Architecture is an expression of the human condition. In one sense it’s an intellectual pursuit with an emphasis on functionality and tastes relative to the client. The design process is without limitation, except for perhaps the limitation of the materials and mathematical formulas that allow the intangible idea to become a physical expression on the land.
Mr. Barber, the founder of Tim Barber Architects and the founder and former President of the Southern California Chapter of the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art (ICAA), examined the process and design intent of the Robinsons’ Italian Revival Pool Pavilion on February 27, 2025 at The Virginia Robinson Gardens. He revealed the possible narrative between the client, the builder and the existing buildings already sited on the Robinsons’ estate.
Barber chronicled the development of the Robinson estate by noting the Beaux-Arts style main residence which was designed and built as a wedding present for the newlyweds by Virginia’s father, Nathanial Dryden. The 6,000 square foot residence was constructed in less than a year, for the cost of $25,000. And from a handwritten inscription by Virigina in a book still in her library, she wrote in her own hand, “September 30.1911, First night in our home.”
It was twelve years later, when Mr. Robinson was chairman of the Board that he had the financial means to hire Frederick Noonan and William J. Dodd and William Richards to design and build the Pool Pavilion, swimming pool and tennis court. Mr. Robinson previously worked with Dodd when he designed the J.W. Robinson’s flagship store in downtown Los Angeles. Dodd’s firm was well established in Southern California. A project of note is the San Gabriel Mission Playhouse in San Gabriel, California.
The Robinsons visited Villa Pisani in Montagnana, Italy on one of their many trips abroad to procure dry goods for the J.W. Robinson’s department store. The beauty of the villa inspired them to retain Dodd & Richards to design the Pool Pavilion in the Italian Revival Style. The former majordomo Ivo Hadjeiv served on Mrs. Robinson’s staff for the last ten years of her life. Virginia told Ivo that Mr. Robinson sent the architect to Villa Pisani to study, interpret and distill the essence of Villa Pisani in miniature, before they were to begin to design the Pool Pavilion.
Barber stated he thought the siting of the Pool Pavilion on the crest of the property was pure art. The Pool Pavilion is sited on the highest elevation of the property and offers borrowed views to the Pacific Ocean, including the island of Catalina, deep views into Franklin and Coldwater Canyons, and before newly planted trees grew up, a view to the Los Angeles Country Club on Wilshire Boulevard and to downtown Los Angeles–and on rare occasions, all the way to Mt. San Jacinto in Palm Springs which is over 100 miles away.
Barber eloquently outlined how the Pool Pavilion, built twelve years after the main house, was sensitively designed to be complementary and not competing with or diminishing the architecture of the main residence. Instead, it borrowed and refined some of the more prominent architectural features of the main residence. And by using perspective and scale, the two buildings are married visually. Each accentuates the other, creating a sense of symmetry, balance and civility in the garden space between them. The Great Lawn is the visual link between the two buildings. Due to the higher elevation of the Pool Pavilion and the swimming pool relative to the Main House, one does not see the swimming pool until it is revealed as a pleasant surprise once you reach the level of the pool deck. This allows the Pool Pavilion to be viewed singularly and fully appreciated on the axial view up the Great Lawn from the Main House.
The elevation difference and scaling of the buildings, along with the cypress trees trimmed progressively shorter from the Main House leading to the Pool Pavilion, creates a forced perspective, making the buildings seem further apart than they actually are. Barber contextualized the Robinson estate, in all its architectural wonders, by referencing when it was built during the intersection of the Gilded Age of America and the Golden Age of Hollywood. And it and its inhabitants survived two world wars and the Great Depression.
Barber noted that the swimming pool located in front of the Pool Pavilion is clad in one-inch square tiles, primarily white, but tiles of several other colors were used to create ancient Grecian designs above the waterline on the vertical retaining wall at the deep end of the pool. This is where the diving board was mounted when the Robinsons lived on the property. In the middle of the wall is a glazed gargoyle, that when activated by a hand valve, will spurt water from its mouth. Its main function is to top off the water level to make up for water lost to evaporation. Just below the waterline is an amazing Grecian key pattern created with charcoal black tile.
The intentional positioning of the swimming pool at a lower elevation than the Pool Pavilion makes the surface of the water in the pool act as a mirror, capturing the fine details of the front façade of the Pool Pavilion.
The tiled deck around the pool was produced by Glendale Tile in shades of brown, laid out in a three-piece ashlar pattern. This type of pattern is created by taking tile squares of different sizes to create a running pattern that predictably repeats.
The front of the Pool Pavilion is graced with three roman arches framed by two sets of double Tuscan columns. The blue Palladian doors hang on heavy metal tracks which allow them to roll open and recede into a void in the wall when pushed by a single person. This is similar to the concept of a pocket door found in many modern homes — except that the massive doors of glass are estimated to weight upwards of a ton.
The top façade of the Pool Pavilion is decorated with low profile, fluted terracotta urns, which Barber noted had at one point been planted with agave plants during the Robinsons’ sixty-six-year tenure on the property. The use of urns was a departure from the typical formal Italianate statues that would be placed on a building of this style, if built during the Italian Renaissance.
Upon entering the Pool Pavilion, the first room is called the Solarium. This is due to the abundance of natural light entering through the curtain of glass created by the Palladian style doors. Centered on the opposite wall is an oversized fireplace, and on the opposing walls, to create symmetry and reflect more light into the room, there are two arched mirrors with Palladian style wood overlays to relate to the Palladian doors.
The Solarium has a hand-stenciled coffered ceiling, The stenciled images are Italianate in nature, with examples of stylized griffins, oil lamps, and various geometric patterns.
The flooring is terrazzo squares in two colors. At opposite ends of this rectangular room are doors to two former guest bedrooms, each with its own bathroom and separate sliding doors to a kitchenette. Domestic staff were assigned to the Pool Pavilion when it was occupied by guests of the Robinsons.
A second room on the first floor repeats the rectangular dimensions of the Solarium. It is designated as the Billiard Room. A walnut Brunswick Billard table was positioned in the center this room, centered under an eloquent ceiling lamp with two tan mica shades. This unique wrought iron light fixture is equipped with counterweights. This allowed the light fixture to be lowered or raised to focus the light depending on the difficulty of the shot. The ornate plaster ceiling is coffered and is suspended from a slab of concrete concealed above it. It displays various Greek and Italian motifs, such as the Grecian acanthus plant, an egg and dart design along its lower border, and reverse finials.
The hand-carved black walnut paneling in this room has dentals carved along the upper edge where it interfaces with the plaster ceiling. There are three solid black walnut swivel type doors on the internal wall that when opened, expose shelved pockets behind them. One was used to hold the cue sticks and has an ornate billiard scoreboard. The billiard table with an insert could be converted into a ping-pong table. So, hand paddles and ping-pong balls were stored in the cabinet behind the end swivel door. While the middle panel appears to be fixed to all but the owner, who knows it has a spring-loaded latch. By the spacing and width of the shelving in this hidden compartment, it is presumed that it held the hard liquor during prohibition.
Mrs. Robinson’s card room is up a spiral staircase on the second floor. It has two sets of French doors and a large south facing window running from floor to ceiling. There is a reading chair and ottoman positioned next to the window. The French Boulle style furnishing in this room is scaled to Mrs. Robinson and her female friends who would sit and play bridge, Yahtzee or fiddle with a Ouija Board to try to converse with the dead. On all four walls are Pompeian murals in a stylized version, depicting Mrs. Robinson as the central figure, surrounded by images such as their pet dogs, a pet cockatiel, and their pet tortoise painted with a tennis racquet in his hand.
Photos by Josh Johnston
Barber inspired the audience with his vast architectural knowledge by contextualizing the Pool Pavilion as a significant early 20th-century marvel for Southern California. He showed how the Robinsons, as a wealthy entrepreneurial couple, introduced and promoted great architecture and a way of life that mimicked the lifestyle and architecture of Western European royalty. The Robinsons’ respect for classical architecture and fine gardens was the impetus for what would become Beverly Hills, giving Mrs. Robinson the designated title as “The First Lady of Beverly Hills,” and the city being designated as “The Garden Capital of the World.”
A special thank you to the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation and Superintendent Diane Sipos for organizing this fabulous presentation.
Post by Timothy Lindsay
Superintendent Emeritus of The Virginia Robinson Gardens
Photos by Timothy Lindsay, Josh Johnston, and Linda Meadows
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