The Mission Revival was pervasive in turn-of-the-century California. It offered the proper style for hotels, schools, railroad stations, and other public buildings as well as for houses. This short-lived, but important revival is thoroughly documented in this account of its buildings and architects. Attention is given to the movement's romantic literary background as exploited by promoters, its relation the Arts-and-Crafts aesthetic, and the practical implications of its use of concrete.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1958. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived

The California missions are the cathedrals of the New World. They were built under the direction of the adventurous padres who braved the hardships of the New World and organized an existing agrarian culture to produce viable military, commercial, and religious centers. Even though created with primitive means from mud and wood, these structures were elegant and represented the taste and culture of the Spanish empire at its height. With nearly 800 photos and plans, this book visually documents rustic, elegant features, artistic details, and general architectural significance of each of the twenty-one missions. Searching for the roots of mission architecture, this comprehensive study starts by looking at precedents including Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Renaissance, and Native American influences. From there the book delves into how the missions influenced later American architecture, followed by specific characteristics of the style and a mission-by-mission overview. Complete with details on elevations, lighting fixtures, doorways, and more, this is an ideal book for anyone seeking architectural inspiration.

“Nothing defines California and our nation’s heritage as significantly or emotionally,” says the California Mission Foundation, “as do the twenty-one missions that were founded along the coast from San Diego to Sonoma.” Indeed, the missions collectively represent the state’s most iconic tourist destinations and are touchstones for interpreting its history. Elementary school students today still make model missions evoking the romanticized versions of the 1930s. Does it occur to them or to the tourists that the missions have a dark history? California Mission Landscapes is an unprecedented and fascinating history of California mission landscapes from colonial outposts to their reinvention as heritage sites through the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Illuminating the deeply political nature of this transformation, Elizabeth Kryder-Reid argues that the designed landscapes have long recast the missions from sites of colonial oppression to aestheticized and nostalgia-drenched monasteries. She investigates how such landscapes have been appropriated in social and political power struggles, particularly in the perpetuation of social inequalities across boundaries of gender, race, class, ethnicity, and religion. California Mission Landscapes demonstrates how the gardens planted in mission courtyards over the past 150 years are not merely anachronistic but have become potent ideological spaces. The transformation of these sites of conquest into physical and metaphoric gardens has reinforced the marginalization of indigenous agency and diminished the contemporary consequences of colonialism. And yet, importantly, this book also points to the potential to create very different visitor experiences than these landscapes currently do. Despite the wealth of scholarship on California history, until now no book has explored the mission landscapes as an avenue into understanding the politics of the past, tracing the continuum between the Spanish colonial period, emerging American nationalism, and the contemporary heritage industry.

The missions and presidios of California are among the state’s oldest structures and are the most visited historical monuments. These notable buildings are an integral part of California’s history. The state’s recorded history essentially began with the Spanish missions along the ambitious chain of 21 missions on El Camino Reál (The Royal Highway) and the men who founded them. California Missions and Presidios is a gorgeous book that presents the history of these intriguing sanctuaries of peace and beauty. The eye-popping photography of Alastair Worden and Randy Leffingwell captures their unique character, while Leffingwell’s accessible text brings to life the overall history of California’s conquest by the Spanish; the construction and operation of the missions, presidios, ranchos, and adobes; and the background of the mission architecture and style. Seemingly unchanged, these missions and presidios have survived the centuries remarkably well—still welcoming visitors as a refuge of serenity and splendor while providing a glimpse into the lives of the spirited pioneers who built these structures and lived and worked there.

Complemented by full-color photographs, this updated handbook recounts the story of the California missions and offers detailed profiles of all twenty-one historic missions, offering a unique tour of each site's architecture, artistry, and historical significance.