Santa Barbara County Courthouse Book

Author Biography: Patricia Gebhard grew up in Minneapolis, lived in New York State and New Mexico, and is presently a long-time resident of Santa Barbara. She attended college in Ohio, California, and Minnesota, where she studied architectural history and librarianship. She is the author of books on librarianship and the furniture of R.M. Schindler, articles on the history of art and architecture, and, most recently, a mystery novel, Motives for Murder.

Kathryn Masson, a resident of Santa Barbara for twenty-seven years, moved to the Hunt Country of Virginia in 1995. While in Santa Barbara she was active on many nonprofit boards and in the preservation community with the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation and the Historic Landmarks Commission, and owned a business specializing in historic and traditional designs in iron, stone, and terra cotta. She is also the author of a book on Santa Barbara estates, published by Rizzoli Publications International, Inc.

James Chen is an internationally active commercial photographer based in Santa Barbara. A graduate of Brooks Institute of Photography, he is a recipient of an Honorary Master of Science in Professional Photography, and awards for outstanding achievement and photographic excellence from such noted organizations as the Art Directors Club of Los Angeles and the San Francisco Society of Communication Arts.

The Santa Barbara County Courthouse stands today as a unique monument of architectural brilliance in California, and it is the prize jewel of the city and county whose people it serves and whose visitors it delights. This book, illustrated throughout with stunning full-color photographs, is the first thorough study of the history and architecture of this important landmark.