A. Quincy Jones and Greenbelts

Curated Mid-Century Modern Home Listings 📍

Apr 06, 2026

Archibald Quincy Jones was a prolific American architect who helped define the modern tract home. Quincy was born in 1913 in Kansas City, Missouri, but raised in Gardena, California. Throughout his career, Jones focused on bringing modernist architectural principles to the masses and was involved in designing and building well over 5,000 homes. He is recognized for integrating greenbelts and communal spaces into suburban developments.

In the 1930s, Jones attended the University of Washington to study architecture. He was influenced by his professor Lionel Pries. Jones graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture in 1936. His education provided a foundation in the widely accepted design principles of his day, many of which he would later go on to break from. Following graduation, he moved back to what felt most like home: Southern California.

During his early career in Los Angeles, Jones worked under various established architects. Between 1936 and 1937, he was employed by Douglas Honnold and George Vernon Russell. He also worked for Paul R. Williams from 1939 to 1940. These early positions allowed him to gain experience and connections in the field before establishing his own practice.

Jones paused his architectural career during World War II. He served in the United States Navy from 1942 to 1945. Worth noting, fellow Case-Study Program architect Pierre Koenig also enlisted, serving on the front lines in both France and Germany. Jones went on to hold the rank of lieutenant commander and was assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Lexington. He was discharged at the end of the war and returned to civilian life in Los Angeles, where is promptly got back to work. In 1945, Jones opened his first architectural office, called simply A. Quincy Jones, Architect. The fledgling practice was houses in a structure he designed and had built in Laurel Canyon.

A. Quincy and Elaine S. Jones House / Los Angeles, California, USA / 1954 © Julius Shulman/Getty

The post-war era of course presented a significant housing shortage in the United States which led to a golden era of development. The massive demographic shift known as the ‘baby boom’ prompted Jones (and many others) to focus on residential architecture and the development of entirely new housing models. In 1946, Jones became involved with the Mutual Housing Association. This group was originally formed by four musicians who wanted to pool resources for housing and eventually expanded to include hundreds of members. The organization purchased 800 acres of land in the Santa Monica Mountains. The area was later named Crestwood Hills. Crestwood Hills represented a clean slate for Jones to imagine a new way of living. The team’s plan included single-family homes, an integrated nursery school, a park, and a community center.

The site planning at Crestwood Hills demonstrated Jones’s approach to landscape integration. The team designed the development to preserve views and limit grading along the ridges. Houses were sited down stepped lots or placed at angles to the street to maintain privacy. This method contrasted with standard grid layouts used by many developers at the time. Specific home designs incorporated concrete block foundations and chimneys. Many exteriors used exposed redwood siding and broad expanses of plate glass to connect the interior rooms with the natural surroundings.

Simultaneously, Jones reconnected with former colleage Paul R. Williams to collaborate on several new projects. Their partnership produced commercial and recreational buildings in Palm Springs, California. These projects included the Palm Springs Tennis Club addition in 1947 and the Town & Country Center. This period helped establish Jones as a modern architect in Southern California. Jones’ work in Palm Springs is still celebrated 70+ years later.

Around 1950, Jones formed a working relationship with real estate developer Joseph Eichler. Eichler was building residential tracts in California at a large scale and wanted to offer architecturally designed modern homes to the booming middle class. Jones was hired to design standardized house plans that could be built efficiently on a volume basis. To help handle the sheer volume of work from Eichler, Jones established a partnership with architect Frederick E. Emmons in 1951. Their architectural firm operated until Emmons retired in 1969. During this period, Jones and Emmons designed approximately 5,000 houses for Eichler’s developments. Their firm received the national Firm of the Year award from the American Institute of Architects for their work. A remarkable number of these homes have been preserved and remain widely sought after today.

The homes designed by Jones and Emmons for Eichler utilized easily-repeatable construction techniques. They frequently used post-and-beam construction methods and were built on concrete slab foundations containing radiant heating systems. The street-facing facades were typically closed off for privacy with interior atriums/courtyards, while the rear elevations featured floor-to-ceiling glass walls.

One of the specific housing tracts designed by Jones and Emmons for Eichler was Greenmeadow in Palo Alto, California. The subdivision was developed between 1954 and 1955. It consists of 243 single-family homes. The homes in this tract included features like double-car garages and built-in kitchen appliances ( luxurious offerings for the era). The Greenmeadow tract is recognized as one of the first to include various communal amenities. Jones and Emmons designed a community center complex within the subdivision featuring two community buildings and a swimming pool. While common today, the inclusion of these shared spaces was then unique attempt to foster social interaction among the news residents of the tract.

Jones is recognized as an early advocate for the inclusion of greenbelts in housing developments. A greenbelt is an area of open land preserved in its natural state or used for parks within an urban or suburban environment. Jones integrated these park-like common areas into his tract plans. This approach brought designated green spaces directly into suburban neighborhoods.

The use of greenbelts served a functional purpose in Jones’s planning strategy. By clustering houses or utilizing irregular lot orientations, developers could set aside shared open spaces. These areas provided recreation spaces for children and families. They also served as visual buffers between rows of houses.

The Gift that Keeps on Giving: A. Quincy Jones-designed greenbelts being enjoyed by residents 70 years later.

In 1960, Jones expanded his planning work to a city-wide scale. Architect William Pereira hired him as a planning partner for the development of the city of Irvine, California. The master plan for Irvine incorporated urban greenways and preserved open spaces. This project became a reference for incorporating greenbelts into regional urban planning.

Alongside his architectural practice, Jones maintained an academic career. He joined the faculty at the University of Southern California School of Architecture in 1951. He served as a professor and later held the position of Dean of Architecture until 1967. His teaching role allowed him to instruct architecture students in his methods of design and planning.

Archibald Quincy Jones passed away in 1979 at age 66. His work provided an alternative to the standard stucco box houses prevalent in post-war suburbs. Through his partnerships with developers, he brought modern design to middle-income buyers. His integration of greenbelts and communal facilities represent a bright spot in the history of American suburban planning.