Frank Lewis Hope Jr.
Architect | 1901 - 1994
Frank Hope Jr. arrived in San Diego in 1913. He worked with Richard Requa, Herbert Jackson, Lillian Rice and William H. Wheeler as well as rubbed elbows with Irving Gill and Frank Lloyd Wright. He launched Frank L. Hope & Associates, Architects & Engineers in 1928. The company was taken over years later by sons Frank Hope III and Charles Hope.

Large local architectural firms, who met the challenges of a rapidly growing San Diego dominated the local building explosion in the decades following World War II. Larger firms like Wheeler and Associates; Mosher & Drew; Tucker, Sadler, & Bennett; Delawie, Macy & Henderson; Deems-Martin (and Lewis) and Frank L. Hope & Associates competed against one another and firms from across the nation vying for the work.
Though the 1950's and 1960's were times of great variability in the quality of local architecture. And while the out-of-towners like Pereira Luckman, Edward Durrell Stone, Louis Kahn and Richard Neutra are often referenced in connection to this period’s cornerstone projects, works by local architects of the era are outstanding. Frank L. Hope’s career precedes that of corporate interests hiring out of town big firms for their buildings and provided an important training ground for a generation of architects.
Architect Frank Lewis Hope, Jr. (1901-1994) was born to Frank Lewis Hope Sr. (1873-1943) in 1901 in San Bernadino and arrived here in 1913 when his father moved to San Diego as a traffic agent for the Santa Fe Railway. Hope attended San Diego High School up to his sophomore year, dropping out that year to work in the Navy shipyards during World War I. Mr. Hope later went on to attend Cal for two years, and the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh for one year but stopped short of earning a degree.
According the Los Angeles Times, “…When Frank Jr. opened his business in 1928, San Diego was still small (the 1930 census counted a population of 148,000), and the scale of development was modest compared to today. He built his business mostly by designing houses and churches in traditional styles, including a Mediterranean mode he learned during his years in the offices of San Diego architects Richard Requa, Herbert Jackson, Lillian Rice and William H. Wheeler between 1925-28. It is likely that much of his architecture education came under Requa and Jackson, with whom he began his career as an architect after working in the design department of a shipbuilding company during World War I.”
After passing the state exam, Hope launched his own firm, Frank L. Hope & Associates, Architects & Engineers located in the Spreckels Building in 1928. While he was informed by his mentors of Mediterranean stylings, Hope also had a modern side. By the late 1930s, he began designing Streamline Modern houses as well as buildings including a Ford-Lincoln automobile outlet that once stood at 12th Avenue and Broadway downtown, and Grossmont Union High School's auditorium-gymnasium. In 1940, the firm secured the remodeling of the First National Trust & Savings Bank of San Diego in order to give the building a more streamlined appearance. Many of the ornamental features of the building were removed from the exterior and replaced with a sleek tile-covered exterior atop a ceramic and black granite base.
During the Great Depression, work was hard to come by - so Hope focused on remodeling and renovating storefronts. In 1930, Hope was hired to design the Spanish-styled Carmelite Monastery in Normal Heights. From this point forward, Frank Hope Jr. worked closely with the San Diego Roman Catholic Diocese designing several buildings. These projects included the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Ocean Beach (1946), Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in City Heights (1947), The San Diego College for Women (1950) and the Immaculata at the University of San Diego (1964).
Hope was one of the few surviving direct links to a great era of modern architecture. He knew Irving Gill, San Diego's most influential architect, who died in 1936. "I was just a kid (when I met Gill)," he said. "I remember him coming in and standing by my drafting board one time. I think he was trying to show me something about a house I was working on. He kept putting landscaping around it, and I don't know if he was trying to hide it or just show me how it could look better," Hope offered.
And once he showed Frank Lloyd Wright around town when the famous architect visited San Diego. "I had him in my car," Hope recalled, "and at one point, we went by some building, and he said, 'When I die, I'll probably go down to the deepest part of hell. I invented this modern architecture, and look what they've done to it!"
Frank Hope Sr. never considered himself a gifted designer. His son Frank Hope III, who graduated with an architecture degree from UC Berkeley, was "far ahead of me," according to the Hope patriarch.
Hope, who retired in 1966, continued to watch the next generation – Frank Hope III, an architect, and Charles 'Chuck' B. Hope, a structural engineer - take over ownership of the company and expand it. The Hope firm peaked in size in the 1980s with 150 employees. Noted designers Gary Allen (who designed San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium), C.W. Kim and Robert Bell all cut their teeth under the Hope banner. While Hope Jr. only caught the beginning of San Diego's modern building boom, Frank III headed the company during the city's 1970s and 1980s explosion.
Partial List of San Diego Projects
Aquarium Museum Building (ca. 1950)
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Arts & Crafts Press Building (1963)
Kettner
Bruce, Dr. Clinic Building
San Diego
Bullard, Dr. Clinic Building
San Diego
Bureau of Commercial Fisheries Research Laboratory (1963)
Scripps Institute of Oceanography
Burnham Building (1962)
1555 6th Avenue
Cabrillo National Monument Visitors Center (1966)
Cabrillo Monument, Point Loma
Carmelite Monastery of San Diego (1930)
Normal Heights
Children’s Hospital, Diagnostic and Treatment Center and New Child Guidance Clinic (1968)
San Diego
Coronado Hospital (1972)
Coronado
Courthouse Facility for the County of San Diego (1956)
San Diego
*Designed by Hamill, Hope, Lykos, Wheeler, Freeland and Associated Architects and Engineers
Curran, Residence & Garage for Mr. and Mrs. J.E. (1951)
Vista
*Attribution via original drawings
Dana Junior High School (1941)
1775 Chatsworth Blvd, Point Loma
Fares Co. Inc.
El Cajon Blvd.
Federal Bureau of Prisons
Federal Youth Center, Pleasanton CA
Fenton, Miss L. G., Residence (1928)
Plumosa Park, lot 9, block M
First Federal Savings and Loan Branch (1963)
Broadway & H, Chula Vista
First National Bank Building (formerly Columbia Centre)
Columbia Street
First National Bank
D Street, Encinitas
Ford-Lincoln Store (AKA City Motors Ford) (late 1930s)
12th Avenue and Broadway – demolished
FutureCraft Home AKA Chambers Steel House (1959)
4196 Eastridge Drive, La Mesa
First light-steel House in San Diego
Published in San Diego & Point March, 1959
Golden, M.H. Residence
3614 Carleton
Grossmont Union High School Auditorium-Gymnasium (1935-37)
La Mesa
*Works Projects Administration (WPA) project
Hallmark House for Mitchell Realty (1962)
6th & Cedar
Hogle Building
San Diego
Holy Cross Mausoleum (1938, 1963-1964)
San Diego
Home Federal Savings and Loan Association (1955)
San Diego
Home Federal Savings and Loan Association (1963)
707 Broadway, San Diego
Hope, Frank and Barbara Jr. Residence (1967)
3430 Bangor Place
Hope Office Building Building (1961)
1447 Sixth Avenue, San Diego
Hope, Chuck B. Residence (ca. 1962)
676 Albion Street, Point Loma
Hope, Frank L. Residence (1956)
371 San Fernando, Point Loma
Hope, Mr. and Mrs. Frank L., Residence (1947)
lots 14 and 15, block 126, Del Mar
Horace Mann Junior High School
54th Street, San Diego
Hyatt La Jolla
La Jolla
Hyatt Torrey Pines
La Jolla
Immaculata Chapel (1964)
University of San Diego, Linda Vista
Immaculate Conception Church (1933)
Wright Street east of Magnolia, San Diego
Immaculate Conception Church (1936)
Northeast corner of San Diego Ave. and Twiggs Street
Kearny Mesa Junior College (ca. 1961)
7250 Mesa College Drive, San Diego
Kearny Senior High School and additions (1954-55)
Wellington & Tecolote, Linda Vista
La Jolla Cancer Research Center (1985)
La Jolla
La Jolla Presbyterian Church, Fellowship Hall (1961 and 1964-65)
La Jolla
Marriott Hotel
Next to the San Diego Convention Center
May Company (1959)
Mission Valley
Designed by Bill Lewis for LA-based AC MArtin (later of Deems-Lewis), Hope 'backstopped' the project locally
McGill Hall AKA Psychology Building (1969)
John Muir College Campus at U.C. San Diego
Medical Building
First and Laurel, San Diego
Mercy Hospital
4077 5th Avenue, San Diego
Mercy Hospital expansion (1966-1990)
San Diego
Mesa Vista Psychiatric Hospital (1963)
San Diego
Mission Hills Congregational Church Apartment Tower (1968)
Fort Stockton and Ibis Streets, Mission Hills
National Cash Register Co. Electronics Facility (NCR) (1969)
Rancho Bernardo
National Steel & Shipbuilding Corp Office Building
28th & Harbor Drive, San Diego
Naval Electronics Maintenance School
San Diego
Naval Training Center, Officer's Quarters
San Diego
Nexus Science Center
San Diego
Oceanside Federal Savings & Loan (1967)
716 Mission Avenue, Oceanside
Oliver, Lawrence Residence (1934)
815 Armada Terrace, Point Loma.
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Catholic Church (1947)
Orange & Marlborough, City Heights
Pacific Telephone
Oceanside Service Facility
Pacific Telephone (1959)
Chatsworth & Tennyson, Point Loma
Palomar Memorial Hospital (1953-1974)
Escondido
Pastore, Mr. Caesar, store building (1936)
1st and Juniper Streets, San Diego
Penguin House, San Diego Zoo (1959)
w/ zoo designer Charles Faust
Pickford, Mr. H. T. Apartment Hotel (1929)
Coronado
Point Loma Community Presbyterian Church (1955)
Point Loma
Point Loma High School Additions (1955)
2335 Chatsworth Blvd, Point Loma
Pomerado Hospital (1977)
Pomerado Road, Poway
Private Residence (1975)
10601 Noakes Road, La Mesa
Rancho Bernardo Villas
Rancho Bernardo
Rancho Santa Fe Association (1954)
Rancho Santa Fe
Rodefer Hills (1953-55)
Rosary Girl's High School
42nd & Polk, San Diego
Sacred Heart Catholic Church (1946)
Ocean Beach
Saint Charles Chapel Details (1937)
Saint Didacus Church (1927)
Southwest Corner Felton and Collier Streets
Saint Joseph’s Church Alterations (1931)
San Diego Centre City Project (1960 – 1964)
Designed by Curtis, Hope, Lodge and Freeland
San Diego City College
San Diego
San Diego College for Women (1950)
Alcala Park, Linda Vista
San Diego Convention Hall
San Diego
San Diego High School Technical Arts Building
San Diego
San Diego Rotary Club
San Diego
San Diego Stadium (1967)
9449 Friars Road, Mission Valley
*AIA National Honor Award
San Diego Centre City Community Concourse, Convention Facility (1962)
San Diego
San Diego State College Science Building
College Area
San Diego State College Music Building
College Area
San Diego Yacht Club, V. Commodore (1955)
San Marcos Post Office
San Marcos
Santa Fe City Offices (1936)
1200 Fifth Avenue (NW Corner at B Street) - demolished
Scripps Clinic-Molecular Biology Building (1983)
La Jolla
Scripps Hydraulics Lab (1964)
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Scripps Memorial Hospital (1949, 1975)
La Jolla
Seaport Village
San Diego
Security First National Bank (1962)
1044 Wall Street, La Jolla
Security Trust & Savings Bank
Escondido
Sharp, Donald N. Memorial Hospital Maternity Wing (1961)
Linda Vista
Sharp, Donald N. Memorial Community Hospital (1967-1975)
Linda Vista
Silver Strand State Beach Campground
Coronado
Simpson, Mr. and Mrs. Eddie, Apartment House (1929)
San Diego
Solar Aircraft Company (1955-1960)
Harbor Drive, San Diego
St. Patrick’s Catholic Church (1928)
Streamline Modern Houses (late 1930s)
Point Loma
Stromberg-Carlson (1959)
Hancock Street, Point Loma
Tappan, Mr. and Mrs. W.N. Residence (1928)
Loma Portal, Point Loma
Timken Museum AKA Putnam Foundation, Timken Gallery (1962-1965)
Balboa Park
Travelodge Corporation International Headquarters (1962)
250 S. Travelodge Drive, El Cajon
Trinity Episcopal Church
845 Chestnut Street, Escondido
Trinity Lutheran Church (1959)
7210 Lisbon Street, San Diego
Turrentine Building (1963)
4th & A Streets, San Diego
*Pre-cast granite faced concrete block 1-story building.
United California Bank Building
345 B Street, San Diego
United States National Bank
2nd Ave and Broadway, San Diego
University of San Diego
Linda Vista
Utschig, Harold H. Residence
6089 La Jolla Scenic Drive, La Jolla
Valley Ho Restaurant
Mission Valley
Veteran's Administration Hospital
La Jolla

Chuck B. Hope Residence (1962)
Chuck B. Hope Residence

Architect
Frank Lewis Hope Jr.

Headquarters for the TraveLodge Corporation (1962)
Headquarters for the TraveLodge Corporation

Architect
Frank Lewis Hope Jr.

FutureCraft Home (1959)
FutureCraft Home

Architect
Frank Lewis Hope Jr.
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