |
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343 Kingsley Court 1940 |
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345 Kingsley Court 1940 |
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353 Kingsley Court 1940 |
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355 Kingsley Court 1940 |
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363 Kingsley Court 1940 |
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365 Kingsley Court 1940 |
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335 Lowell Avenue | |
556 Lowell Avenue | |
569 Lowell Avenue 1924 |
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420 Maple Street Dunker Residence National Register 1925 |
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1322 Martin Avenue | |
640 Middlefield Road, 1922 |
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1410 Middlefield Road 1924 |
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1420 Middlefield Road 1924 |
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1430 Middlefield Road (after expansion) 1924 |
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1440 Middlefield Road 1924 |
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425 Nevada Street 1938 |
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580 Newell Road 1941 |
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1990 Newell Road | |
760 Northampton Drive 1941 |
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960 Old Trace Road | |
Page Mill Road | |
1066 Palo Alto Avenue | |
300 Santa Rita Avenue Demolished |
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311 Seale Avenue (see 1837 Bryant Street) 1940 |
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559 Seale Avenue | ![]() |
730 Southampton Drive | |
882 Southampton Drive 1946 |
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1941 Tasso Street 1941 |
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595 Tennyson Avenue 1928 |
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701 Tennyson Avenue 1937 |
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1150 University Avenue 1939 |
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1570 University Avenue 1933 |
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1755 University Avenue 1945 |
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1010 Waverley Street 1923 |
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2121 Waverley Street | ![]() |
1455 Webster Street 1921 |
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1500 Webster Street 1924 |
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1525 Webster Street 1922 |
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1565 Webster Street | ![]() |
1651 Webster Street 1922 |
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1711 Webster Street Demolished — Feb. 2012 1923 |
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1975 Webster Street Demolished — c. 2016 |
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520 West Crescent Drive 1933 |
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