• The Small Home of Tomorrow (Hollywood, 1945) Original wrappers. 8.75 x 11.5 inches, 95pp. Extensively illustrated. With label on verso of rear wrapper, offering working drawings of homes displayed in the book.
• New Homes For Today (Hollywood, 1946) Hardcover “Deluxe Edition”. 8.75 x 11.5 inches, 95pp. Extensively illustrated. Tattered partial dust jacket laid in.

Los Angeles architect Paul Revere Williams (1894-1980) was the first certified African-American architect west of the Mississippi and later the first Black fellow of the American Institute of Architects. 

The now-classic books issued by a small Hollywood publisher at the end of World War II, reflect Williams’ interest in providing attractive and affordable homes for young veterans and their families during the post-war housing boom. He did design thousands of buildings throughout southern California, private as well as public. But his real fame came from designing palatial mansions in Beverly Hills for Hollywood movie stars like Frank Sinatra, Lucille Ball, Tyrone Power, Bert Lahr and Danny Thomas. Williams was well aware of the irony that many of his houses were on parcels with deeds that included segregated covenants that barred Black ownership.