Born in 1895, Wallace Neff was a California architect who many attribute to developing the quintessential Southern California architectural style the state is known for. Neff studied architecture under Ralph Adams Cram in Massachusetts before returning to his birthplace of California to to work as a shipyard draftsman.
After spending several years working as a draftsman, Neff began his career as an architect, designing structures that were heavily influenced by Spanish and Mediterranean architectural styles. One of Neff's earliest designs was his own church, the St. Elizabeth of Hungary Roman Catholic Church, built in 1926 in Altadena.
The church featured a Spanish Medieval design, complete with a bell tower modeled after a…