History of Carter Sparks
It’s no surprise to Northern California Mid Century Modern enthusiasts that Carter Sparks is known as one of the premiere and most recognized modernist architects. He played a major role in designing nearly 4,000 modern-designed buildings in the greater Sacramento Area. These designs included suburban tract-home style residences, custom homes, commercial, and civic buildings.
Sparks’ use of lighting and natural finishes are iconic to many of his designs. His style was far from ordinary or one-dimensional. It seemed that he was able to hit the mark every time; whether it was designing flat-roofed homes using concrete and wood accents or creating masterful designs with majestic hyperbolic roofs and breathtaking exposed wood beams.
Photo by Eichler Network
Sparks attended Oregon State and studied engineering before the beginning of WWII. With his studies interrupted, Sparks enlisted with the Navy, and picked back up on his school work in the late 1940’s. Shortly after In 1950, Sparks would earn his degree in Architecture from UC Berkeley and began his career working as a draftsman for San Francisco based firms: Mario Corbett and then with Anshen and Allen.
Sparks’ career would span into the 1990’s. He may be best known for his role in designing homes for Sacramento area tract-home builder Streng Bros; who would go on to build several thousand properties between Davis and Sacramento. Sparks’ range in design, however, was far from narrow. He’s also noted for Japanese and Egyptian inspired designs, ranch-like architecture, natural wooden box buildings that blend into their surroundings, and even East Bay area shingled cottages.
Carter Sparks would pass away on October 30, 1996. His whimsical and story-book-like approach to Mid Century Modernism and architecture would leave behind a legacy that generations of future architects can look to for inspiration.
Check out this awesome unofficial archive made my Justin Wood featuring Carter Sparks’ work around the Sacramento area.
