Santa Cruz County Biographies

LEBARON R. OLIVE

Submitted by Kathy Sedler

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm

 
        Mr. Olive came to Santa Cruz about six years ago. Six years is a long 
time in the life of a child, it is a very short period in the life of a man, and 
in the history of a town it is an almost incredibly short time for an architect 
to so improve and change the style of architecture of private residences and 
public buildings as to make the facts not only indisputable but conspicuous. 
Such, however, has been the work of Mr. Olive since his arrival in Santa Cruz. 
That he has not been idle is plainly shown by the large number of buildings 
which he has designed and which he has superintended and constructed.
        He was born at St. John, New Brunswick, May 27, 1850, and came to Boston 
when he was nineteen years of age. He remained there a few months and went to 
New York. He learned the carpenter's trade under his father, at St. John, which 
occupation he pursued for a number of years, becoming conversant with all the 
details of practical building. The profession of an architect was something 
which he grew into, commencing at the very foundation. Mr. Olive studied 
architecture and building in all of its branches, and has superintended the 
construction of some of the finest buildings in New York City.
        Since his arrival in Santa Cruz among others which he has designed and 
superintended the construction of are the handsome residences of T. J. Weeks, J. 
S. Green, A. M. Johnston, Mrs. M. Barfield, Anson Litchfield, and Mrs. H. M. 
Blackburn. He designed the three-story brick building recently constructed by 
Mr. Pease on Pacific Avenue, also the residence of Thomas B. Dorsey, at San 
Jose. These are only a few of the best and handsomest buildings which he has 
constructed. In his work he exercises common sense, the best and most desirable 
of all attributes. He endeavors to adapt his buildings to their surroundings. 
His style is light and airy, and his work as a whole has given the young man a 
desirable and enviable reputation as an architect in Santa Cruz.
 
HISTORY OF SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.-  E. S. Harrison, 
Pacific Press Publ. Co., San Francisco, 1891