Reginald D. Johnson was a well known Southern California architect who worked in Pasadena, Los Angeles and Santa Barbara. His work in the 1920s and early 1930s was marked by a singular devotion to the Spanish Colonial Revival style, but his later work came under the influence of Art Deco.

These divergent tendencies can be seen in the Santa Barbara Main Office. The massing and fenestration are derivative of Mediterranean Revivalism but the ornament is strongly influenced by Art Deco styles. The building is a successful blending of two highly dissimilar styles.

Source: Adapted from the NRHP nomination submitted in 1985.