Roger Yuen Lee led a Berkeley architecture firm under his own name in the 1950s, became a partner in Lee, Langhorst, Higgins & Associates in 1960, and has a Hawaii office as the last line of his firm list, from 1964. San Francisco Planning lists him among the architects aligned with the Second Bay Tradition, even though its context statement knows of no Lee building in the city itself. This guide covers his offices and years, the houses and other projects the records credit to him, how SF Planning places his work, and the checks to run before you call a house his.
Almost everything on file about him comes from SF Planning, in two documents. One, San Francisco Modern Architecture and Landscape Design 1935–1970, is the department's historic context statement (the Historic Preservation Commission's case 2011.0059U). Besides his own appendix entry, it names him in two lists of Second Bay Tradition architects, an exhibition table and the Langhorsts' entry. The other is a draft SF Planning architect biography. Marked DRAFT, it copies most of the statement's entry but changes a few lines. When the two records disagree, both versions appear here.
Offices and years
The statement's appendix lists his firms. Because drawings carry the office's name, the list doubles as a dating tool. Here it is as SF Planning gives it:
William Hays and Howard Moise, 1941 to 1945, where the entry says he worked on U.S. post offices;
Langhorst & Langhorst, San Francisco, as a draftsman, 1947 to 1948;
Roger Lee Associates, Architects, Berkeley, dated only as "c.1950s";
Lee, Langhorst, Higgins & Associates, as a partner, 1960 to 1964;
Roger Lee, Architect, Hawaii, from 1964.
The draft biography keeps the same offices and adds titles. It calls him principal of the Berkeley firm and of the Hawaii office, and gives the Hawaii office's end date as an unknown year. Neither list gives a location for the 1960 to 1964 partnership.
The years from 1948 to 1960 rest on that one loose "c.1950s" date. A drawing from those years with his name on it fits the Berkeley office, but the records don't say when that office opened or closed.
The Langhorst connection
His time with Frederick and Lois Langhorst shows up in three places. His own entry dates it to 1947 and 1948. The Langhorsts' entry in the statement names him, with Worley Wong, among the draftsmen they hired; our Campbell & Wong guide covers how that line reads against Wong's firm list. And the Langhorst name returns in the 1960 partnership, Lee, Langhorst, Higgins & Associates.
Two of his later projects are also listed as joint work with Lois Langhorst: the 1957 Cottage Park Community Building in Sacramento and the Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity in Vallejo, also 1957. Both predate the partnership on his firm list by three years, so check 1957 drawings for both names.
How SF Planning places his work
The statement's appendix labels him a "Master architect." In the draft biography, the heading says only "Architect." The statement's narrative says he "was noted for the grace and clarity of his post-and-beam residential designs" and places that work within the Second Bay Tradition. The praise is SF Planning's, not ours.
His name appears twice in the statement's lists of Second Bay Tradition architects. The first puts the bulk of San Francisco's work in the style within 15 years of the war's end, then opens its list of architects aligned with the style, after the pioneers, with his name, ahead of Jack Hillmer, John Funk and Henry Hill. The second, in the style's own section, places him after Gardner Dailey and William Wurster, alongside fellow architects such as John Dinwiddie, Charles W. Callister and Joseph Esherick.
In 1949 the San Francisco Museum of Art staged "Domestic Architecture of the San Francisco Bay Region," and the statement gives that show its own table. One row there carries his name. That entry is in Berkeley, with Osmundson & Staley as landscape architects. The table doesn't give a street or a year.
Awards on record
The appendix lists his honors, and the draft biography repeats them:
"America's Best Small Houses, 1949," for his own Berkeley residence;
an Award of Merit in the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Honor Awards Program in 1955, for a residence the narrative places in Sausalito;
First Honor in the AIA "Homes for Better Living" program in 1956, for a house in Orinda;
recognition in 1957 from the London Architectural Review as one of forty U.S. architects who had "made personal contributions to American Architecture."
Two of those honors went to houses whose town or year the records give two ways, covered below.
The houses and buildings the records list
The statement says that over his California career he designed nearly 100 residences and a small number of apartments, housing projects, recreational facilities and churches. In 1955, it adds, he designed a series of "Universal Homes" in Kensington. Its list of notable projects, given here by city, year and type rather than owners' names:
his own house, Berkeley, 1949;
a record store, Berkeley, 1952;
a residence, Berkeley, 1954 (the award one; see below);
the Alegria Apartments, Berkeley, 1955;
the "Universal Homes," Kensington, 1955;
a residence, Orinda, 1955;
a residence, Mill Valley, 1956;
a studio, Orinda, 1956;
the community building in Sacramento and the church in Vallejo, both 1957, with Lois Langhorst;
the Haste Park Apartments, Berkeley, 1961.
The records disagree on a few of these. The 1954 residence that won the 1955 AIA award is listed in Berkeley, but the award line in the same entry puts it in Sausalito. The Orinda house that won in 1956 is listed under 1955. Treat both the town and the year as open until a permit settles them.
The appendix doesn't list streets for any of them. For mid-century houses on that side of the bay, see our 94707 North Berkeley, 94708 Berkeley Hills and East Bay pages. Mill Valley has its own Mill Valley page.
San Francisco: none, or one?
This is the clearest conflict in his records. The statement's narrative says "there are no known Lee buildings in San Francisco." That sentence is missing from the draft biography, which adds a "Projects in San Francisco" line with one entry: Digby Street, 1965. That date falls a year after the Hawaii office that both firm lists start in 1964.
If you own a house on Digby Street with a 1965 permit, the permit file and any plans are how to test the draft biography's line. Until then, the statement's "no known" wording and the draft's single listing both stand as SF Planning's records, and neither one settles it alone. For other modern houses across the city, see our San Francisco page.
Is my house a Roger Lee?
Work through this list before anyone credits him in marketing or in paperwork filed with a city:
Match the year to an office. 1941 to 1945, William Hays and Howard Moise; 1947 to 1948, Langhorst & Langhorst, where the drawings would carry the Langhorst name; the 1950s, Roger Lee Associates in Berkeley; 1960 to 1964, Lee, Langhorst, Higgins & Associates. From 1964 the records' last office for him is in Hawaii.
Get the permit history, plus any plans kept with it. The architect named there should fit the office he held that year. To pin down the build year itself, see our notes on dating a house.
Read the frame. SF Planning ties his reputation to post-and-beam houses. Exposed beams alone don't prove his hand, since the statement lists many fellow architects working in the same style.
Check the town. The statement's project list sits in Berkeley, Kensington, Orinda, Mill Valley, Sacramento and Vallejo; one award line adds Sausalito, and the draft biography adds San Francisco. A claim for another town needs plans or a permit record that name him.
Treat the Kensington series as a lead. The "Universal Homes" series is the one group of houses on his list. The records don't give its streets or how many houses it had.
Look up the award programs. The records name the 1949, 1955 and 1956 honors, so those programs' own records are another place to look for a house's name and street.
Owning a house by Roger Lee
A "Master architect" label in a context statement is not a listing on any register. Whether a house carries a survey rating depends on the city it sits in, and nearly all of his listed work is outside San Francisco. Check with that city's planning staff before you plan exterior changes.
For houses inside San Francisco, SF Planning's integrity tests are explained in our context statement guide. For California's registers and how review works, read Is My House Historic in California? Questions about legal duties belong with a lawyer.
Frequently asked questions
Is a Roger Lee house mid-century modern?
His listed California work runs from 1949 to 1961, and the draft biography adds a 1965 San Francisco entry. All of it falls inside the 1935 to 1970 years SF Planning studied, and the statement places him with the Second Bay Tradition.
Did Roger Lee design houses in San Francisco?
The statement says no known Lee buildings stand in the city. The draft biography lists one, on Digby Street in 1965. The records disagree, so the permit file is where to look.
Related reading
Campbell & Wong: San Francisco's Second Bay Tradition Architects
Gardner Dailey: San Francisco Architect of Bay Region Modern Houses
San Francisco's Modern Architecture Context Statement for Owners
More guides on this topic: Mid-Century Modern Architects & Builders
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Researching a Roger Lee house? Call or text the Boyenga Team at Compass at (408) 373-1660 or (650) 383-8606, or contact the Boyenga Team to talk through the house and its history.
