John Bakewell was born in Topeka. Arthur Brown was born in Oakland. Both architects studied at UC Berkeley, and then at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where they met.

After returning to San Francisco, they formed a partnership with Brown in charge of design and Bakewell responsible for the daily running of the business and technical operations.

Their early projects, such as Berkeley City Hall, reflect late 19th-century French neoclassical design principles, incorporating large-scale elements, lavish sculptural decoration and theatrically rusticated surfaces. Such exuberant features remained a trademark, but by 1912 they were beginning to be tempered by a strong, rectilinear compositional frame.

From Grove Art, Oxford University Press.

At least six Bakewell & Brown buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places: Berkeley City Hall, City of Paris Department Store, Santa Fe Depot in San Diego, Pacific Gas & Electric Company Building, San Francisco Art Institute, and St. Joseph's Hospital.

The City of Paris Department Store is also a California Historical Landmark, and the San Francisco Art Institute is also a San Francisco Landmark.

You can view buildings designed by Bakewell & Brown in chronological order here, or use a link in the following table to visit a specific property.

See a separate listing of projects designed by Arthur Brown after the partnership was dissolved in 1928.