Claud Beelman

Claud W. Beelman (1884 – January 30, 1963), sometimes known as Claude Beelman, was an American architect who designed many examples of Beaux-Arts, Art Deco, and Streamline Moderne style buildings. Many of his buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Biography

Beelman was married to Lourene Taft Beelman (b. 1884, Ohio - d. 1948, Ca.). In 1910, he was a draftsman in the state of Indiana. (Cite: U.S. Census Records, State of Indiana, 1910.) It was there they had a daughter, Helen Beelman (b. 1912). By the 1920s, the family had relocated to Los Angeles, and by 1930, they lived in Beverly Hills.

From the 1920s on, Beelman, as partner or owner of one or another of several firms (Curlett + Beelman; Allison & Allison; Ruck & Beelman; Claud Beelman & Associates) designed a number of prominent civic and private structures. By 1956, Claude Beelman & Associates officed at 7421 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles 90036.

When he was in his seventies, Beelman designed the 12-story Superior Oil building for oil tycoon W.M. Keck. Completed in 1955, the Superior Oil building later became The Bank of California Building, and was used for the bank's offices until the 1980s. By the late 1990s, the building had been vacant for nearly ten years, but has been renovated beginning in 2000 by hotel developer Andre Balazs, and now is the location of his hotel The Standard.

File:Easternstandard cropped by mlsb.jpg

Eastern Columbia Building

It is the zig-zag moderne Eastern Columbia Building, however, with its facade of turquoise green terra cotta tile, ornate clock tower, art deco lighting, fixtures, signage and architectural detail that is Beelman's most recognizable work. In 2006, the Eastern Columbia Building was converted from office space to loft live/work spaces by the Kor Group and is now one of the most desirable loft buildings in Downtown Los Angeles.

On May 12, 2023, Beelman was posthumously awarded an Honorary Doctor of Architecture from Woodbury University in Burbank, California.

Works

Beelman's works include (in Los Angeles, California) unless otherwise noted:

National Register of Historic Places

File:Garfield Building.JPG

Garfield Building, 2008

• Cooper Arms Apartments (1923), Long Beach, California
• Building at 816 South Grand Avenue (1924)
• Culver Hotel (1924), Culver City, California
• Roosevelt Building (1926)
• Security Building (1928), Phoenix, Arizona
• Heinsbergen Decorating Company Building (1928)
• Ninth and Broadway Building (1929)
• Board of Trade Building (1929)
• Garfield Building (1930)
• Eastern Columbia Building (1930)
• U.S. Post Office--Hollywood Station (1937)
• Superior Oil Company Building (1956)
• Norwalk Memorial Hospital, Norwalk, Ohio
• Spring Street Realty Building
• Woodbury University, Wilshire Boulevard Building

Other notable works

File:Park Plaza Hotel Building.jpg

Elks Lodge No. 99 / Park Plaza Hotel

• The Talmadge (1924)
• Elks Lodge No. 99 / Park Plaza Hotel (1924)
• May Company Garage (1926)
• Tidewater Building (1958)
• Getty Building (1963)
• Central Plaza Building
• Farmers and Merchants Bank Office Tower, Long Beach, California
• Irving Thalberg Building, MGM (Sony) Studios
• L.A. Jewelry Center
• Mutual-Don Lee
• Pacific South West Trust Building
• Rose Hill Housing Structure

External links

• "The Cooper Arms - A Brief History".
• Arnold Schwartzman, Bevis Hillier (2005-08-11). Deco Landmarks: Art Deco Gems of Los Angeles. Chronicle Books. ISBN 0-8118-4601-6.
• "Los Angeles Downtown News - Los Angeles Downtown Visitor's Guilde - Architecture".
• "LA Time Machine - Historic Buildings in LA".
• "Sony Pictures Museum - Thalberg History". Archived from the original on 2006-11-13. Retrieved 2006-10-12.
• "Contemporary Fresco Gazette: Park Plaza Hotel - New Time, New Life". Archived from the original on 2006-10-15. Retrieved 2006-10-12.
• "The Larchmont Chronicle: Classic Apartment Buildings - The Talmadge". Archived from the original on 2006-10-22. Retrieved 2006-10-12.
• "The Mercury LA". Archived from the original on 2007-01-27. Retrieved 2006-10-12.
• "The City of Long Beach - Historic Landmarks". Archived from the original on 2006-10-10. Retrieved 2006-10-12.
• "The Garfield Building".
• "Downtown LA - Office Space: The Jewelry Center, and others".
• "Emporis: Claude Beelman, Architect". Archived from the original on August 24, 2004.
• "The Hollywood, CA Post Office".
• "History California: US Post Office -- Hollywood Station".
• "Public Art in LA - Downtown / Broadway: 9th & Broadway". Archived from the original on May 2, 2005.
• "Long Beach: Historical Beaches and Places". Archived from the original on 2006-10-31. Retrieved 2006-10-12.
• "Blogdowntown.com: "What is LA's Oldest Parking Structure?" - (Re: May Company Garage, 1926)". Archived from the original on 2006-08-11. Retrieved 2006-10-12.
• "Los Angeles Conservancy - 9th & Broadway Building".
• "Curbed LA: Roosevelt Building Gets Lofted". 16 May 2006. Archived from the original on October 31, 2006.
• "Ancestry.com: 1930 Federal Census Bureau Record, City of Beverly Hills: District 19-822, Supervisor District 16, Sheet 15B, Claud Beelman, Architect".
• "L.A. Public Library Photo Database: Claud Beelman's Rose Hill, Hollywood Post Office, and other Federal and municipal public works (Search Photo Data base: Claude or Claud Beelman if link becomes inoperative)".
• "Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library: Greene & Greene Collection - Pacific Southwest Trust & Savings Building, Pasadena, CA, Job No. 476, from 1924, 1926, (Original Hand Drawings online of Beelman's)".
• "The Eastern Columbia Loft Site".

• "The Wilshire Center: "Wilshire Corridor History" (Cites many of Beelman's early works)". Archived from the original on 2008-05-11.
• "Services for Architect Claud Beelman Set", Los Angeles Times, February 2, 1963 Part II, page 6.