The J. Herbert Brownell Office, Newport Beach

Many recognize the sweeping white arches of the former Stuft Shirt restaurant (now A’maree’s) on the ocean side of Mariners’ Mile. The busy and narrow 1.5 mile stretch of West Coast Highway has become a point of concern for preservationists as nearly 10 acres of land are being proposed for redevelopment, and the city of Newport has designated it a “revitalization area” for its General Plan update [due later this year]. But across the street and just a little south of the Ladd & Kelsey icon is another striking, if less flamboyant, mid-century masterwork, the former office of architect J. Herbert Brownell. In 2018 after a few years of improvements and restoration, the building was purchased as an office by a Newport Beach couple who operate yacht insurance company, Novamar Insurance.

Wedged into a cliff on a 12,000 square foot parcel, the J. Herbert Brownell Architect and Staff Office may be as familiar as it is unknown to passersby. Brownell began building his office in 1954, using luscious Douglas fir and large expanses of glass in post-and-beam construction. He expanded on the lot over the years as he took on partners, his office growing to as many as nine employees. In 1983 he added another level onto an outcropping of the cliff, building around a large eucalyptus tree that juts out from the floor of the small garden courtyard that until recently was open to the street.

James Herbert Brownell (1916-2005) enjoyed a prolific career as the designer of residential, commercial, and institutional buildings across and beyond, including the residence of Myford Irvine, son of James Irvine II, in Corona Del Mar (1959), Hoag Hospital (1966), and the hexagonal Smoke-Lyster house (1974) in Laguna Beach. The El Monte native got his start as a draftsman around the age of 18, working for Joseph Weston, the uncle of master architect Eugene Weston III. He went on to work for the Federal Housing Authority and was an apprentice to Philmer J. Ellerbroek, who would become a prominent Orange County architect, before enrolling at Berkeley. After college he worked in the office of Whitney R. Smith, a future Case Study architect who would later partner with Wayne R. Williams.

Brownell started his own practice in Pasadena in 1951. Shortly thereafter, he relocated his office to the Bayshores area of Newport Beach, then to 1000 West Coast Highway before settling on the present cliffside location. This is where he made a name for himself, designing his most well-regarded projects, among them the “Compact House” development in San Diego (1962), widely hailed as an ingenious solution to building on narrow, hilly lots. In 1960, Brownell was elected President of the Orange County chapter of the American Institute of Architects. His son, Scott, later ran his own architectural practice from his father’s office.

The multi-tiered structure embodies Brownell’s philosophy of truth to materials, sensitivity to its environment, and functionality. Employing simple forms and natural and site-sensitive elements, the Brownell office stands as a masterpiece of modern organic architecture and the place from which the Newport Beach architect enjoyed an illustrious career.

by Jason Foo