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.

Claud Beelman
Born	1884 Ohio
Died	January 30, 1963 Los Angeles, California
Nationality	American
Occupation	Architect
Spouse	Lourene Taft Beelman
Children	1 daughter
Awards	Honorary Doctor of Architecture from Woodbury University, May 12, 2023
Buildings	Superior Oil Company Building

Biography

Garfield Building entrance.

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.

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

Registered in The National Register of Historic Places

Some of the California landmark buildings designed by Beelman include (All located in Los Angeles, California unless otherwise noted):

Garfield Building, 2008

Cooper Arms Apartments

• Board of Trade Building, Downtown Los Angeles
• Building at 816 South Grand Avenue, Downtown Los Angeles
• Culver Hotel, Culver City, California
• Cooper Arms Apartments, Long Beach
• Eastern Columbia Building, 849 S. Broadway, Los Angeles (contributing property in the Broadway Theater and Commercial District)
• Garfield Building
• Heinsbergen Decorating Company Building
• Ninth and Broadway Building, 850 S. Broadway, Los Angeles (contributing property in the Broadway Theater and Commercial District)
• Norwalk Memorial Hospital, 269 W. Main St. Norwalk, OH (Schriber & Beelman)
• Pacific Electric Building, 610 S. Main St. Los Angeles
• Roosevelt Building, 727 W. Seventh St. Los Angeles
• Security Building, Phoenix, Arizona
• Spring Street Realty Building (Contributing structure in Spring Street Historic District)
• Superior Oil Company Building (now The Standard Downtown LA Hotel)
• U.S. Post Office--Hollywood Station
• Woodbury University, Wilshire Boulevard Building, Los Angeles

Other notable works

Park Plaza Hotel Building

Farmers and Merchants Bank Office Tower

• Barker Brothers Building
• Central Plaza Building
• Elks Lodge No. 99 / Park Plaza Hotel
• Farmers and Merchants Bank Office Tower - Downtown Long Beach
• Harbor Building at Crenshaw
• Irving Thalberg Building, MGM (Sony) Studios
• L.A. Jewelry Center
• Mutual-Don Lee Broadcasting System studios (oldest surviving Hollywood studio built for television, now the Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences)
• May Company Garage - 1926 - one of the Nation's first parking structures (Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 1001)
• Mercury Building
• Pacific South West Trust Building
• Rose Hill Housing Structure
• Security Pacific Bank
• The Talmadge

External links

Hollywood, CA Post Office

• "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.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
• "The Hollywood, CA Post Office".
• "History California: US Post Office -- Hollywood Station".
• "Public Art in LA - Downtown / Broadway: 9th & Broadway".
• "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".
• "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.