Visiting again the topic of 'Religious Architecture' but with an additional element in that this post will introduce Ross G. Montgomery. He was a Los Angeles-based architect with a catalog of work that spanned roughly a half-century between 1911 and 1961. He was also the subject of a graduate thesis project that I completed at C.S.U.N. in 2005. In addition, since Montgomery did most of his work for the local Catholic community, my ongoing work at the Archival Center for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles has provided an opportunity to further my standing as an authority on this subject. The idea here is to share a series of professional and biographical illuminations that will eventually form a complete story of Montgomery's life, times, and work.
St. John's Seminary Campus - Camarillo, California / c.1942
Unquestionably, this was among the most significant design project completed by Ross G. Montgomery and his associate William F. Mullay during their longstanding connection to the administration of Archbishop John J. Cantwell. Groundbreaking ceremonies for the Seminary took place in May, 1938, and the campus facilities were elaborately dedicated in October, 1940. The image below, (courtesy of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles Archives), was created after construction of the episcopal residence (upper-right portion of the image) was completed in 1941. Also notable is the Doheny Memorial Library (upper-left portion of the image) that was designed by the well-known architect, Wallace Neff, and is the only architectural element of the original campus history not attributable to the office of Montgomery and Mullay.
Fast-forward seventy-plus years and St. John's Seminary's original 100-acre campus has been divvied up by a number of developments that have included the construction of college facilities in the 1960s, and, more recently, the Blessed Junipero Serra parish Catholic church. The following c.2005 images (courtesy of Tom Zimmerman) were created during a summer field trip to the Seminary to tour the grounds and review the institution's archives.
Main Entrance at St. John's Seminary / Photo by Tom Zimmerman (c)2005
Main Chapel at St. John's Seminary / Photo by Tom Zimmerman (c)2005
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