{{Short description|American architect (1880–1963)}} {{Infobox person | name = Clifford A. Balch | image = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = Clifford Allison Balch | birth_date = {{Birth date|1880|06|23}} | birth_place = Preston Lake, Minnesota, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1963|12|14|1880|06|23}} | death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S. | nationality = | education = Throop College | other_names = | occupation = Architect | years_active = | known_for = Movie theater design | notable_works = Golden Gate Theater<br>Fox California Theater<br>Pomona Fox Theatre }}
'''Clifford Allison Balch''' (June 23, 1880 – December 14, 1963) was an American architect who specialized in movie theater design. Balch designed numerous theaters in Southern California, including the National Register of Historic Places-listed Golden Gate, Fox California, and Fox Pomona.
==Early life== Clifford Allison Balch was born on June 23, 1880, in Preston Lake, Minnesota. His father, William C. Balch, was a carpenter and his mother, Anna S. Balch (née Houck), was a homemaker. He was one of seven children born to the couple, three of whom died in infancy. The Balch family moved to Pasadena, California in the early 1890s.<ref name="PCAD">{{cite web |title=Clifford A. Balch |url=https://pcad.lib.washington.edu/person/290/ |website=Pacific Coast Architecture Database |publisher=University of Washington |access-date=March 18, 2024}}</ref>
Balch graduated high school in Oakland, California in 1897. He graduated from Throop College in Pasadena in 1901.<ref name=eval>{{cite web |title=Historic Resource Assessment 5100-5114 Wilshire Boulevard |url=https://cdn2.larchmontbuzz.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Historic_Resource_Assessment_5100_Wilshire.pdf |publisher=Chattel, Inc. |date=May 30, 2013}}</ref>
==Career== Balch began his career working as a draftsman for Reginald D. Johnson, a position he held for three years. He then worked for William C. Pennell for seven years.<ref name=eval/>
Balch worked as a resident architect while living with and supporting his mother and younger brothers {{circa|1909}}.<ref name=PCAD/> As a resident architect, he worked for William B. Edwards (1911—1913), Greene and Greene (1913—1914), Reginald D. Johnson (1914—1916), and William C. Pennell (1920—1928).<ref name=eval/> He served as first lieutenant in the 40th Division of the 160th Infantry Regiment of the United States Army during World War I.<ref>{{cite news |title=L.A. War Heroes' Names |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/678173495/ |access-date=March 17, 2024 |newspaper=Los Angeles Evening Post-Record |date=April 10, 1919 |page=10 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Strangers, But War Makes Them Friends |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/380349134/ |access-date=March 18, 2024 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=November 11, 1918 |page=2 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
Balch worked in his own practice from 1928 to 1946<ref name=eval/> and at various times, he partnered with Floyd Edgar Stanbery, Walker & Eisen, Henry Franklin Withey, and his brother William Glenn Balch.<ref name=PCAD/>
Balch joined the American Institute of Architects in 1946.<ref name=eval/>
==Personal life and death== Balch married Pearl Payne in the 1910s.<ref name=PCAD/> They had three children together: Margaret, William, and Nina.<ref>{{cite news |title=Funeral Announcements |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/381600379/ |access-date=March 18, 2024 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=December 18, 1963 |page=15 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
Balch died in Los Angeles on December 14, 1963 at the age of 83.<ref name="PCAD" />
==List of works== [[File:Old Theater, 5190 Whittier Blvd., Los Angeles.JPG|thumb|Golden Gate Theater]] Notable buildings designed by Balch include:<ref name="PCAD"/><ref name=eval/>
===Theaters=== *New T and D, Berkeley, 1914 *California, San Diego, 1919 *Imperial, Long Beach, 1925 *Golden Gate, East Los Angeles, 1927, NRHP-listed [[File:Fox California Theater - Stockton, CA.jpg|thumb|Fox California]] *Fox West Coast Theaters **Redlands, 1928 **Hanford, 1929 **Riverside, 1929 **California, Stockton, 1930, NRHP-listed **Pasadena, 1930 remodel<ref>{{cite web |title=Clune's Pasadena Theatre, Pasadena, CA demolished |publisher=University of Washington |website=Pacific Coast Architecture Database |url=https://pcad.lib.washington.edu/building/20450/ |access-date=August 24, 2025 |first=Alan |last=Michelson}}</ref> **Visalia, 1930 **Pomona, 1931, NRHP-listed [[File:Pomona Fox Theater.jpg|thumb|Fox Pomona]] *Sunbeam, Los Angeles, 1933 remodel<ref>{{cite journal |title=Balch remodels Sunbeam Theatre, Highland Park, Los Angeles |journal=Southwest Builder and Contractor |via=Pacific Coast Architecture Database |date=July 28, 1933 |page=46 |url=https://pcad.lib.washington.edu/publication/6816/}}</ref> *Adams, San Diego, 1935 *El Rey, Los Angeles, 1936, LAHCM #520 *Palomar, Oceanside, 1936 *Esquire, Los Angeles, 1937 *Lido, Los Angeles, 1937 *Brawley, Brawley, 1937 *Miramar, San Clemente, 1938 *Studio City, Los Angeles, 1938<ref>{{cite book |title=Images of America – Theatres in Los Angeles |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |first1=Suzanne Tarbell |last1=Cooper |first2=Amy Ronnebeck |last2=Hall |first3=Marc |last3=Wanamaker |date=2008 |isbn=978-0-7385-5579-9 |page=101}}</ref> *Lido, Newport Beach, 1939 *Newport, Newport Beach, 1939 *San Gabriel, San Gabriel, 1941 *State, Pomona, 1941 *River, Bakersfield *Rivoli, Los Angeles
====With Walker & Eisen==== *United Artists Theaters **East Los Angeles, 1931<ref name=lapl>{{cite web |title=United Artists Theater, East Los Angeles |url=https://tessa2.lapl.org/digital/collection/photos/id/39075/ |publisher=Los Angeles Public Library Digital Collections |access-date=June 13, 2025}}</ref> **Inglewood, 1931<ref name=lapl/> **Long Beach, 1931<ref name=lapl/> **Pasadena, 1931<ref name=lapl/> **Berkeley, 1932 **El Centro, 1932 **Los Angeles, 1932 **Ventura, 1932
===Other buildings=== *Sardi's Restaurant, Los Angeles, 1933
==See also== {{Portal|Architecture|Biography|California}} * List of American architects * List of people from Los Angeles
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balch, Clifford}} Category:1880 births Category:1963 deaths Category:20th-century American architects Category:Architects from Los Angeles Category:Art Deco architects Category:People from Renville County, Minnesota Category:Spanish Colonial Revival architects Category:United States Army personnel of World War I