John Arthur Blanton

John had a flourishing practice in Manhattan Beach for nearly 50 years designing homes and offices there and in neighboring beach towns as well as in Palos Verdes, Long Beach, Venice, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Fresno.

John taught classes at local universities on architectural theories and published articles on these topics in the local AIA Journal and in L.A. Architect, the Los Angeles Times, and Progressive Architecture. “I spent a lot of time educating the public to the high level of architectural culture in Southern California,” he told the noted Italian magazine “L’architettura” in 1988, when he and his work were the magazine’s cover article. For several years he taught an extension class at UCLA on the architecture of Southern California, leading his students on Saturday tours of some of Los Angeles' most iconic architectural treasures. John was profiled in American Architects (a 1989 survey of award-winning architects and their works), “Who’s Who in California” and “Who’s Who in America”. His architectural papers have been left to UCLA and archived in Special Collections.

John was a veteran who served 2 years in the U.S. Army. In Manhattan Beach, he was a member of the planning commission from 1997 until 2002 and was active in Rotary.

From 1950 until 1964 John worked for world-acclaimed Modernist architect Richard Neutra in his Silverlake Boulevard office in Los Angeles, during the so-called “Golden Era” of Neutra’s residential work when Neutra entrusted him with many key projects. Architectural historian Dr. Barbara Lamprecht, a close friend, described John as "one of Neutra's most talented and beloved lead project architects, in later years continuing to assist in the appropriate restoration of many of Neutra's projects until his death. With such a long tenure with the Neutra office, a gentle manner, and always generous with knowledge, he was a great resource for many craftsmen and architects whose mantra was ‘we’d better call John’.”

A few year ago John recalled his life in an interview with Richard Neutra's youngest son, Dr. Raymond Neutra:

“I arrived in 1950, about half a year after graduating from the architecture school at Rice University in Texas. My dean had written on my behalf to [renowned architects] Bruce Goff, Alden B. Dow, Antonin Raymond, and Neutra. I got refusals from the others, but Neutra sent a letter saying there was no position "at this time." I was too naive to recognize this as a refusal and wrote back that I would wait. I got a job with a local architect for a while and then wrote again. This time I was accepted.

(Neutra) was a very generous teacher, he gave everyone the chance to go out on a limb on their own and see if you could get back in … very early on he gave me the Eagle Rock Clubhouse. I continued in the Neutra office until 1964 when I notified Neutra that I wished to start my own office. He allowed me a transition period in which I worked part-time in the Neutra office on the design and preparation of construction documents for the Taylor House, among others, and the rest of the time on my own projects in my home office. [During my years with Neutra] I worked on all the preliminary designs including some of the Neutra and Alexander projects. [A firm with Robert E. Alexander devoted to large commercial and public commissions.] I also provided some comments on the manuscript of his book ‘Survival Through Design’.” Neutra included a specific acknowledgement to John in the first edition of that book as well as in his autobiography “Life and Shape”.

John was born January 1, 1928, in Houston Texas to Caroline and Arthur Blanton. He graduated from Lamar High School in 1944 and from Rice University (then Rice Institute) in Houston in 1949 with a B.A. and B.S. in architecture. In 1954 he married Marietta Louise Newton of Kalamazoo, Michigan who was an assistant in the Neutra office and later a college professor.

John always found time to balance the demands of his career with time for his children who he raised after Marietta died in Manhattan Beach in 1976. He was always there for them and was adored by them, his grandchildren and his great-grandchildren.

Marietta and John had three daughters: Jill Milne (Mark) of Pendleton, Oregon, Lynette Rowe, deceased (Robert Rowe remarried to Kathy), and Elena Blanton who lovingly cared for John in Merced in his final years. He leaves 9 grandchildren: Jeff Lewis (Claire), Kristy Lewis, Robert Rowe (Allison), David John Rowe (Keri), Melissa Buckwalter (Anthony), Katherine Barlow (Nathan), Sara Rowe, Jennifer Rowe, Anna Rowe, and 8 great-grandchildren in Oregon, Washington, California and Utah. He is also survived by his sister, Mary Allen of Boerne, Texas, his brother, Taylor Blanton (Martha) of Los Fresnos, Texas, and his niece, Jennie Witty (Randall) of Boerne.

Family and friends are invited to a Celebration of John's Life and Work on Saturday, February 9th, 2019 at Vista Ranch and Cellars (7326 East Highway 140, Merced, California) from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. This Celebration will be an open house reception, you may come and go at any time or you are welcome to stay the whole time.