Albert L. Farr

Albert Lincoln Farr (October 8, 1871—July 12, 1947) was an American residential architect, who designed homes in the Craftsman and Georgian styles.

Early life
Born in Omaha, Nebraska, his early childhood was spent in Yokohama, Japan. The Farr family returned to the United States, and settled in Oakland in the San Francisco Bay Area and he attended Oakland High School. Farr lived at various times in San Francisco (at 2528 Union), and also briefly in Berkeley, settled in Piedmont, and Oakland.

Career
From 1909 through the end of his career he maintained an office at 68 Post Street in San Francisco.

Farr earned his architecture license in 1901, one of the first in California. He took on Joseph Francis Ward as an associated architect partner in 1922, eventually naming his firm Farr & Ward. Farr and his firm designed buildings throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, particularly in the San Francisco neighborhoods of Russian Hill, Pacific Heights, Sea Cliff, and St. Francis Wood. Many of his designs involve a facade of brown wooden shingles.

The Sundial Lodge, also known today as the L’Auberge Carmel, a Relais & Châteaux property, is a historic Medieval Revival hotel in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. It was designed by Farr and was built in 1929–1930, by Master builder Michael J. Murphy. It was designated as an important commercial building in the city's Downtown Historic District Property Survey, and was recorded with the Department of Parks and Recreation on December 5, 2002.

Projects
• 40 Crocker (1906)

• 2714 Broadway (1900)

• 2714 Divisadero (1900)

• 2660 Scott (1901)

• 2858 Vallejo (1901)

• 2419 Vallejo (1902)

• 2175-81 Pacific (1902)

• 3333 Pacific (1902)

• 3343 Pacific (1902)

• 2801 Broadway (1902)

• 2737 Vallejo (1902)

• 2310 Steiner (1903, remodel)

• 2881 Vallejo (1904)

• 2891 Vallejo (1904)

• 2400 Vallejo (1905)

• 2004 10th Ave (1906, Oakland)

• 2950 Pacific (1907)

• 653 Lake (1911)

• 2659-61 Green (1911)

• 2649 Green (1916)

• 66 Hillcrest (1921, Berkeley California)

• 2570 Jackson (1923, currently French Consul-General's house)

• 2310 Broadway (1927)

• 3699 Washington (1929)

• 3450 Washington (1929)

• 3 Sky Castle (1929, Pleasanton, California)

• Sundial Lodge, (1929) Carmel-by-the-Sea, California

• 2520 Pacific (1930, rebuild)

• 2574 Broadway (1932)

• 60 McLaren Avenue (1934)

• 2699 Filbert (1936, remodel)

• 2130 Vallejo (1936, remodel)

• 635 D Street (1937, Petaluma)

• 455 Sea Cliff Avenue (1938)

• 2550 Pierce (1941)

Farr also designed houses in Belvedere, Piedmont and Woodside. One of his most famous is the Wolf House for Jack London, in Glen Ellen. The 15000 sqft home burned before construction was completed. Long thought to be the result of an arson, recent analysis of the ruins, located in Jack London State Historic Park, determined the cause to be spontaneous combustion.

Death
Farr died on July 12, 1947, in Piedmont, California. He was buried in the Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, California.