Conrad Buff

Conrad Buff III was born on August 5, 1926 in Glendale to the creators of children’s books – Mary and Conrad Buff II. As a young boy, growing up in Eagle Rock, Conrad's family was friendly with Richard Neutra, Rudoplh Schindler among many others. Redesigning Buff's parent’s garage was one of Richard Neutra's first architectural commissions.

Conrad attended the local Eagle Rock schools and served in the U.S. Navy between 1942-45 at a base in Maryland. Following his military service he enrolled at USC, where he met Donald Hensman, who had also returned from the War. Prior to graduation from USC in 1952, the duo formalized their partnership (that reportedly began as students attending USC circa 1948) as Buff & Hensman and Associates designing tract and model homes for a number of regional developers.

Alongside Hensman, Buff returned to teach architecture at USC with both both men serving students, faculty and staff while they were working professionals.

By 1956, the firm expanded with the addition of Calvin Straub. Straub would depart the practice to teach architecture at Arizona State University in 1961. The firm continued as Buff, Hensman and Associates.

Buff contributed to Sunset Magazine’s "Entryways and Front Gardens" (1961), Esther McCoy’s Modern California Houses (1962), Beautiful Homes and Gardens (1964), A Guide to Architecture in Southern California (1965) and Sunset’s Hillside Homes (1965) among other publications.

Partial List of Projects

Norton, John W. House (ca. 1956)
Location not known, San Diego
*Designed by Conrad Buff III and Don Hensman; published in Sunset Magazine (November, 1956)