BIRTH: | April 17, 1858 | ||
DEATH: | September, 18, 1927 | ||
SPOUSE: | Harriet Phillipina Von Schilling | ||
CHILDREN: | Edith Mary Benton | ||
PARENTS: | Ira Eddy Benton, Caroline Agusta Chandler | ||
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Personal Life
Benton was born to Ira Eddy Benton and Caroline A. (Chandler) Benton in Peoria Illinois on April 17, 1858. This primarily agraian agrarian community was where he spent all of his formative years and ultimately graduated from Peoria High School in 1877. Two years after graduating, he tried his hand at farming in Morris County, Kansas. It was there that he met Harriet Phillipina Von Schilling, a native of Pennsylvania, and nine years his senior. The couple was married on May 17, 1883. On October 26, 1884, Benton and his wife welcomed the birth of their only child, a daughter named Edith May Benton. Following the birth of their child, Harriet saw that Benton had a drive and vision that could take him far beyond his agrarian roots. She convinced him to enroll at the Topeka, Kansas, School of Art and Design in 1887 in architecture. In 1891, he moved to Los Angeles, CA and remained there for the next 36 years of his life. In 1926, an illness led Benton became bedridden. He continued to work, but Sunday, September 18, 1927, Arthur Benton passed away at the age of 69, leaving a rich architectural legacy in Southern California.
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In 1888, Benton began his architectural career as a draftsman in the architectural department of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad. He worked here for two years while attending the Topeka, Kansas Schoo School of Art and Design. After he graduated in 1890, he relocated to Omaha, Nebraska, where he worked as a draftsman in the office of Virgil G. Bogue, chief engineer of the Union Pacific.
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At least three other major hotels were part of his resume. The Mission Revival 1910-12 Arlington Hotel in Santa Barbara, which was virtually leveled in the 1925 Santa Barbara Earthquake; the Arrowhead Hotel, located in the foothills north of San Bernardino; and the San Marcos Hotel, which opened in Chandler Arizona.
San Marcos Hotel
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Above is an architectural rendering of what Benton planned the San Marcos Hotel to look like. |
That town was founded by Dr. Alexander J. Chandler, who may have been a relative on his mother’s side. Dr. Chandler was an entrepreneur who was involved in the “City Beautiful” movement and envisioned his town as the ideal city in the desert south of Phoenix. He had Benton design the entire town, with broad boulevards and grand vistas. The Mission Revival themed San Marcos was to be the centerpiece of the perfect town. With the exception of the hotel, very little of Benton’s original design was ever built there.
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At least three other major Hotels were part of his resume. The Mission Revival 1910-12 Arlington Hotel in Santa Barbara, which was virtually leveled in the 1925 Santa Barbara Earthquake, the Arrowhead Hotel, located in the foothills, North of San Bernardino and the San Marcos Hotel, which opened in Chandler Arizona. That town was founded by Dr. Alexander J. Chandler. Dr. Chandler was an entrepreneur who was involved in the “City Beautiful” movement and envisioned his town as the ideal city in the desert South of Phoenix. He had Benton design the entire town, with broad boulevards and grand vistas. The Mission Revival themed San Marcos was to be the centerpiece of the perfect town. With the exception of the hotel, very little of Benton’s original design was ever built there.
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Proposed Downtown Plaza for Chandler, AZ designed by Benton |
On a smaller scale, Benton designed a neighborhood known as Berkeley Square, in which he designed large homes for the wealthy in the fashionable West Adams area. That development was wiped out by the building of the Santa Monica Freeway.
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