The Short but Brilliant Life of Joseph Halstead Roberts, AIA(1898-1932)
Halstead’s home and studio at 501 Termino.
Today it is a city landmark called The Elizabethan Studio.
Joseph Halstead Roberts, who is listed in the city’s Context Statement as a notable architect, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1898. He grew up in Long Beach after his family arrived in the city in 1903. He attended Polytechnic High School, graduating in 1916 after studying engineering and architecture. He went to work as a draftsman then quickly became the superintendent engineer for prominent design-builder, J.D. Sherer, where he influenced many of that company’s projects.
In 1919, Roberts established his own office at the Marine Bank Building (which he also designed) in downtown Long Beach before altering his own family’s residence, a bungalow at both 3943 E. 5th Street and 501 Termino Avenue into his own office/design studio. Perhaps one of Long Beach’s most prolific architects, Roberts designed over 75 structures within the City of Long Beach, several of which are now city historic landmarks:
Elizabethan Studio (1930)
Houser Building (1929)
The Californian (1923)
St. Regis (1921-1923)
Roberts was a brilliant engineer, sandwiching a one-story apartment building at 2742 E. Broadway between the 2nd and 4th floors of a new building. Today it is the landmark Houser Building. Long Beach Sun, July 27, 1929.
Notable Residences:
3361-3363 E. 1st Street - Tru Wesley and Margaret Moulton (1920) 3320 E. 1st Street – Leonard Brandt house (1927) 2671 E. 1st Street – Fred Swartz house (1926)
3731 Atlantic Avenue – A.J. Delaney mansion (1925) 241 Obispo Avenue – Lou & Ida Swartz house (1927) 4252 Magnolia Avenue – The W.E. Babb House (1927)
Roberts’ commissions also included numerous apartments, flats and garages, many of which are still extant today:
Casa Elegante at Rose and 7th (1922)
Murchison Apartments at 725 E. 6th (1924) La Rosa Apartments at 425 E. 6th (c 1923) Brown’s Court at 3615-3623 E. Colorado St. (1923)
Roberts died in 1932 when he was only 32 years old, leaving his widow and a child. In addition to the immense portfolio of work accomplished during his short life he served as Chancellor Commander for the Knights of Pythias (he designed the Pythian Hall at 349 Pacific) and the Secretary for the Long Beach Architects’ Association.
Do you think you might own a Roberts-designed building? Let me know!
Thanks to Dr. Louis Ivers for providing an exhaustive list of J.H. Roberts’ work in her book, “Long Beach: Its History Through its Architecture” 2009. It is available at the Historical Society of Long Beach.
The Californian
325 W. Third Street, built 1923