Kemper Nomland, Jr. was born in Los Angeles and graduated from Pasadena City College (1938) prior to his Bachelor of Architecture degree from USC in 1941. He worked for Albert C. Martin prior to launching the firm, Nomland & Nomland, with his father (1892-1976) after WWII. Their Case Study House #10 of 1947 in Pasadena and the Alden Residence (1958) in Vista are among their prized designs.
Kemper Nomland, Jr. was born in Los Angeles and graduated from Pasadena City College (in 1938) before obtaining his Bachelor of Architecture degree from USC in 1941.
Kemper worked for Albert C. Martin prior to launching the firm, Nomland & Nomland, with his father after the World War II. Together, in 1947, they designed a house in Pasadena that “…was not originally commissioned as part of Arts & Architecture magazine’s Case Study House program, but was added upon completion in 1947 to maintain continuity in the program given the number of unbuilt houses up to that point. The house exemplified a number of the program’s goals, including the use of new building materials and techniques, affordability for the average American, simplicity of construction, economy of materials, and integration of indoor and outdoor living,” according to the Los Angeles Conservancy. The house became known as Case Study House #10.
The younger Nomland, according to the LA Times, “…was a conscientious objector during World War II and was confined to Civilian Public Service Camp #21 near Cascade Locks, Oregon, where he did forest maintenance work, as well as CPS Camp #56, Camp Angel, near Waldport, Oregon, where he worked in printing and became friends with a group of poets and artists.” Nomland designed several covers for books printed by Untide Press as well as working on the journal Illiterati. “He designed the chapel at CPS Camp #21, and seven of his paintings done while there (or influenced by his experience there) are held by Lewis and Clark College. He illustrated a book of poems entitled War Elegies by William Everson, whom he met while at the CPS camps.”
"I just figured I could never be involved in killing anybody," Nomland said in an oral history interview for the U.S. Forest Service and Portland State University. "I couldn't see any reason for war either. . . . I just couldn't participate."
In 1950, Nomland moved to Mount Washington near downtown Los Angeles, where he designed his own three-level, hillside home and at least a dozen other homes.
Abbott, John and Irene House (1950)
320 Mavis Drive
*Later recognized as the Kemper Nomland Jr. House
Albers Residence (1955)
3604 Lowry Road, Los Angeles
Alden, Dr. & Mrs. Ward C. Residence (1958)
3716 Blue Bird Canyon Road, Vista
Apex Apartments (1962)
2004 Apex Avenue, Silver Lake
Case Study House #10 (1947)
711 South San Rafael Avenue, Pasadena
Chapel at Camp 21
Columbia River Gorge on Gorton Creek in Wyeth, Oregon
Luske, Hamilton House (1936)
3635 Shannon Road, Los Angeles
Moore Hall Additions
UCLA’s School of Education
Norwegian Seaman’s Church (1951)
1035 South Beacon Street, San Pedro
Private Residence (1951)
1732 Silverlake Blvd., Los Angeles
Private Duplex Residence (1961)
2253 Moore Street , Los Angeles
Private Duplex Residence (1961)
2255 Moore Street, Los Angeles
Private Residence (1957)
1030 N. Kings Road, Los Angeles
Private Residence (1936)
3635 Shannon Road, Los Angeles
Russell, Jane Residence
Los Angeles
3-Unit building (1952)
1732-34 Silverlake Blvd, Los Angeles
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