William H. Weeks (1866-4/2/1936) San Francisco California

The son of a Canadian builder-architect, Mr. Weeks was born in Charlottetown on Prince Edward Island, and at the age of fourteen moved with his family to Denver, Colorado. There he studied architectural design at the Brinker Institute and began work as draftsman. Later he spent a few years in Wichita, Kansas, and after designing his first important building in 1895, the Garfield Institute in that city, Mr. Weeks traveled westward, arriving eventually in Watsonville, California. At that time the Plant of the Spreckels Sugar Company was the chief industry in the town, and the young man designed a number of buildings for the Spreckels family.

Not, however, until he established practice in San Francisco in 1904 did he win recognition in the field of architecture. His first pre-fire buildings were the Carnegie Library and the First Christian Church, and following the 1906 earthquake, he was active in reconstruction work for a time. Independently he designed a number of apartment houses and hotels in the Bay area, and in San Jose, the old Vendome Hotel.

In 1924 he took his son Harold H. into partnership, and under the name of Weeks & Weeks, established a reputation as specialist in school work. It is estimated that more than a hundred buildings in various locations in California were built from their plans, among which were high schools in Santa Barbara, Palo Alto, and Piedmont. Weeks & Weeks also designed at least fifty churches, and at one time planned a number of public buildings, including Carnegie Libraries, in northern California.