Emmor Brooke Weaver
Emmor Brooke Weaver, close friend and traveling partner of Amy Strong, began his career in architecture in 1903 after attending the Illinois School of Architecture. He moved shortly after to California, where he began working as a draftsman with the architecture firm of Hebbard and Gill. Between 1905 - 1914, Weaver designed and built over a dozen homes in the San Diego area, in Craftsman style and detailing. Throughout his career, he co-designed over 50 homes in San Diego, having gained a reputation for exceptional spatial qualities and great personal attention to detail, views and artistry. He retired from architecture in 1945, and remained in San Diego until his death in 1968 at the age of 92.
Amy Strong commissioned Weaver both in 1906-7 (for the Fourth and Olive residence, the Amy Strong House) and later, in 1912, for her larger estate in Ramona (the Amy Strong Castle, now Mt. Woodson).
Craftsman Style
The Craftsman style of architecture in the early 20th Century began as an organic reaction to the ornate designs of the Victorian era and to a society which had become obsessed with ostentatiousness and gaudy materialism.
A balance between man and nature was the expressive intent of this period - symbolizing security and permanency, while maintaining an environmental awareness and harmony with nature and its elements. Builders of this period used natural and organic motifs in wood, stone, metal and glass, often repeated throughout the structure, to emphasize this aesthetic balance. Classic Craftsman combines elements of English Tudor, Swiss Chalet, Bavarian Hunting Lodge and the Shingle, Mission, and Oriental styles.
"It was a profound belief in this aesthetic arts and crafts attitude and the ideals for which it stood that guided Irene Amy Strong and her architects in the designing and ultimate construction of Strong's [residences]." (Roth, Linda. 'The Ramona Castle: Irene Amy Strong's Home and the Craftsman Movement'. The Journal of San Diego History, Summer 1982, Volume 28, Number 3. n.p.)