Paul R. Williams

Over a career spanning six decades, architect Paul Revere Williams came to define what gracious living looked like for the Hollywood elite. Williams mastered an array of architectural idioms—including American Colonial, Spanish Mediterranean, English Tudor, French Normandy, Art Deco, and, of course, the California ranch style—to create the sophisticated yet understated showplaces that are featured here in all new full-colour photography.

Among the most celebrated architects of his generation, Williams was also the first African-American member of the American Institute of Architects, and he was deeply involved in the black community in Los Angeles and in African-American affairs nationally. Williams moved among many worlds, and with celebrity clients such as Frank Sinatra, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, Tyrone Power, and Barbara Stanwyck, as well as clients who made Hollywood run behind the scenes, not to mention members of Los Angeles high society, Williams left his mark in the city's most glamorous and exclusive enclaves—Beverly Hills, Brentwood, Bel Air, and the Hollywood Hills.

Paul R. Williams: Classic Hollywood Style is a dazzling tour of this prolific architect's most spectacular houses, by his granddaughter Karen Hudson, with a special focus on their roles not only as places for high living but also as venues for world-class entertaining.