Pioneer Information
Born in Los Angeles but raised primarily in California’s San Gabriel Valley, Adams developed an early fascination with natural landscapes and the role of water in semi-arid environments. He wanted to study landscape architecture, but as it was not yet taught in California universities, studied architecture instead at the University of California, Berkeley. In 1922 he embarked on extensive travel across Europe, studying historic gardens and design traditions that would later inform his professional work.
Upon returning to California, Adams established a landscape architecture practice in South Pasadena, where he lived and worked for the rest of his life. The opening of his practice coincided with the rapid population growth in the 1920s of the Los Angeles region, providing Adams with a wide clientele that included movie industry figures, business leaders, and social elites. His projects extended across Southern California, from Pasadena and Hollywood to Santa Barbara, Montecito, and Paso Robles.
Adams gained early recognition for his landscape design of Julian Eltinge’s home overlooking Silver Lake in Los Angeles, which blended Hispanic walled-garden traditions with native and desert plants, and exemplified his advocacy for regionally appropriate landscapes, drought tolerance, and the use of patios as outdoor living spaces. His major residential commissions include George Owen Knapp’s Arcady in Montecito; with architect Bertram Goodhue, Henry Dater’s estate (1918, now known as Val Verde), in Santa Barbara; and the W. K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Ranch (1925, now the California State Polytechnic University, Pomona) in the Pomona Valley. He contributed to William Randolph Hearst’s San Simeon ranch (1920s–1940s), and established an extensive wildflower meadow at Paradise, Cecil B. DeMille’s mountain estate in Los Angeles.
Adams was a prolific writer and frequently lectured on California’s Spanish garden history, publishing several works in California Arts & Architecture and Lasca Leaves. He passed away at the age of 69.
