William S. Hebbard

Who was William S. Hebbard?

William Sterling "Will" Hebbard was an American architect most noted for his work in San Diego County, California.

Hebbard briefly worked as a draftsman and assistant for the firm, Burnham and Root in Chicago, and in 1888 for Curlett, Eisen and Cuthbertson in Los Angeles. By 1890 he was in private practice in San Diego. In 1891, he became associated with the Reid Brothers firm, noted designers of Hotel Del Coronado and took over their San Diego projects when that firm moved to San Francisco. In 1898, he formed a well known partnership with Irving Gill. The Hebbard & Gill firm arguably produced San Diego's best architecture until its breakup in 1907.

Hebbard produced work in an eclectic variety of styles, including Richarsonian Romantic, Mission Revival, Arts and Crafts, Tudor Revival and Cubist Modern, He is most regarded for his designs for private residences, but did good work on commercial structures. During World War I he entered the Army transport Service and worked until 1922 as a design consultant for military shipbuilding. After his service with the Army, he moved to Los Angeles and practiced architecture sporadically until his death in August, 1930.