Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Ramberg & Lowrey, O.C. Courthouse, Santa Ana

I’ve wanted to know more about the architecture firm of Ramberg & Lowrey for years, and now it seems John Elliott of the Santa Ana History Room is researching them also. Let me share what I know, and perhaps one (or more) of my brilliant readers can fill in some gaps for us.
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Ramberg & Lowrey was based in Santa Ana and worked on a number of projects throughout Orange County in the 1960s, including the Santa Ana Police Department headquarters, a nursing home in Dana Point, and the North Broadway Law Building in Santa Ana.
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Most notably, however, they teamed up with Richard Neutra to design buildings for the County of Orange, including the County Communications Center and the Central Justice Center [a.k.a. the Orange County Courthouse (1968) in Santa Ana].
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Donald Albert Ramberg was born 8-21-1919 in Fargo, North Dakota. Prior to partnering with Lowrey, he worked with A.C. Martin & Associates. Ramberg also designed the Santa Ana Elks Lodge. It appears he was still living in Southern California as recently as the 1980s.
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Robert Sidney Lowrey was born 6-18-1925 in Arkansas. He died 9-25-1989 in Los Angeles County.
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If you have any other useful information about these architects, their work, or their firm, please contact me via email or post a comment here on this blog. (Thanks to Chris Nichols for his earlier input and advice.)
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Sorry about the grainy newspaper photo above, but it's the best I have to illustrate this post. I believe it shows Ramberg and Lowrey flanking Richard Neutra (center) as they inspect plans for the Courthouse.

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